Review: All Wound Up! - Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Brave Combo

Parents are familiar with serendipitous combinations -- peanut butter and jelly, Bert and Ernie, diapers and the Diaper Genie. But some combinations aren't nearly as obvious. Brave Combo is Texas band that plays polka (among other things) and Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have been making kids music for 20 years. You wouldn't necessarily think that they would be making music together, but in All Wound Up!they have made one energetic album that should get your child dancing. (Warning: The Surgeon General has recommended that you do not play this album right before bedtime.) The songs are lots of fun and cover a broad range of styles, helpfully listed in the liner notes. Some songs are Fink & Marxer originals -- "I Will Never Clean Up My Room" is an amusing tale of one child whose recalcitrance pays off in interesting ways. Some songs are hearty renditions of public domain and traditional songs (including, yes, "De Colores," which makes this literally the 5th or 6th version on our CD shelf). Ironically, the favorite song of mine and my daughter is the one Brave Combo-penned song, "Spaghetti," and enthusiastic tribute to restaurant pasta that ends with three or four overlapping musical lines. As with any good music, you can play either of these albums for kids of all ages, but kids from 4 to 8 years of age would probably appreciate them best. The record is on the Rounder label, available in the usual online suspects and in the "real world."

News: Children's Grammy Noms Announced

The Grammy nominations were announced yesterday and the nods for the two children's categories are: Best Musical Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly music or song vs. spoken word.) > Beethoven's Wig 2: More Sing Along Symphonies - Beethoven's Wig [Rounder Kids] > cELLAbration! A Tribute To Ella Jenkins - Various Artists, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, producers [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings] > House Party - Dan Zanes And Friends [Festival Five Records] > Merry Fishes To All - Trout Fishing In America [Trout Records] > Sharing Cultures With Ella Jenkins - Ella Jenkins [Smithsonian Folkways Recordings] Best Spoken Word Album For Children (For albums consisting of predominantly spoken word vs. music or song.) > The Best Halloween Ever - Elaine Stritch [Harper Children's Audio] > Carnival Of The Animals - John Lithgow [Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers] > The Emperor's New Clothes - Peter Schickele [Newport Classic] > Green Eggs And Ham And Other Servings Of Dr. Seuss - Various Artists John McElroy, producer[Listening Library] > The Story Of Classical Music - Marin Alsop [Naxos Audio Books] > The Train They Call The City Of New Orleans - Tom Chapin [Live Oak Media] The Grammys will be televised Feb. 13, 2005, although I would be surprised to see either of these categories awarded during the broadcast.