Most fledgling teenage music entrepreneurs are pushing rock or hip-hop albums on which either they or their friends perform.
Not so for Samuel Rothmann, who has a preternatural appreciation for classic Jewish music and storytelling. The 15-year-old San Franciscan is independently promoting a box set of Jewish songs and stories that he calls “JKindertales.” The discs feature the recordings of Rothmann’s first cousin once removed, Joan Sutton, also of San Francisco.
“My family had a gathering every Christmas Eve — even though we are Jewish — and my dad’s cousin told stories, and I said one day I’d like to do something with them,” says Rothmann, who attends Lowell High School and Congregation Emanu-El.
“She just gave out tapes to all her friends. She never sold them,” says Rothmann, the son of KGO radio talk show host John Rothmann.
The young Rothmann received a $500 investment from his father to turn the tape recordings into CDs, and plans to pay his father back from the proceeds. He also received legal advice from copyright attorney Bert Magaen — a member of the family chavurah — in order to get trademarks for the albums and the accompanying Web site.
Rothman says he doesn’t necessarily aspire to be a music producer or promoter: “I want to do something involving business, but I’m not really sure of the focus just yet.”
The recordings feature songs for various Jewish holidays, as well as stories and blessings. The discs cover Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah, Purim, Passover, Noah’s Ark and the Three Bears — with classic tracks such as “Hagadya” and “Bim-Bom,” and lesser-known ones such as “Matzah-Man!! Part 1” and “Matzah-Man!! Part 2.”
Sutton, 68, was an English and Hebrew school teacher who was trained as a storyteller. In the early ’80s, she started collaborating with friend Barda Rabin. Rothmann’s enthusiasm for the material convinced Sutton to give him the copyrights to the stories and songs.
“I wanted to leave something that would last,” Sutton says “We put a lot of energy, time and love into these tapes.”
Sutton also had a radio program in the ’80s on KALW called “Apples and Honey,” on which John Rothmann was one of the stars, playing a character named Jerusalem John who reported on biblical events as if they were current news.
Samuel Rothmann is now working to distribute the material in a seven-disc box set for $34.95, which his Web site says “will captivate and motivate children from ages 1 to 100.” He said he plans to make the discs available individually soon.
For more information or to order “JKindertales,” go to www.jkindertales.com.