Best Kids Music of 2015: Top 30 Albums

Slowly but surely, I'm getting better about writing these "Best of" lists in something approaching timeliness. Even if it might be a bit late for holiday gift-giving purposes, I'm writing about the best of 2015 in 2015.

This past year was another good one in terms of new releases, so once again it was difficult to narrow down the musical year -- I'd guess that I once again listened to 250-300 albums -- to what is, in essence, the my favorite 10%.

As always, my year-end best-of list matches the Fids and Kamily year -- that is to say, from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015. So some good albums from the last couple months [waves at They Might Be Giants] will just have to wait for next year's list.

#1 (tie) - Molly Ledford & Billy Kelly - Trees

[Review] - "Like the trees they sing about, this duo's connection six years ago has grown into a sturdy friendship and musical collaboration. You're unlikely to hear a more joyful celebration of the natural world and our relation to it this year."

#1 (tie) - The Pop Ups - Great Pretenders Club

[Review] - "So often trailblazing releases are notable more for their context than their content, but in the case of Great Pretenders Club, the album's music is every bit as notable as the way it's been introduced to the world. This is, simply put, one of the year's best albums."

#3 (tie) - Lori Henriques - How Great Can This Day Be?

[Review] - "After winning the Joe Raposo Children’s Music Award, named for the composer of classic songs for Sesame Street and the Muppets, last year, her smart and joyful music, which sounds like it’d fit right in on those classic shows, is finding a wider audience. Her new album How Great Can This Day Be shows off those musical talents."

#3 (tie) - Red Yarn - Deep Woods Revival

[Review] - "Red Yarn’s fervor for American folk music is evident on Deep Woods Revival. While folk music has never gone away in the children’s music genre, he forcefully makes the case for its continued relevance in the era of the mp3."

#5 (tie) - Big Block Singsong - Big Block Singsong Greatest Hits Vol. 1

[Review] - "So, yeah, I’m late to the party, but better late than never. Big Block Singsong is ten tons of fun. After listening and watching, your kids’ll probably have a two-banana day, too."

#5 (tie) - Duke Otherwise - Beehives and Bedheads

[Review] - "Looking for an album that provides guidance on moving through early childhood life transitions? Move along, then, because this album kicks off with a song called “Dancing Pig” that answers the question, “What would a Tom Waits song about a prancing porcine sound like?,” and never really gets any less weird from there."

#5 (tie) - The Amazing Keystone Big Band w/ David Tennant - Peter and the Wolf and Jazz!

[Review] - "The melodies themselves are unchanged, but the band's arrangement brings in a wide variety of jazz styles -- stride piano, hip-hop, free jazz, blues, cool jazz, and the like. None of the stylistic shifts seem out of place -- rather, they feel appropriate to the story."

#8 (tie) - Josh and the Jamtones - Rocksteady

[Review] - "Have I made it clear enough that Rocksteady is a party, through and through? Because it is, enough so that your kids probably won't even need that lullaby album to fall asleep to after dancing like crazy."

#8 (tie) - Jazzy Ash - Bon Voyage

[Review] - "With Bon Voyage, Jazzy Ash fully connects with her own family’s musical heritage, yet incorporates those 100-year-old traditions into 21st century kids music. It's a buoyant and warm-hearted album for the younger set."

#8 (tie) - Charlie Hope - Where the Path Will Wind: Songs, Stories and Friends 2

[Review] - "Where the Path Will Wind is essentially an audio magazine, an aural equivalent, perhaps, to her Sing As We Go! video series."

#8 (tie) - Tim Kubart - Home

[Review] - "While I've always thought Kubart's music had their share of pop hooks, Home is bursting at the seams with them and is his best effort yet... [B]less Tim Kubart and his big pop heart."

#8 (tie) - Alison Faith Levy - The Start of Things

[Review] - "Imagine, however, if other musical strains of the [1960s] -- psychedelic pop, Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production -- also found themselves working their way into kids' music with songs for the youngest listener."

#8 (tie) - Caspar Babypants - Night Night!

[Review] - "I hope Ballew doesn't take this the wrong way, but his album is forgettable in all the right ways. What I mean by that is the music, while catchy, isn't necessarily one bouncy hook-filled song after another. Rather, it features a more consistent -- and obviously far mellower -- tone."

The eagle-eyed among you will note that that list includes a baker's dozen of albums, not ten. I didn't squeeze an extra three albums into my ballot -- only 3 of those 6 albums tied for 8 made it in. But it was such a hard choice that I'm sure I'd pick a different 3 every week. For Fids & Kamily I need to make a choice. But this is my list, and so I'm listing thirteen albums.

After these top thirteen, distinguishing between the rest of my list becomes even more difficult. So once again I'm taking the easy way out - alphabetical order for albums 14 through 30.

Turkey Andersen - Turkey Andersen [Review]

The Bazillions - On the Bright Side [Review]

Bunny Clogs - Whales Can't Whistle [Review]

Cat Doorman - Calling All the Kids to the Yard [Review]

Sonia De Los Santos - Mi Viaje: De Nuevo Leon to the New York Island [Review]

Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - Adelante! [Review]

Hilary Grist - Tomorrow Is a Chance To Start Over [Review]

Gustafer Yellowgold - Dark Pie Concerns [Review]

Lloyd Miller - Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! [Review]

Alastair Moock - All Kinds of You and Me [Review]

Keith Munslow - Tiny Destroyer [Review]

Pointed Man Band - The Flight of the Blue Whale [Review]

Recess Monkey - Hot Air [Review]

Renee and Friends - Simpatico [Review]

Rocknoceros - Plymouth Rockers [Review]

Big World Audio Theatre - The Peculiar Tales of the S.S. Bungalow [Review]

Suz Slezak - Watching the Nighttime Come [Review]

Radio Playlist: New Music October 2015

This is the busiest time of the year for releases in the kids music world -- I would've held a couple of these back just to make the list a little shorter... but next month's will probably be just as long. If you want to catch my list from September you can see that playlist here.

As always, it's limited in that if an artist hasn't chosen to post a song on Spotify, I can't put it on the list, nor can I feature songs from as-yet-unreleased albums. But I'm always keeping stuff in reserve for the next Spotify playlist.

Check out the list here.

**** New Music October 2015 (October 2015 Kindie Playlist) ****

"Get Happy" - The Verve Pipe

"If You're Happy and You Know It" - Treva LaViva

"Breakfast Club (feat. Carly Ciaricchio)" - Tim Kubart

"Magic Elevator" - Hot Peas 'n Butter

"Love Is the Way" - Sunshine Collective

"All of the Colors" - Mil's Trills

"Bird's Tweets. Presto leggiero" - The Amazing Keystone Big Band

"Grapes" - Andrew & Polly

"Peach Tree" - Alex and the Kaleidoscope

"Verduras" - Jose-Luis Orozco

"Goin' to the Pool" - The Bug Family Band

"Speedy Hill" - Dad-a-Razzo

"This Land is Your Land" - Rolie Polie Guacamole

"The End" - Caspar Babypants

Review: Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! - The Amazing Keystone Big Band with David Tennant

The Amazing Keystone Big Band - Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! album cover

I wouldn't say that if there's one classical music piece you've heard, it's "Peter and the Wolf," because orchestral melodies are woven throughout modern life, even if you're only vaguely aware of it. But if there's one classical music piece you've heard because somebody was trying to teach your child (or you, when you were young) the concepts of symphonic orchestral music, it's "Peter and the Wolf."

Composed in 1936 by Sergei Prokofiev in Russia, the piece tells the story of the young (and brave) boy Peter, who along with his animal friends, outwits and captures a wolf intent on eating several of them. Prokofiev gives each character a primary instrument (strings, for example, for Peter) and a melody, and mixes and blends them both as different characters interact. There's a narrator providing some basic storytelling guideposts, though Prokofiev tells his musical tale so well, that once the story gets going, the words are, while not unnecessary, not bearing the weight of the story.

The piece is a classic, and there are literally dozens -- if not hundreds -- of versions recorded over the years. We've got at least a couple on our own shelves. And because it's a classic, there's really no need to have more than one or two versions unless you like the particular narrator.

Or unless the musicians have taken an entirely different approach, which is the case on Peter and the Wolf and Jazz!, a brand-new recording from France's The Amazing Keystone Big Band. The big band features 18 younger French jazz musicians, and this new version deftly blends Prokofiev's symphonic story with a big band sensibility. So instead of the string section (violins, violas, etc.), Peter's theme is represented by the band's rhythm section -- piano, bass, and guitar (which are, as the album's liner notes remind us, stringed instruments themselves). The wolf is represented by the trombones and tuba instead of the French horns, and so on -- instruments that are similar in tone, but not necessarily the same ones.

The melodies themselves are unchanged, but the band's arrangement brings in a wide variety of jazz styles -- stride piano, hip-hop, free jazz, blues, cool jazz, and the like. None of the stylistic shifts seem out of place -- rather, they feel appropriate to the story. The triumphant parade march at the end is a swing style which to my ears sounds something like a New Orleans second line band would play in their own parade.

As for the narrator, David Tennant, best known on these shores as one of the Doctor Whos, does a fine job telling the story. The wouldn't necessarily recommend the album just for his narration, but it's more than up to the task. The liner notes are excellent, featuring many pages of the narration and illustrations by Martin Jarrie along with explanations by the band of their arrangement choices. (The 54-minute album is appropriate for kids ages 3 through whatever, but you knew that already.)

Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! isn't the first attempt to rework Prokofiev's tale for a jazz audience, but as best I can tell, it's the first in a half-century. More importantly, it's taken that classic piece and made it sound fresh. As a jazz album, it's wonderful, and as a classical album, well, it's wonderful, too. Highly recommended.

Note: I received a copy of the album for possible review.

Best Kids Music of 2015: Top 30 Albums

Radio Playlist: New Music October 2015

Review: Peter and the Wolf and Jazz! - The Amazing Keystone Big Band with David Tennant

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