Monday Morning Smile: "Let It Go" - Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel and the Roots

As with the last time I posted a clip of Jimmy Fallon and the Roots tackling a pop culture hit, I suspect that many of you reading this have already seen this (or at least had a half-dozen friends recommend it to you via social media).  But it's still great.

This clip from The Tonight Show of Jimmy Fallon, The Roots, and Idina Menzel singing the big hit from Disney's Frozen, "Let It Go," aired the night after the song won the Oscar for Best Original Song.  I actually was never a huge fan of the song in the movie -- for a song about letting it all go, it never seemed to actually… let go.  No problem with that in this version -- I like the arrangement better (though that has nothing to do with the toy instruments) and Menzel gets to show off her voice even more.  Big smile.

Jimmy Fallon, Idina Menzel, and the Roots - "Let It Go" (from Frozen) [YouTube] 

Weekly Summary (2/24/14 - 3/9/14)

Itty-Bitty Review: 123s and ABCs - Ella Jenkins

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Let's begin as we must always begin when talking about Ella Jenkins -- she is a legend.  The Chicago-based musician released her first album for Folkways Records (later Smithsonian Folkways) in 1957, and she's recorded for Folkways ever since.  Jenkins turns 90 years old later this year, but she's still playing live around the country.

This latest album follows up on 2013's Get Moving with Ella Jenkins with another collection of previously-released material.  As you might guess from the album title, this album features songs about counting and the alphabet, presented with empathy and without a trace of irony and hipness.  That's not a putdown -- one of the great joys of listening to and watching Jenkins perform live and on record is hearing and seeing how in sync she is with her audience.  She's not playing to the adults in the back of the room -- she's playing to the kids in the front.  (She wants to get the adults involved, too, but that's usually not at issue on recordings.)  She's leading and teaching them, and the kids adore her for it.  Once your kids have already mastered their letters and numbers, they probably won't want to listen, and you might not want to listen to the album on repeat regardless, but again, it's not for you.

You can listen 3 tracks from the 31-minute album here.  Recommended if you've got preschoolers, and as always, if you yourself sing to preschoolers on a regular basis, regardless of whether you're in a classroom setting or not.

Video: "Colonel Purple Turtle" - Rocknoceros

Yes, the song is more than a couple years old, but the title track to Rocknoceros' Colonel Purple Turtle album is particularly earworm-y, and now it has a fun-to-watch video to match.  The band goes through the (stop-)motions for the song -- I'm a big fan just of the rotating band members.

Rocknoceros - "Colonel Purple Turtle" [YouTube]

Video: "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)" (Live) - Walter Martin

I already mentioned the oh-so-lovely Walter Martin - Karen O duet "Sing To Me," and now there's a new video for another song off Martin's forthcoming family album We're All Young Together.  It's for the mid-tempo stroll down memory lane "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)," and it's every bit as genial as the titular subject -- Martin in the foreground, playing keyboards, the rest of the band in the background.  Not much happens, but the song's so great, I don't care.  Unfortunately, toy xylophones introduced (or noticed) in the first act are apparently unplayed in the third.

Walter Martin - "The Beatles (When Ringo Shook His Mop)" (Live) [YouTube]

Listen To This: "Fireflies" - Laurie Berkner

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Laurie Berkner Lullabies, the Kickstarter-funded lullaby album from Laurie Berkner, is set to be released on April 8, and we're finally getting to hear some of the music from the album.  It's the song "Fireflies," and if the rest of the album is as delightful as this one, we're in for a sleepy treat.  A simple a cappella melody just as sweet as "Moon Moon Moon," one of my all-time Berkner favorites.

Laurie Berkner - "Fireflies" [Soundcloud]