Musical Notes - February 2009
Nice. Really, Really Nice
By Charlotte Bohn
Be Nice
www.leenyandsteve.com
It’s easy to be nice about this debut album from a couple of self-described,
middle-aged rockers. The songs are catchy, funny, unique, and appealing to both
children and parents. Like many children’s music artists these days, Ilene
(Leeny) Altman and Steve Equi didn’t think they would end up writing songs for
kids. |
They met at Berklee College of Music in Boston and, two decades later, they
found themselves thrown together by chance when Leeny asked Steve to
collaborate on a few children’s songs she’d written for her nephew. Steve
always had a soft side for “The Muppets” and “School House Rock.” Leeny thought
he might be into the idea of a musical collaboration—and, luckily, and he
was.
The end result is a real kid-friendly mix of Leeny’s lyrics and melodies and
Steve’s musical arrangements, which draw from a wide variety of styles such as
R&B, country, and reggae, while remaining rooted in rock ‘n’ roll.
I am not just being nice when I say Be Nice is like a breath of
fresh air. The lyrics are so kid-like that you would think Leeny and Steve were kids. The song “It’s Not Nice” preaches (in a
friendly way), “It's not nice to pick on your sibling/It's not nice to steal
from your friends/It's not nice to bully or tease/Or call someone a poopyhead.”
There are 16 songs on this fantastic CD, and I have a feeling that lots of
children will find “Stinky Diaper” as entertaining as I did: “It's movin'
around/It's smellin' so foul/It's bringin' me down/This stink, stink/I'll
scream and I'll cry/Till you ask me why/And you're gonna find/This stink,
stink.”
Nothing stinks about Be Nice.
Emphatical Piratical
www.boggandsalty.com
Yaaaar….it’s cold out, but Captain Bogg & Salty are ready to take you on a
wild ride on the high seas with the sun beating down on you and the wind
blowing in your hair. This 12-song CD is full of wild and boisterous songs that
will have even the youngest buccaneers stomping their feet.
Emphatical Piratical follows the path of
three successful Captain Bogg & Salty CDs—Bedtime Stories
for Pirates (1999), Pegleg Tango (2005), and Prelude to a Mutiny (2006). This fourth CD from the rollicking rock band
of pirates is sure to please fans with musical styles ranging from classic sea
shanties to calypso to hard-driving hip-hop beats. The title track is an
awesome riff on the joys of pirate life set to Offenbach’s “Gallop Infernal.”
While you are twirling and dancing your way through the songs, you might find
that you are getting a little pirate education along the way. Pirate-Life 101
emerges on tunes such as “Don’t Drink Sea Water,” “Never Smile at a Crocodile,”
and “Port Side,” a song that teaches listeners about the parts of a ship.
Formed in 1999, Captain Bogg & Salty is a band of six musical pirates from
Portland, Ore., whose costumed act blends original music with humor and
history. Pirates seem to be all the rage since Captain Jack made his debut in
the hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean.
There’s no harm in enjoying the infectious pirate music and imagining life a
great big ship—just as long as you abide by the pirate code, you won’t be
forced to walk the plank.
Two Flowers
www.daniellesansone.com
Before the birth of my son a year and a half ago, I always thought that lullaby
CDs were what you put on when putting the baby to sleep—so that he would
drift happily into dreamland. I realize now that these soft lilting melodies
were meant to calm the parent’s nerves as much as the child’s. Danielle Sansone
does just that on her remarkably soothing and beautiful CD Two Flowers.
As stated in a press release, “Two Flowers started out as a simple recording of a few songs Danielle Sansone had
written for her two children, and turned into what producer Will Robertson
calls a ‘14-track ode to childhood wonder.’”
Sansone reminds me slightly of Enya, with symphonic and dreamlike instrumental
sounds mixed with smooth and almost hauntingly sweet vocals. Even the names of
the songs are sound like sleep: “Bed of Roses,” “Like an Angel,” “Sleep so
Sweetly,” “Whisper,” “The Sleepy Mile,” “Blanket,” and “Shimmering.”
Two Flowers is sprinkled with a
little bluegrass and just enough country twang—Sansone does live in
Georgia—to give this collection an earthy, folksy feel. If you were to
get any new mom a little something for her to enjoy and share with her sleepy
one, I would suggest Two Flowers.
BC
Charlotte@BaltimoresChild.com
© Baltimore’s Child Inc. February 2009
