By AAJ STAFF,
Published:
There is some kind of Jazz for everybody. And kids are no different. While the music presented here is by no means only for kids (Silly Rabbit, it's okay) it does happen to have the necessary qualities for kids to gravitate toward it. There's the fun factor; Horace Silver's music is undoubtedly FUN. There's the "head bob" factor, music that gets their heads a-boppin'; ditto Silver, but Monk is just as danceable in his own way. Finally, there are charismatic, humorous, and accessible soloists like Jon Hendricks and Jimmy Smith, and some familiar themes from childhood like "Peter and The Wolf" and "The Nutcracker Suite."
So if you haven't already tried to hip your kids to this very hip music called Jazz (or haven't had any luck yet), try these on for size. They are certainly some of the most youthful-in-spirit records out there, and fine representatives of the Jazz tradition no matter what the context is. And remember that if your enthusiasm for this music causes the kids to rebel, use reverse psychology and act like you're indifferent to it. THEN their ears will suddenly open up!
Hipping kids to Jazz is great not only because they might become the Jazz listeners/musicians of tomorrow (as so many of us were so introduced) but because an appreciation of music has shown to be a critical factor in a child's success in school. People play Mozart to their babies in the womb. We say play Monk and Basie through their formative years!
OK, so you knew this was coming. But this is the record that turned so many families and children onto Jazz and its appeal to children is undeniable, even if the Charlie Brown theme is as yet unbeknownst to kids. A good companion record would be Wynton Marsalis' Joe Cool's Blues, which covers the same ground by a Jazz quintet.
Not just because kids surround Count Basie on the cover, although that doesn't hurt. Kids love the Beatles' great melodies at a pretty early age, and this set presents them in the swinging, bluesy language of the Count Basie Orchestra. Like the Guaraldi set, this music stands by itself.
read more: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-for-kids-by-aaj-staff.php
0 Comments:
Post a Comment