{"id":10872,"date":"2015-02-20T00:12:24","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T08:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=10872"},"modified":"2015-02-19T19:16:59","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T03:16:59","slug":"moose-led-family-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2015\/02\/20\/moose-led-family-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Moose-led family show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex the Moose, aka Alex Konyves, performs at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver\u2019s Family Day on Feb. 9. (photo by Kale Wilson Beaudry of klphotograph.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The show had ended. Alex the Moose, though, had not left the building. Known to his friends as Alex Konyves, the man beneath the antlers sat next to me basking in the afterglow of his Family Day concert at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver on Feb. 9.<\/p>\n

With sweat on his brow and a big smile, he and I sat looking towards the now vacant stage. No longer in moose attire, he was obviously pleased. \u201cI was so excited for this show,\u201d he beamed. \u201cWe were asked to do it a number of months ago, and put a great band together with Jesse Bentley on bass, Jeff Child on percussion, Emma Wong on vocals and myself on guitar and vocals. We had a blast. The kids here are really adorable, really sweet, really engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex the Moose, joined by a giraffe, a cheetah and a bunny, played for the children, but the parents and grandparents in the audience bobbed their heads and tapped their feet, too. Blending elements of funk, Latin, klezmer and rock and roll, the band opened with a bass solo from Jesse the Cheetah (Bentley) that would not be out of place at the Commodore Ballroom on a Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trick is keeping it suitable for children, but also engaging for parents,\u201d Konyves explained. \u201cSome children\u2019s music is not the most engaging for parents, and if they\u2019re going to be playing at your house, on repeat, it\u2019s nice to have music that\u2019s engaging and fun, original and diverse.\u201d Hence, the ensemble includes a range of instruments \u2013 the didgeridoo, two types of hand-drum, wind chimes, guitar, bass and voices. \u201cWe like to keep it eclectic,\u201d said Konyves.<\/p>\n

They opened with an original song \u2013 \u201cWake up in the Morning\u201d \u2013 and aptly chose their current single, \u201cThe Pyjama Song,\u201d as the finale. The group performed other originals, such as \u201cThe Bumblebee Song\u201d and \u201cThe Iguana Song,\u201d in which the group counts iguanas falling off a tree, in Spanish, as well as classics like \u201cThe Hokey Pokey,\u201d \u201cIf You\u2019re Happy and You Know It\u201d and \u201cHead and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time I played music for young children was at Camp Miriam when I was a madrich<\/em> [counselor] there, and I had a young age group,\u201d said Konyves, now 29. \u201cAt night, I\u2019d put them to sleep by playing guitar and, three songs in, they\u2019d all be fast asleep. It was really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

These days, Konyves, who is also the song leader at Temple Sholom, lists Raffi, Debbie Friedman and the Beatles as his musical influences. \u201cRaffi talks a lot about child-honoring, where you really respect children in every regard. You don\u2019t push product placements, you really allow them to make choices for themselves, and you give them your heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Konyves also believes in making music accessible to children. \u201cIf you have any instruments in your house, put them out,\u201d he advises parents. \u201cJust like having books in your house, it should be the same with musical instruments.\u201d<\/p>\n

As our conversation wound down, an impromptu jam session broke out among the bandmates on stage. To the bellowing of the didgeridoo and the beat of the djembe, Konyves explained his love of playing for children: \u201cKids are very honest with you when you play. If they don\u2019t like it, they\u2019ll let you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the bouncing, jumping, laughing and smiling in the audience, they liked the Family Day show a lot.<\/p>\n

Many of Alex the Moose and company\u2019s songs are available for download at musicwithalex.bandcamp.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Benjamin Groberman<\/strong> is a born and raised Vancouverite. He is a freelance writer, and is pursuing a bachelor of education degree, with aspirations to teach in a Jewish high school. He is a resident of Vancouver\u2019s Moishe House.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex the Moose, aka Alex Konyves, performs at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver\u2019s Family Day on Feb. 9. (photo by Kale Wilson Beaudry of klphotograph.com) The show had ended. Alex the Moose, though, had not left the building. Known to his friends as Alex Konyves, the man beneath the antlers sat next to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[788],"tags":[3236,1182],"class_list":["post-10872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-alex-konyves","tag-jewish-community-centre-of-greater-vancouver"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}