New music for children

Cool Music for Kids News – Midsummer edition
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Listen to Your First Lady
I smiled at this headline: First Lady Prods Kids to Exercise. Unfortunately, while Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Get Moving” campaign is brilliant, the idea of exercising in the midsummer heat is not an easy prod. And some kids are just not into competitive sports. But anyone can dance. Check out these brand new family music releases for songs that will get everyone up and moving:

Take It Outside is a new (August 3rd) collection of witty and energetic tunes that will get your peeps off the couch. The Okee Dokee Brothers is the acclaimed Twin Cities duo of Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing, who together skillfully blend a little bit of country, quite a bit of bluegrass and add in pop and funk influences for good measure. The crisp new sound for Take It Outside is helped along by Grammy award nominated producer Tor Hyams (known for creating Kidzapalooza and Austin Kiddie Limits, among other kindie music events).

Guest artist Adam Levy (Honeydogs and Bunnyclogs) performs the rocking lead electric guitar on the song “Hero.” Stefan Shepherd of Zooglobble.com contributed liner notes.

Catch The Okee Dokee Brothers at any of their shows in Minnesota this summer, at Every Family Rocks in Des Moines in September and at Austin Kiddie Limits in October.

The Kids Are All Id – One of the top 5 CDs of 2010 so far, according to the poll at Parentsconnect, is brand new from Randy Kaplan. It’s not easy to categorize this indie artist, formerly of Brooklyn, NY, and currently based in Los Angeles. Check out his covers of “I Got Plenty o’ Nuttin” or “Forever Young,” and then delve into his original, rich and imaginative world where bears speak Hebrew and it’s hard to tell whether a girl is a monkey or a human.

Three of these new songs are adapted from Ezra Jack Keats’ works. It’s a wonderful, light and funny mix of tunes for all ages, and Randy will play them at all of his shows.

Summer Concerts
In fact this is the busiest season for family music performances. Get your dancing shoes on and step out with the family for Justin Roberts and Bill Harley’s shows all over the place, or the Sugar Free Allstars at one of their many library and festival shows, or Key Wilde and Mr Clarke's show at Jammin' Java or Debbie and Friends’ many family concerts at museums, libraries and arts centers.

Baby Loves Disco Lemonade Tour
Is it true that disco dancing only burns 300 calories an hour? You can do better. In case you haven’t heard, Baby Loves Disco Lemonade Tour is fostering family dance fever in more than 45 cities this summer and fall, bringing music, fun and lemonade to clubs, shopping centers, hospitals and other venues.The tour is sponsored by the cool retailers H&M and benefits Alex’s Lemonade Stand. A brand new Baby Loves Disco CD, featuring the DJ talents of King Britt is coming in October, too.

Watch for These in September
OK, it’s a bit early to think about school, but three September releases will encourage learning and laughter:

Bill Harley – (September 14)
This American humorist will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement award in the fall, and he has a new spoken-word CD coming out in mid-September called The Best Candy in the World.
The two-time Grammy award winner spins fantastical stories grounded in everyday life.

Oran Etkin – (September 14)
this internationally acclaimed jazz/world music artist will release Wake Up, Clarinet! Oran teaches his Timbalooloo music classes to the kids of Harvey Keitel, Naomi Watts, Edie Falco and Liev Schreiber in NYC. This new release builds on Etkin’s Timbalooloo method of encouraging kids to internalize important musical concepts while exciting their creativity. Wake Up, Clarinet! features performances by drummer Jason Marsalis and soulful vocalist Charanee Wade. Etkin plans CD release concerts in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Jeremy Zmuda – (September 28)
Another popular NYC music educator will release Use Your Words, a collection of catchy songs that help young kids build the vocabulary to express their feelings and needs. The lyrics were co-written with Lizzie Bicknell, an early childhood specialist. Madeleine Peyroux, Kirk Douglas (the Roots), and Leo Sidran also perform. A portion of the proceeds from the album will benefit Kids Need a Melody, a nonprofit program that provides music lessons and concerts to kids in need.

... And More Great Causes
We’re excited about Bill Childs’ new Spare the Rock label release Many Hands: Family Music for Haiti, produced by Dean Jones and featuring an amazing array of artists: Pete Seeger, Elizabeth Mitchell, Uncle Rock, Randy Kaplan and Dan Zanes are among them. The CD benefits the Haitian People’s Support Project. A host of concerts will celebrate the release, including a Many Hands show here in Portland on September 11th with Randy Kaplan and Recess Monkey.

Hoping for some peace and harmony among kids at school? We think Peter Yarrow’s Operation Respect offers the best free curriculum out there for elementary school programs. We also recently discovered Moozie's Musical Adventures!, a Children’s Kindness Network CD, a September release presenting 17 celebrity voices on two original children’s orchestral pieces: Moozie’s Orchestra Adventure and Moozie’s Kind Adventure. Wynonna Judd, Kathie Lee Gifford, Dave Brubeck, Chris Botti and others donated their time for the project that helps promote kindness, in hopes of reducing bullying.