Just For Fun - Beleza

Just For Fun cover

Artist: Beleza

Album: Just For Fun

Age Range:

Review: The colorful cover of Beleza's first album for families, Just for Fun, doesn't particularly stand out among kids music releases -- kindie covers are rarely monochromatic.  But the music inside is far more distinctive, a mix of Brazilian music and jazz with a light touch and playful core.  Without diminishing Humberto Oliveira Sales' guitar work and playing on other instruments, it's Madeleine Holly-Sales' vocals that most give this album a festive but sophisticated air.  With a nifty blend of English-language covers (a swingin' "I Wanna Be Like You" from The Jungle Book, "Little Liza Jane" with nifty guitar work, and a bilingual "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad") and songs in Portuguese (including "O Pato," about a duck and made famous Stateside by João Gilberto, Stan Getz, and Astrud Gilberto), the 33-minute album is like a jet down to Rio for a kid-friendly Carnaval weekend.  (Should one of those things exist.)  Definitely recommended.

Note: I was provided a copy of this album for possible review.

Songs from a Journey with a Parrot - Various Artists (The Secret Mountain)

Artist: Various Artists (The Secret Mountain)

Album: Songs from a Journey with a Parrot: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes from Brazil and Portugal

Age Range: 0 through 6

Description: The latest book/CD combo from Canadian publisher The Secret Mountain heads to a couple Portuguese-speaking countries for a selection of lullabies and nursery rhymes.  The selection (originally published in France in 2003) is well-produced and diverse in its musical stylings (the songs were collected by Magdalene Lerasle).  Unlike the Putumayo disks, which are typically compilations of previously-recorded material from a wide range of artists, each Secret Mountain production tends to keep itself to a narrower range of artists.  Here arranger Paul Mindy leads a handful of vocalists.  The adults may want to turn to the detailed liner notes (lyrics, translated lyrics, song backgrounds, credits) in the back while the kids will probably stick with the front half and Aurelia Fronty's vibrant illustrations and brief lyrical snippets.

The 45-minute album is a lot more uptempo than the subtitle "Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes" might suggest, so if you're looking for a lullaby album, look elsewhere.  But for a playful collection of Latin melodies (and non-Spanish-language ones at that), this is an excellent introduction.  Recommended.