Safam is an American Jewish rock band from

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. Singer-songwriters Dan Funk, Joel Sussman, Robbie Solomon, and Alan Nelson formed the band in 1974. They have released eleven studio albums, two

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

albums, and a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

of Hannukkah and

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

songs.

Biography

Safam was formed in 1974 in

, Massachusetts. Dan Funk, Joel Sussman, and Alan Nelson were members of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, but wanted to try performing outside a choral setting. They met Robbie Solomon when he moved to Boston from

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

to attend the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. They named the group Safam,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

for "

moustache A moustache (; mustache, ) is a growth of facial hair grown above the upper lip and under the human nose, nose. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French language, French, and i ...

", in reference to the facial hair they all had at the time. Safam initially performed primarily traditional

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

and Israeli songs, particularly from the Hasidic Song Festival book, until they discovered Solomon and Sussman's talent at songwriting and began writing original music. One of their most popular original songs, "Leaving Mother Russia", was written by Solomon about the plight of Jewish

refusenik Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and oth ...

s unable to leave the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and was debuted at a 1977 concert at the Hillel House at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

before appearing on the band's second album, ''Encore'' (1978). Years later, while they were performing the song at a rally at the

Headquarters of the United Nations , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004 (cropped).jpg , image_size = 275px , caption = View of the complex from Long Island City in 2021; from left to right: the Secretariat, Conference, and General Assembly buil ...

in New York City,

Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky (; born 20 January 1948) is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018, and currently serves as ...

, the song's inspiration, came onstage and stood with the band. During the 1980s and 1990s, the band performed throughout the United States, England, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and Canada. In 2014, they performed at the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation and at Temple Beth Sholom in

Fair Lawn, New Jersey Fair Lawn is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and a bedroom community, bedroom suburb located northwest of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the boro ...

Musical style

Influenced by both traditional Jewish music and the American popular music of the 1960s and 1970s, Safam has a wide repertoire of songs and styles, including rock, pop,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ( ...

, calypso,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and cantorial music. They have self-identified their sound as "Jewish-American", with member Dan Funk saying, "Our sound is a synthesis of our Jewish and American roots...People walk out feeling good about their Jewishness."

Members

*Dan Funk – vocals *Joel Sussman – vocals, piano, synthesizer, guitar *Robbie Solomon – vocals, guitar,

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

, flute *Alan Nelson – vocals, synthesizer

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Dreams of Safam'' (1976) * ''Encore'' (1978) * ''Sons of Safam'' (1980) * ''Bittersweet'' (1983) * ''Peace by Piece'' (1984) * ''A Brighter Day'' (1986) * ''The Greater Scheme of Things'' (1989) * ''The Soul of Jewish America'' (1992) * ''On Track'' (1993) * ''After All These Years'' (1995) * ''In Spite Of It All'' (1999)

Compilation albums

* ''Greatest Hits: Volumes I and II'' (1991) * ''Greatest Hits: Volumes III and IV'' (2000)

Holiday albums

* ''Songs for the Jewish Holidays'' (1994) * ''The Chanukah/Passover Collection'' (2003)

References

External links

Official websiteAudio archive
maintained by the Judaica Sound Archives at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

{{authority control Jewish folk rock groups Musical groups from Boston Musical groups established in 1974 Jewish American musicians American folk rock groups 1974 establishments in Massachusetts