Musical Notes - September 2009

Somersaults, song, and (yawn) steel drums.

By Charlotte Bohn

Somersault Season
www.laurafreemanmusic.com

This is totally a kick-back-and-chill CD. Somersault Season may not have you doing actual somersaults, but the music is so genuinely folksy and conversational that the warm feeling you get may cause little excited somersaults in your tummy. |
Singer/songwriter Laura Freeman will win you over not only with her imaginative lyrics but also with her earthy voice. Freeman doesn’t simply sing her songs—she becomes her songs. In “My Brother’s a Monster,” Freeman roars and growls and will have you and your children stomping around the room to this highly entertaining song.
While the songs on Somersault Season vary in musical genre, in keeping with the album title, a number of them relate to spring, summer, fall, and winter. The spring song “Swoosh Swoosh” is spoken-word, about the different sounds you hear as spring approaches, and it’s a really lovely track. For summer, Freeman jams out to “Flower Dance,” and although you will be mesmerized by her voice, I bet you won’t be able to stop your toe from tapping. The lilting sounds of the banjo take you into “In the Fall,” and once again Freeman’s voice lends itself perfectly to this jaunty, happy-go-lucky tune. One of the winter songs, “No Two Alike,” is about snowflakes, and it will transport you to an Italian café with a trilling mandolin and Freeman’s cabaret-like delivery.
According to press materials for the CD, Somersault Season is geared to ages 2 to 6, but the collection is really for anyone of any age to enjoy.
This is Freeman’s third release. I don’t know how I missed the first two, but I must get my hands on them!

Music Box
www.marykayemusic.com

Singer/songwriter Mary Kaye crept up on me, surprised me, and shook me hard with this treasure of a CD. Music Box is a 12-track gem that is a refreshing departure from anything else I have heard in the children’s music scene. I don’t know what is going on this month, but between this CD and Somersault Season, I feel like women are taking over the children’s music world.
The unassuming cover of Music Box doesn’t exactly grab your attention, and the song titles, similarly unassuming, may not either. But once you listen to the songs, you get to the heart of Music Box, and that heart is Mary Kaye. Folksy and rootsy, Mary Kaye delivers original songs that range from topics about a bug in the house (“Bug”) to what it’s like to be in a family (“Family”) to the beauty of a red cardinal in the snow (“Red Cardinal”).
Like I said before, don’t let the simple, everyday song titles and subjects fool you. Mary Kaye is anything but predictable with her occasional, and sometimes unusual, departures from melody that add depth and character to her songs. With a voice unmistakably reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, Mary Kaye weaves stories around everyday happenings that children will relate to and enjoy completely.
The musicality and imagination on Music Box is exceptional and definitely something you have never heard before. I certainly had not.

In the Kid Zone
www.asheba.net

I love Caribbean music. I really do. Nothing shouts relaxation like the sound of a steel drum, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.
The press release that accompanied aptly described In the Kid Zone as “a collection of 11 songs intended to take listeners on a joyful journey sharing calypso, reggae, and world beat music for children of all ages.”
The CD does do exactly that, but then once you are on that journey you are hit repeatedly over the head with the same sound—song after song after song…after song.
In that same press release, musical artist Asheba is described as the Pied Piper of Caribbean music for families, and he certainly has earned that description. His voice is laid back and cool, and when he sings about the joy of recess, the chirpiness of a little keskidee, the cool sweetness of ice cream, and the smoothness of moonbeams, you will wish you were on a beach looking out over cool blue water. Just maybe not with this CD playing. While In the Kid Zone delivers the goods, it left me feeling a little bored. BC

Charlotte@BaltimoresChild.com

Charlotte Bohn is a member of the evaluation committee for Parents’ Choice, a nonprofit guide to quality children's media and toys. Read Bohn’s reviews on the Parents’ Choice website, www.parents-choice.org.

© Baltimore's Child Inc. September 2009