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Andy Blackman Hurwitz, mastermind of the ever-expanding Baby Loves Music empire, recently released the first CD from his Baby Loves Hip-Hop brand, Baby Loves Hip-Hop Presents The Dino-5. With hip-hop producing legend Prince Paul on board, along with a whole host of well-known names from the hip-hop world telling the story of five hip-hop dinosaurs, the expectations for the project were pretty high.

The end result? Well, it's a mixed bag. To be sure, the music is first-rate. I don't listen to a great deal of hip-hop, but the funky music and beats heard here are right down my alley. "Yea Me Too" has fantastic interplay between MC T-Rex (Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, who is essentially the lead rapper here and does a fine job) and Billy Brontosaurus (Wordsworth), while "Tell Me More" is a funky song with a sinewy melodic line. And "Jump," which features Pos and Dave from De La Soul will, indeed, encourage jumping. The songs, all 9 or 10 here, are lots of fun to listen to.

And if the CD had stopped at that, it would've been an excellent little CD clocking in at just under a half-hour. But interspersed between the songs are a story about how the "Dino-5" came to be. The story itself is OK, your fairly standard "don't judge a book by its cover" story (T-Rex is, shock, a nice guy!). But rather than using poet Ursula Rucker to tell the story in a unique way, creating characters or dramatizing the story in her own words, the recording uses her in the role of a mother reading a story to her child, just setting up the scenes. According to the press materials, the story may be heading for Broadway or a cartoon series; I can see those settings being much better for this source material than the way it's presented here, which is a little boring.

The music will appeal most to kids ages 3 through 6. You can hear tracks and samples here or here or at one of the Dino-5 Myspace pages (like MC T-Rex) -- who knew dinosaurs had myspace pages?

The list of good kids' hip-hop albums is pretty short, and even with the narrative tracks slowing it down, Baby Loves Disco Presents the Dino-5 should make that list, because the music is solid. Here's hoping that it's not the last appearance of the Dino-5 and the next time around, the integration between story and song is a little better.

Posted by SAShepherd at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I already talked about the ever-expanding Baby Loves Music empire, but apparently BLM founder Andy Blackman Hurwitz is taking it to heart. In this interview with Wired.com's GeekDad, Hurwitz outlines his future release schedule:

"Hip-Hop comes out April 1 [Ed. - that I've told you about], Salsa September 1 [Ed. - OK, that's been pushed back]. Blues (being produced by the North Mississippi All-Stars) is being recorded in the fall as is Reggae (being produced by Stephen Marley), and both of these should come out in early ’09."

Whoa. That could be seriously good.

While I think Hurwitz sells the rest of the kids music genre short -- he says,

"I hate to be a music snob and like to think that there's some merit to anything creative so I don't want to come across as "dissing" other kids music - it's just that ours is created and produced by the best in the business, musicians with decades of experience in the art of songwriting and songcrafting and I think that's what makes the difference - REAL musicians."

... thereby indeed "dissing" the significant number of talented artists in the genre meeting that criteria right now -- I am impressed by the talent he is bringing to bear to all these different genres.

I'm just waiting for the meta-overload of a "Baby Loves Kids Music" disk.

(Hat tip: Idolator)

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Is there any stopping the Baby Loves Music empire? Uh, well, probably -- after last night's Grammys, anything can happen -- but I'm increasingly curious as the next two entries in the series show considerable promise.

First up is Baby Loves Hip-Hop features the story of the "Dino-5." The press materials say the CD "follows five best dino friends on a musical adventure as they teach key life lessons and have fun at the same time," which, I gotta tell you, sounds boring as all get-out, but then I read the participants, which include Prince Paul and members of Digable Planets, the Roots, and -- of course -- Jurassic 5. The "Dino-5 Theme Song" you can download at their website sounds much more promising than the PR. In any case, Baby Loves Hip-Hop is out on Baby Loves Music in April.

Next up is Baby Loves Salsa. The skeleton of the website for this CD throws a lot of names around that I, as a non-salsa expert, don't recognize at all. But the tune available for download, "Somos La Banda," is lots of fun. Between this CD and the new Dan Zanes album, it looks like 2008 is the year of Spanish kids' music. Baby Loves Salsa is out on Baby Loves Music in June.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A while back, I wondered, "why are there not more great jazz albums for kids?" I could have substituted the word "good" for "great" and it still would have been a legitimate question. Still, the kids music jazz subgenre has picked up some steam since I wrote those words and with the recent appearance of a definitely great jazz album for kids, I thought it worthwhile to highlight some other new disks worth further exploration if you're looking to broaden the jazz section on your family's CD shelf (or whatever the iPod equivalent of that is).

Thirty Tigers' Jazz and Swing For Kids applies a big band (or at least one that approaches double digits) to 10 familiar kids' tunes. A glance at some of the titles, however, shows that they're mixing things up a little bit -- "Diddle Diddle Swing," for example, or the "Old MacDonald Jazz Remix" (a boogie-woogie which throws in a snippet of "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" for good measure). Strong vocals ("Here Comes the Rain Itsy" gets turned into a Little Richard rave-up) and a sense of playfulness are the strong points on this 33-minute CD.

The Doug Beavers Rovira Jazz Orchestra's Jazz, Baby! is, in many ways, a similar album. All 10 songs here are traditional ("Twinkle Twinkle," "Shortnin' Bread," "Working' On the Railroad"), and the vocals take center stage. If there is any difference it's that the arrangements are stronger, with strong versions of "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" that take full-advantage of a 20+ member big band being two highlights. "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain" is done in a fun cha-cha style. It's a polished recording, and while it's not targeted at adult listeners, those listeners who listen with their kids certainly won't begrudge time spent in its company. (Listen to several tracks from the 33-minute album here.)

While those two CDs certainly have much to recommend them, by sticking to traditional and familiar early childhood songs, they don't necessarily lend themselves to repeated listening over a long period of time -- they're CDs you might dip into occasionally.

Are there CDs worth more than an occasional dip? Well...

Continue reading "Review Four-Fer: Jazz Albums For Kids and Families" »

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Ted Williams was the last person to hit .400 for a baseball season, and now I'm duplicating the feat (using my own, very narrow, self-selected definition). 5 shows, 2 with our family's attendance...

-- Trout Fishing in America: They played here the weekend before last. I know that Trout's music appeals to all ages, but the fact that they played at the auditorium smack-dab in the community of Sun City -- which prohibits kids from living there -- amused me slightly. In any case, it's a long drive out there from our house, and since we were co-hosting a Chinese New Year's party that night, we took a pass. Hopefully next time...
-- Baby Loves Disco: All four of us attended the soiree in Scottsdale this weekend and had a fun time (again). I'll have more on this maybe next week.
-- The Terrible Twos: Argh. This show was schedule at the very last minute, so late that there was zero confirmation of the show except on the band's myspace page. We had guests visiting that afternoon, and shooing them out the door a little early so we could see a show that no human had actually confirmed seemed, well, my wife drew the line at that. And, yeah, that would have been bush-league. (So needless to say, I was a little disappointed when the venue's owner called up later that night and said that, yes, the show did indeed go on.) Hopefully next time...
-- Dan Zanes: Sunday, April 22nd, Tucson. We are there. I can't wait. I'm bringin' the uke.

-- Finally, some radio show's hootenanny in Brooklyn on March 24: Either that or the Park Slope Parents CD-release party on March 25th would be a lot of fun. It would also be terribly inconvenient, geographically (not to mention I'm already out of town that weekend).

So are you listening, West Coast? San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland -- I'm talking to you -- each of you have enough kids' artists that you could put together a pretty good hootenanny yourself. (Or if you all want to come out to Phoenix, let me know...) Don't let the East Coast Bias win!

Posted by SAShepherd at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

We have two (randomly-selected) winners for our contest to win tickets for the Feb. 24th Baby Loves Disco Scottsdale event.

Congratulations to Lisa L. ("We Are Family") and Angela A. ("Shake Your Bon Bon"), whose families will be shaking their collective booties (or, in Angela's case, bon bons) on the 24th.

Thanks to everyone who entered and to Baby Loves Disco for the ticket packs! (If you still want to join us, order your tickets for this and any other BLD event here.)

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Don't forget, the deadline to win one of two family packs of tickets to the party that will be the February 24th Baby Loves Disco event in Scottsdale is tomorrow, Saturday the 10th.

Enter via this link.

Posted by SAShepherd at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've talked about this before, but Baby Loves Disco is, like, the coolest playdate ever. A snack layout to impress every kid, awesome chillout rooms, a well-stocked dancefloor -- even if your kid doesn't like to dance, they'll have fun at one of these events. And if they (and you) do like to dance, so much the better.

Well, the next Baby Loves Disco event in Arizona is Saturday, February 24th, from 2 - 5 PM, and our family -- all four of us -- is going to be there. The fine moms and dads in charge have given me a couple family packs to give away for the Arizona event. That's right, two lucky families will get to attend gratis with a family pack (two adults, up to three kids).

How can you win? Simple -- just leave me a comment in this post telling me which song (kid-friendly or not) gets your kid(s) moving to the beat. (You'll need to leave an e-mail address, but that's accessible only by me, and I'll never use it except to notify you if you're a winner.) I'll randomly select two winners. The deadline for entries is Saturday, Feb. 10th, 8 PM MST. Please note that kids need to be between the ages of 6 months and 7 years in order to attend.

And if you're in other parts of the country, don't you fret -- I might just have some tickets for you in the future, too... In the meantime, you can order tickets for all events here.

Posted by SAShepherd at 08:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

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.

Posted by SAShepherd at 09:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I skipped July, didn't I? Slacker. Well, it would've been a short list (at the time, anyway). But August? August is shaping up as a little more crowded...

August 1: Go Baby Go - Baby Loves Jazz (Various Artists)
August 1: If I Could Be... - Meredith Brooks
August 8: A World of Music - Toucan Jam
August 8: What's Eatin' Yosi? - Yosi (national release)
August 22: Marvelous Day - Stevesongs (re-release on Rounder Records -- say that three times fast)
August 29: You Are My Little Bird - Elizabeth Mitchell (on Smithsonian Folkways)

But wait, there's more!

September will see the release of new stuff from Trout Fishing in America and ScribbleMonster (maybe).

And then there's October, October 3rd in particular, which is shaping up to be a very crowded release date. The third album from Milkshake, Play. [Edit: I've been told the album may come out just a leeeetle bit later.] The third album from The Sippy Cups, which has, hands-down, the best kids' music album name of the year, Electric Storyland. And the DVD/CD release from Ralph's World, Welcome to Ralph's World. Actually, I've seen that listed on various e-tailers' sites as both 10/3 and 10/10, so it could be either. We shall see...

Posted by SAShepherd at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ah, yes, late nights at nightclubs. Getting home at 4 AM.

OK, I never really did that, and I get up at 4 AM now to deal with a 9-month-old who's cutting teeth and recovering from a stomach flu simultaneously. But it's always fun to reminisce about the good old days that never were, including going out to discos.

Except now I can. If I, er, live in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boulder, and San Francisco, all of which have hosted or will soon host Baby Loves Disco events.

The concept?

DJs. Discos. Diaper changing stations.

That's right, now you can get loose on the dance floor with your very own kids dancing to (what I assume would include) tunes such as "Love Train," "Boogie Oogie Oogie," and -- why not? -- "Play That Funky Music." [Edit: Here's a sample playlist. None of the above, but "Ring My Bell," "Shake Your Groove Thing," and, yes, "I Will Survive."]

The sensible parent in me says, do we really want 4-year-olds to dance to disco music, which is not always the most child-friendly, lyrically? The fun guy in me says, this sounds like a lot of fun, and I bet my daughter would love it, too, assuming she wasn't too overwhelmed by the sheer visual and audio stimuli.

(Hat tip to the Semi-Official Ralph's World Message Board for the link.)

*****

Today I was also going to post something about Chica-go-go, which a kind reader alerted me to. It had a very Pancake Mountain-like vibe which intrigued me. (It also appeared that half of the Bloodshot Recordings label has appeared on the show.)

But in case of blog-mind-meld, Clea beat me to it, and wrote more than I would've anyway. So go there instead.

Posted by SAShepherd at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)