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CD Review: “Coal Train Railroad”

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The idea of “jazz for kids” might seem as condescending, and as fraught with cheeseball peril, as “science for kids” or VeggieTales or anything else that’s supposed to dumb down supposedly adult material for little brains. And honestly, unless you’re trying to teach your kids about harmolodics, you can pretty much play jazz for your kids without worrying that they won’t be able to appreciate it. Chances are you don’t know your major sixths from your minor sevenths, but you can still appreciate Kind of Blue, right? Right.

Still, it’s hard to argue with anyone who wants to build a jazz gateway for kids, especially when they give it a name as clever as the Coal Train Railroad (say it out loud), or when they kick off the album by asking “what makes that coal train go?” Running the jazz (and jazz-ish) spectrum from jump blues to torch ballads, Coal Train Railroad puts singer Katy Bowser’s supple vocals in front of a crack combo and some smart, easy-to-digest arrangements. Think of it as sort of a jazzy audio equivalent of Bugsy Malone; when she slows down the tempo, Bowser croons like Linda Ronstadt on her Nelson Riddle records, but instead of looking for someone to watch over her, she’s looking for a nap.

It’s fun, well-made stuff. And if it mostly just leaves you wanting to listen to some Brubeck, Jobim, or Ella, then I suppose that’s sort of the point, right?

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DVD Review: “Gettin’ Funky with the Sugar Free Allstars”

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Aside from Martin & Medeski or the Benevento-Russo Duo, there aren’t many acts a person can turn to if they’re hungry for some stripped down, funky Hammond organ-and-drums action — and in the kids’ music universe? Forget it. With the quasi-exception of Taj Mahal’s songs for children, funk and/or soul is in short supply in the kiddieverse, and if there are two things our children need more than fresh air, exercise, and to leave me alone while I’m trying to write, those two things are funk and soul. After all, like Whitney Houston said, the children are our future. Try imagining a future even less funky than the world we’re living in. Gives you the heebie-jeebies, doesn’t it? I mean, if Karl Rove had been fed a diet of Wilson Pickett and Aretha when he was a little boy, things might have turned out a little differently, don’t you think?

I digress. Here’s what I’m trying to say: There might be bands making music for kids that’s funkier, more soulful, and more fun than the Sugar Free Allstars, but if there are, I’m not aware of them — and what’s more, the band makes music for adults, too. Continue reading →

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CD Review: The Bramble Jam, “Move Your Boots”

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I could go on and on about this album, but everything you need to know about it is laid out for you before the first note graces your speakers. To wit:

1. The name of the band is the Bramble Jam, which is the coolest. Just the coolest.

2. The title of the album is Move Your Boots. See #1.

3. The band photo on the inside sleeve shows the members of Bramble Jam holding three acoustic guitars, a stand-up bass, and a pair of drumsticks.

The only question you should have at this point is whether or not the music on the album is cool enough to live up to everything I’ve just described, and the answer is a resounding “yes.” Move Your Boots is one of the most effortlessly charming kids’ records I’ve heard in a really long time, with beautifully crisp production and perfectly stripped-down arrangements to go with the band’s rootsy instrumentation and songs about stuff you might remember from your own childhood — like splashing in puddles, dancing like a goofball, arguing with your siblings, wondering why Mom’s so upset about your messy room, Dad’s pancakes, and squishing bugs. None of these are particularly groundbreaking topics for a children’s album, but it isn’t often that they’re addressed with such a refreshing lack of artifice; quite often, Boots has the feel of a back porch jam that just sort of happened to wander into kindie territory. What else can I tell you that really matters? It’s wonderful, just wonderful.

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