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2000 music reviews
(January-June)

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Lullabies For A New Millennium:
Sing Them to Sleep

album by Kim Scanlon, reviewed January 2000

What better way to enter the new millennium than as a newborn listening to lullabies? Kim Scanlon's Night Songs & Lullabies fits the bill just right, thank you very much. This truly is music for kids and keepers both.

Night Songs & Lullabies

Seattle-based Scanlon's voice is warm, soothing and inviting as she gently wraps it around the smooth jazz arrangements of some of America's greatest songs. Class-A songs include Duke Ellington's "Warm Valley," Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Hit the Road to Dreamland" and Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner's "Here I'll Stay."

"I made this album when I was pregnant with my son," Scanlon declares. "My goal was to make music that would be soothing, but musically interesting." Though most of these tunes were not written as lullabies, they fit seamlessly into this fine collection and the fabric of our lives—whoa, hold on; I was channeling an old commercial lodged somewhere in the windmills of my mind. Great album!

Now for a dog of a different color: Blue's Clues is back with Goodnight Blue/A Nighttime Musical Adventure. Steve, Blue and friends play a nighttime version of Blue's Clues; sing the "The Yawn Song" (getting sleepy?); and read Blue's favorite bedtime story, "Goodnight Bird," a make-a-book project included with the CD. A little too much activity for me but hey, my kid's 17 so he can read to me! Fun listening. Catch you on the flip side.

Night Songs & Lullabies, Compass Records; $15 CD. Call (615) 320-7672 or go to www.compassrecords.com. Goodnight Blue, Kid Rhino; $13.98 CD. Call (800) 432-0020 or go to www.kidrhino.com.

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Guitar Method

software by eMedia, reviewed February 2000

Whether you have visions of standing on a stage, pumping out power chords on a screaming vintage Stratocaster to thousands of adoring fans, or gently strumming "Kumbaya" on a beat-up acoustic to a way-toasty marshmallow, eMedia's Guitar Method CD-Rom is just the ticket for you. This release is actually an upgrade or newer version of the best-selling Guitar Method I. And, it's kid-friendly from the downbeat. Elementary school children in the Washington State school districts have had great success with the program and 11-12 year-olds are taking to it like . . . kids to guitars! As 13-year old Billy Weslowski says in his own review to Sheet Music Magazine, "This program is very well put together and nicely organized. I found it a lot of fun. In fact, I completed the program in about a month and a half without a parent or teacher making me do it!" Whoa, I like that!

Guitar Method

The additional features added after Billy's review are tremendous: Animated Fretboard displays a "virtual" guitar neck showing notes and chords in real-time with the music, like a player piano plus the fretboard can be reversed for left-handed Jimi Hendrix wanna-be's; Fretronome serves the function of a metronome for keeping time at any tempo which is great for beginners learning at their own speed; and Multi-track Audio has you fronting your own band of bass, drums and keyboards in no time. There are over 70 classic tunes to play along with "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," "House Of The Rising Sun" (Yeah, baby!), and "La Bamba" ought to get the crowd out of their seats.

The approach is as simple as the name. Full-motion video featuring an on-screen teacher takes the 60 easy-to-follow interactive lessons and guides the novice through the basics of guitar tuning to more advanced finger-picking and syncopation techniques. Adds Billy, "This program is designed for students of all ages from about seven or eight on up . . . Guitar Method CD-ROM is definitely made for beginners. If you are a skilled player you don't need this program." Guitar Method II serves that purpose. So, better dust off the spandex or plan that camping trip because you and you're guitar are going on the road, baby! Just keep practicing. . .

Guitar Method, eMedia; $59.95 Windows or Mac. Phone (206) 329-5657. Website at www.emedia.org.

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Children's Music Collection

album by Smithsonian Folkways, reviewed February 2000

“Folk Heart”

Here I sit in the wondrous woodsy mountains, surrounded by fir trees and fur rugs, reflecting on my music review for February 2000. It seems totally appropriate to revisit the archives of Smithsonian Folkways and delve into the Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection.

Moses Asch and Marian Distler founded Folkway Records in 1948 to, among other things, expose children to a wealth of musicians and cultures. I must admit, though, when 7 year olds excitedly open their Smashmouth and Backstreet Boys CDs with squeals of glee, I wonder where in the wide world of children's music an album like this will ever find its audience. Will it just be permanently relegated to some dusty shelf in a Smithsonian vault?

But to those who venture there, I say there are gems in them there grooves! Stalwart folkies Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger bookend the 26 songs with "Riding in My Car" and "One Grain of Sand," respectively, but dig deeper and you'll discover two poems, "Dreams" and "Youth," written and read in 1959 by the superb African American poet Langston Hughes:

Hold fast to dreams / For if dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly.

There are many other discoveries in this fine compilation, but Woody Guthrie sums up the intent of "children's songs" when addressing adults: "Let your kids teach you how to play and how to act these songs out. I don't want kids to be grown-up. I want to see the grown folks be kids."

There's a reason they call it "folk" music. Catch you on the flip side!

Smithsonian Folkways Children's Music Collection, Smithsonian Folkways; $9.99 CD, $8.5 0cassette. Call (800) 410-9815, or see website at www.si.edu/folkways.

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Rhythm In My Shoes

album by Jessica Harper, reviewed March 2000

"My father was interested in World Music at an early age," recalls Jessica Harper. "We were definitely a Harry Belafonte rather than a Frank Sinatra household."

Guitar Method

The early exposure shows—Harper's fifth children's album, Rhythm In My Shoes, is an irresistible elixir of driving rhythms, musical styles, clever lyrics and velvet vocals that will most likely cure whatever ails ya!

Whether we're battening down the hatches for the visit from a "Girlquake" named Katie (if the dishes had wishes they would get outa town!), or grooving with the Duke Ellington-inspired "Boy Meets Drum," Harper's takes are inspired kid's-eye views of this topsy-turvy world. "I wanted to break out of the traditional song form of verse/chorus/verse and tell stories with little musical flights of fancy," she explains.

Many of the songs have a playground feel that transcend time. "I've always been interested in those rhyming playground songs and hand-game rhymes that my kids bring home," Harper says.

This album should serve your family well in the car, at bedtime and anywhere good music is served.

(Harper's flights have taken her in a new direction recently with the release of her second children's book, I'm Not Going to Chase the Cat Today [Morrow Junior Books, 1999], based on one of the album's cuts.) Catch you on the flip side. . .

Rhythm In My Shoes, Rounder Records; $16.98 CD, $10.98 cassette. Phone (800) 768-6337, www.rounder.com. Visit Jessica Harper's website at www.harpcomusic.com.

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Play It Again/Favorite Songs and
The Battle Of The Mad Scientists (and other tales of survival)

albums by Bill Harley, reviewed April 2000

“You Gotta Laugh”

Play It Again

That Bill Harley's been telling tales now for more than 20 years — and he gets paid for it! Go figure. Or better yet, go listen. His two new releases will reel your kids' ears in: Play It Again/Favorite Songs & One New Story is a blast from his past greatest hits, and the title tale of The Battle Of The Mad Scientists (and other tales of survival) is a literal gastronomical blast — 9-year-old Bill and his buddy Glenn's play is abruptly aborted when Glenn's kid brother upchucks an entire bag of peanuts.

Funny story albums are few and far between, unless you're a Grammy-nominated storyteller, as Harley is. He has a way of freezing personal experiences, injecting a shot of skewed perspective and dissolving you into a pool of laughter, leaving you feeling that it's OK.

Battle of the Mad Scientists

"The Great Sled Race," with tasty guitar accompaniment, stands up to any tall tale ever told and I dare you not to laugh when you hear "The Eeny Weeny Beeny Ghost's" voice as it tries to scare a bemused young Bill.

But the What-Kids-Do-When-Adults-Aren't-Around Award goes to "Mrs. Ammons and the Boy's Room." This story of a long-term substitute teacher with a personality resembling Saddam Hussein's marking time 'til summer vacation, vs. bored fourth-grade boys on a restroom break marking time 'til summer vacation comes, takes the proverbial cake. What could possibly go wrong? All I can tell you is Harley's lucky his budding career wasn't flushed down the toilet.

Go find this guy! Harley has the heart of a child and a love of life we can all share! Storytellers are alive and well and the troubadour tradition thrives. He lives in Seekonk, Massachusetts which either means skunk or wild duck dependent on the breeze. He is a published author, incumbent poet and world traveler in the name of love. Four seals of approval. Catch you on the flip side!

Play It Again/Favorite Songs & One New Story; The Battle Of The Mad Scientists (and other tales of survival), RoundRiver Records; $15 each CD, $10 each cassette. Call (800) 682-9522 or see www.billharley.com.

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Counting Sheep

album by Collin Raye, reviewed May 2000

“Sleepytime Sheep”

Bet the ranch on this one and take it all the way to the good memory bank. Collin Raye's Counting Sheep, the newest addition to Sony Wonder's Family Artist series, is a sound for sore ears.

What in the ozone-depleted world is a country-music superstar with five platinum albums, twelve number one singles, and bucket o' awards doing putting out a children's album? A lot. Put the paper down, turn off the news, listen to this album — and the world becomes a kinder, gentler place.

All right, already, so I liked it. But why? Duh! Great songs by Nashville writers who could make the phone book sound good; killer musicians who nail every track; and a talented performer with his heart in the right place.

The title song, written by Robert Ellis Orall, is a well-constructed tune strongly reminiscent of the Beatles and beautifully sung by Raye. A little boy is encouraged by his mother to count sheep to help him go to sleep. But — there's a hole in the fence where the sheep escape and have all kinds of imaginative fun. Another standout is a duet with Melissa Manchester called "A Mother and Father's Prayer" that has classic written all over it. The jazzy swingin' "Cool Cat" written by Raye and producer John Hobbs makes it sooo cool to be in bed on time. I know it works because last night I was in bed at 9 p.m. counting sheep! All you Cool Cats will be counting sheep, listening to blackbirds, wishing on stars and feeling generally loved. Oh — and the kids will like it too. Catch you on the flip side.

Counting Sheep, Sony Wonder; $16.98 CD, $9.98 cassette. Call 800-221-8189 or see www.sonywonder.com.

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Pillow Full of Wishes

album by Cathy & Marcy, reviewed June 2000

“Pillow Full of Songs”

Pillow Full of Wishes

Pillow Full of Wishes is the second installment of an all-original lullaby trilogy by noted performers and recording artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer. The first outing,Blanket Full of Dreams, garnered a bucket full of kudos, including a Grammy nomination and a NAPPA Gold Award. "Pillow" seems destined to float down the same path — it's a beautifully constructed album of gentle, uplifting tunes designed to gradually lead little ones to the land of zzz's.

"The Music Box," about the wonders of imagination, features Fink alone on vocal and banjo, giving listeners an opportunity to truly appreciate the instrument. Sue Richard's harp-playing is inspired behind Marxer's enchanting "There's a Fairy in My Pocket," a musical poem about a magical friend. The rousing Celtic-style opener "Rainbow's End/Pot of Gold" has a toe-tapping turn by champion fiddler Bonnie Rideout.

A word of praise must be said for the sweet-sounding and professional children's chorus from University Park Elementary school in College Park, Md. Three of the album's songs were inspired by Cathy & Marcy's residency at the school. It certainly seems like the inspiration came full circle. Catch you on the flip side!

Pillow Full of Wishes, Rounder Kids; $12.99 CD, $8.99 cassette. Phone 617-354-0700; website at www.rounder.com.

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