Review: Here We Go - Melissa

If I had a dollar for every time my name was spelled incorrectly, we'd have replaced the flooring in our house long ago. So I understand the decision by Los Angeles-based musician Melissa Szilagyi to drop her surname and perform simply as Melissa. It's also very pop-star-like. Her debut kids' music album Here We Go (2006), to be released next week, is 29 minutes of preschooler-friendly acoustic pop that sounds not a little like kids' music star Laurie Berkner. Whimsical stories ("Have You Ever Seen?"), interactive songs (the sea horses counting down from 5 to 1 on "The Seahorse Song"), and subjects of great concern to 3- and 4-year-olds ("Going on a Trip," "Chocolate Ice Cream.") Add to that Melissa's warm voice and sharp additional instrumentation (guitar, mandolin, harmonica, assorted percussion) from New York-based musician Beau Elliott, and the album is a perfectly good little collection of songs. The originals are well-crafted; the few traditional songs are innovatively arranged. It's not quite at Laurie's level, though, for a couple reasons. First, Berkner's songs have a river of good humor flowing through them; these songs, though by no means humorless, don't have enough of those moments of loopiness that keep parents sane while listening to Berkner's music. Second, you realize how important Berkner's band -- the bass and the piano -- are to her albums. Here We Go would have benefitted greatly from even a couple songs with a full band. The album is most appropriate for kids age 2 through 7. Listen to clips here or here. I'm recommending this -- it's a well-done and enjoyable album. (And I'm hoping Melissa finds even more talented musicians for her second album!)

Review: Go Baby Go - Baby Loves Jazz (Various Artists)

The creation of music industry veteran Andy Hurwitz, the supergroup Baby Loves Jazz is just one part of the Baby Loves Music empire. With Baby Loves Disco well-established and Baby Loves Reggae and Hip-Hop yet to come, who knows if Baby Loves Grime and Baby Loves Trip-Hop are next on the list. Released tomorrow, Go Baby Go! (2006) is the first of the Baby Loves... genres to make it to disk and it's a good first, er, baby step for the series.

The Baby Loves Jazz supergroup includes John Medeski from Medeski Mertin & Wood, members from the jazz band Sex Mob, and other musicians with strong jazz backgrounds. The concept on this album is fairly simple -- take classic children's melodies and jazz-ify them. From the bebop version of "Old MacDonald" to the funk/soul of "Paw Paw Patch," the group puts their own take on the melodies and lyrics in the best jazz tradition. The vocals are especially strong on "ABC" and the fun original "Scat Song." Two of my favorite tracks are the slow and funky "Wheels on the Bus" and the frenetic title track, both of which feature kids on the choruses. (Listening to the kids shout "Round and round! / Round and round!" in "Wheels" puts a smile on my face every time.

The 18-track, 51-minute album is not without some less-appealing moments. The interstitials, which introduce different instruments, are fun, but are placed before songs that don't build on the instruments mentioned (e.g., "The Piano" is followed by "Paw Paw Patch," which is played on an... organ). It's not bad, it's just an opportunity missed. And, frankly, I can do without the last 3 tracks, which are intended to be a calming, gateway to sleepy-time, but instead just drone on for way longer than necessary. Take out the last two tracks, and you'd have a fairly zippy 36-minute album.

The songs will probably be most appealing to kids ages 2 through 8. You can listen to the modern sounds of "If You're Happy and You Know It" and tracks from the four simultaneously-released "Baby Loves Jazz" books here. Because it's being released by the well-regarded jazz label Verve Records, expect to find this in a lot of different places.

People who think jazz ended when Miles went electric in 1969 may not appreciate all the tracks here (and, to be honest, I'm mostly in that category myself). But there are enough solid tracks to keep you traditionalists happy and if you (and your baby) like your jazz mixed with more modern elements of funk and soul, Go Baby Go! is an excellent addition to the small canon of jazz for kids. Recommended.

Review: An Elephant Never Forgets - Owen Duggan

I would call Owen Duggan the "next Raffi," but the problem is, I already did that with someone else. And even if I no longer believed it (which I do), it would look pretty foolish of me to recant scant weeks later. So let me put it this way -- Owen Duggan is Raffi.

Or, to put it another way, Duggan's late 2005 debut album An Elephant Never Forgets is the album that Raffi could've recorded after The Corner Grocery Store, had he decided to continue mining the vein of classic kids' songs, folk songs, and other musical traditions instead of becoming increasingly concerned with ecology and children -- all Good Things, no doubt, but far from where Raffi started. But Duggan has the sweet voice (here's a man who needs to record "Puff the Magic Dragon") and talented backing musicians that makes Raffi's work so pleasant to listen to.

Duggan, a San Antonio-based music teacher, has put together a wonderful group of musicians to back up this collection of Duggan originals and classic tunes. The gentle humor of the album is evident in one of my favorite tracks, the zippy "The Ants," better known as "The Ants Go Marching." Duggan and his band gives the song an increasingly manic energy, which is released in a jazzy musical outro. I especially liked the brass work of Ron Wilkins throughout the album, but the whole set of jazz and folk musicians who back him up are top-notch. The music switches between gentle kids folk music (the Duggan original "The Elephant Song" and "I Got the Baby Blues"), covers of classics (Tom Paxton's oft-recorded "The Marvelous Toy"), authentic folk music (the energetic fiddle tune "The Green Meadow"), and jazz (the Ellington/Strayhorn "Happy Go Lucky Local"). Duggan closes out the album with a couple lovely lullabies, which seems to be the standard for kids' albums nowadays. (Almost makes me nostalgic for the Raffi albums, which sometimes ended up on an uptempo note.)

This album is targeted right at kids ages 2 through 6. You can hear samples here and order the disk at Duggan's website or the standard Amazon/CDBaby/iTunes trio.

If Raffi makes your eyelid twitch erratically, I really can't recommend the disk to you. But if you have an appreciation for Raffi's work, and are looking for something else besides to play, An Elephant Never Forgets is a nice collection, a little jazzier, a little poppier than Raffi, and every bit as well done. Recommended.

Review: Song and Play Time - Pete Seeger

Long before Laurie Berkner, long before Raffi even, there was Pete Seeger. His stepmother spent a lot of time recovering folk songs from historical neglect, and her stepson put many of those on record. He was incredibly productive in doing this for Folkways Records, recording 54 albums for them. One of those albums, originally released in 1960, Seeger's Song and Play Time, received a new release on CD in 2001.

More than anything, the thing that keeps Pete Seeger's albums far from the file marked "important-but-unlistenable" is that voice. Crystal-clear and sweet, accompanied only by his adept banjo-playing, and sometimes by nothing his conviction that folk songs are worthwhile, Seeger's voice invites listeners to sit down and listen. (His voice sounds great on this remastered album.)

Until, of course, he encourages them to join in the fun. Sometimes that encouragement is for physical activity, as in "Here We Go Loopy-Loo," the precursor to the "Hokey-Pokey." (Or, since the "Hokey-Pokey" has been around since possibly the Middle Ages, perhaps it's the successor.) Sometimes the encouragement is to sing along, as in the classics "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" and "She'll Be Comin' 'round the Mountain." (The latter, I would note, includes a lyric about killing the old red rooster -- "hack-hack" -- which got left out by Raffi and Laurie Berkner. I like the addition and it certainly puts the next line -- "We will all have chicken and dumplings" -- in much better context.) And sometimes Seeger simply wills the listener to participate, singing loudly and clapping a cappella on "Captain Jinks."

Kids age 2 through 6 will most enjoy the songs here. You can hear samples at the Folkways page for the album.

At 41 minutes in length, the album may get a bit too repetitive to listen to straight through. But it'd probably fit right in a 5-CD changer on shuffle, either with Seeger's contemporaries or with your contemporaries. And the more you're willing to sit down (or stand up) with Seeger (rather than just putting him in the car's CD player), the more you and your kids will get something out of the album. Seeger's melodious voice and enthusiasm makes this worth exploring for you and the younger kids in your life.

Review: Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz - Hayes Greenfield

Why are there not more great jazz albums for kids? You have wonderful melodies infinitely adaptable to the improvisational technique that is one of jazz's trademarks, and yet the number of really good jazz albums geared for kids is small. Hayes Greenfield's 2002 release, Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz, is one of those few albums, great for introducing kids to jazz.

The vocals, unsurprisingly for an album of renditions of kids' songs, are front and center. Miles Griffith turns in a broad variety of vocal approaches and his often gravelly voice contrasts nicely with the sweet voices of Lisa Michel and Charenee Wade. Richie Havens also lends his resonant voice to two tracks, "Grandfather's Clock" and "Oh Susanna."

The album utilizes a broad range of jazz styles, from the gospel wrap-up to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to the scat stylings on "Skip To My Lou" to the more contemporary jazz sounds of "This Old Man." Greenfield has also indicated -- and here's where my surface-deep jazz knowledge recognizes the names but not the particular albums -- that on "Grandfather’s Clock" they employ Latin swing (like John Coltrane's arrangement of "A Night Has A Thousand Eyes"), on "Old MacDonald" they use Thelonious Monk’s harmonic progression from his tune "Bemsha Swing", and on "Animal Fair" they superimposed Coltrane's classic "Giant Steps" harmonic motion. (Note: I have "Giant Steps" and I didn't recognize it, which says everything about me and nothing about Greenfield's skill here.)

What makes this album such a great introduction is the combination of vocals that are both skillful as well as engaging for kids (some tracks feature kids, but only as accompaniment) with instrumentals that are so often missing on kids-focused jazz CDs. Most tracks feature an instrumental break, with Greenfield's saxophone work taking the lead on the solos. The rest of his band swing solidly, too, making the whole 47-minute disc a pleasure to listen to.

It's really hard to put an age range on this disk, because I think most of the album works for adults just as well as for kids (with the possible exception of some of the vocal tracks where Griffith's voice is perhaps too cartoony), but I'll shoot for ages 2 through 12. You can see video clips and learn more about the project at the Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz website.

Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz is a fabulous disk, one that can serve as great introduction for kids to the broad vocal and instrumental palette used by jazz musicians. Definitely recommended.