I'll start this review of
Family Time, the first kids music album from
Ziggy Marley, by saying that I'm not a big reggae fan. So, when I put my review copy into the CD player my expectations were low.
Saying that the album exceeded my expectations, then, would be somewhat like damning with faint praise. So let me put it this way:
Family Time is a lot of fun, regardless of what music your family likes. Unsurprisingly, there's a pleasant, laid-back vibe to the album which is one of its greatest strengths. "I Love You Too," for example, with Marley's mom Rita and his sister Cedella, won't change the world but its simple groove will probably put a smile on your face. "Take Me To Jamaica" features a fun duet between Marley and reggae legend Toots Hibbert. And my favorite moment on whole CD might just be when Marley's daughter joins in on the singing on the title track. It certainly isn't polished, but it's exactly that feeling of recording amongst friends and family that takes this album so far.
As for the rest of the guest stars, some of it works, some of it doesn't so much. Generally, I liked the female singers -- it's hard to go wrong with two of the best voices in the kids music genre, and Elizabeth Mitchell and Laurie Berkner don't disappoint on their tracks. The male guest stars, not so much -- it's not that Willie Nelson and Paul Simon are bad, just that they don't really add much to the track. And the placement of not one but two Jamie Lee Curtis narrations (one Marley's, one hers) back-to-back at the end of the disk is just plain odd. (Interspersed earlier in the disk, and it might have worked...)
The 45-minute album might be targeted to kids ages 3 through 7, but I think a lot of adult fans will find the album eminently listenable as well. You can find samples throughout the internet, the title track on his
Myspace page.
Ziggy Marley has said that he hoped to make
Family Time an album which could be passed down from generation to generation. And while I don't know if it's a timeless classic, there's no doubt that it's worthy of some repeat play. Definitely recommended.
An oddity of the KindieFest 2009 showcase was that the headliner, Ralph's World, actually played their set smack-dab in the middle of the showcase (as opposed to the final set). Mr. Ralph's World himself, Ralph Covert, had already played a couple shows earlier in the day, but you wouldn't have known it from the long, energetic set he turned in. More so than probably any other performer, Covert attempted to engage the folks in attendance, from regaling them with a story about dealing with Disney (a story that might not have been of interest to an audience made up primarily of 4-year-olds but was of great interest to the industry-heavy crowd in attendance) to several times encouraging the audience to sing or dance along.
What I'll remember most about the set, I think, is Covert inviting all the musicians in attendance up on stage with him for "Sunny Day Rainy Day Anytime Band." It's a song that the 4-year-olds typically hop up on stage for, but most of the adult musicians there up on stage air-guitar-ed (and air-bass-ed, and air-drummed) with their inner 4-year-old, so it really didn't make much of a difference. It's a song that I've never been that enamored of on record, but totally rocked on stage.
Ralph's World - "The Rhyming Circus"
Another song (an oldie but goodie) and picture after the jump.
I already mentioned the 
As we continue our stroll through the showcase from 
