Steamboat music critic from Warren Truitt on Vimeo.
***Miriam Makeba***
In honor of South African songstress Miriam Makeba, who passed just two weeks ago, here's a short review of one of her indispensable albums, Sangoma, recorded in 1988 for Warner Brothers Records. A Sangoma is a traditional healer in southern African cultures, and these songs reflect that sense of history.All the tunes are sung in Xhosa, a South African dialect, but don't let that deter you from enjoying these prayer songs, parables, lullabies, and gathering songs. Makeba is accompanied by a group of female singers on these traditional melodies, sometimes with sparse percussion, often a cappella style. Good vibes and a joyous spirit radiate from every song on the album.
A great way to introduce your young ones to the beautiful world of music from our beautiful Earth. And, this being 2008 and all, you can immediately download the album or songs for your family's listening pleasure.
Music and Language Skills
What interests me most about this research is that they noted greater progress from those who studied music earlier. It's also interesting to note that the people involved in the study were not musicians, just people who had studied music.
Study Guides for School Shows
By Johnette Downing
Study guides are an important element in your school booking confirmation packet. Study guides assist administrators, teachers and students in preparing for your upcoming performance by giving them useful information about you, your program and how your program fits into the curriculum. Below is a brief outline of the information you should address when creating your study guides:
A. About the Artist
A brief artist bio that indicates something about you, your art form, your accomplishments, and your experience.
B. About the Program
A brief overview indicating the theme, style, age range, length and content of your program. You may expand this section by adding the history of your art form or the particular style within your art form that you will be presenting. For instance, if you are performing a jazz program, you may want to make a statement about the history of jazz and why you have chosen to present this style of music.
C. Curriculum Connections
Indicate how your program makes curriculum connections in the areas of math, science, art, history, music, English, social studies, dance, etc. For instance, a jazz program may make curriculum connections in social studies, history and music.
D. Enrichment Activities
Include simple activities and ideas that the teachers and students can use before and after your program to enhance their understanding of your program and your art form.
E. Resources
Provide teachers with a resource list of books, audios, videos, articles, and websites for further information.
If you make your study guides simple, user friendly, fun and informative, you will increase its usefulness. Teachers have very little time to pour through pages of text or to use activities that require lots of time, materials and energy. The study guides should be on one sheet of paper (if necessary, back and forth) and the activities should be easily accomplished within a few minutes or by using readily available school supplies, books and materials. You can always provide in-depth information or expanded activities by including yourself as a resource on your resource list. The goal of a study guide is to enhance the learning experience about your program and your art form for the children and faculty.
The key is simple, user-friendly, fun and informative.
Copyright 2002 Johnette Downing
www.johnettedowning.com
***Dog On Fleas***
In my extremely humble opinion, Dog On Fleas are one of the few kids' bands who make an effort to stretch out and grow as artists. Dig their riverboat/back porch/one-microphone approach on 2003's Cranberry Sauce Flotilla, and their solid pop/rock/world sound on 2006's When I Get Little. This year's Beautiful World, their fifth CD for kids, is a great collection of unmistakablely Dog On Fleas tunes, augmented by analog Moog synthesizers and whispers of electronica.The album kicks off with the title tune, which mixes 6/4 and 4/4 metres with piccolos and flutes to create a world music ode to our world. Next is John Hughes' thumping tune of affirmation, "Star Tonight," then comes the head bobbin', in-your-face bass of "Do You Wanna Know My New Dance Step?" or, as my wife exclaimed, "Hey! Justin Timberlake for kids!" And the mysterious-sounding "Water Planet," with its Zappa-esque horn/woodwind arrangement, views Earth from an alien perspective.
John Hughes' beautifully simple "The Beach Song" puts your toes right in the Hawaiian sand, and the rockin' "Dumpling" takes a metaphysical look at existence. The wonderfully nonsensical "Lima Bean," featuring vocals from Lorette Velvette and Uncle Rock, contains awesome lines like "Lima Bean's lookin' in a full-length mirror /Singin' Rod Stewart so the whole town can hear her"; the Ben Folds Five-inspired "Crawl To Your Mother" is then followed by a waltzing "Where Would You Fly?" featuring Ben Richter's musical saw.
"I Love Your Accent" celebrates one world made of many people with the mantra "I love your accent! Where ya from?"; the buzzing new wave/rowdy New Orleans rock of "Unbirthday" dares listeners to sit still! Good vibes are flowing on the vegetable-lovin' "Sittin' in the Field," while the jazzy "Balloon Man" asks the amusing question, "Do you like Pop Music? Ahh ... probably not!" And the album ends with the pretty pop of the word-filled "Birds of a Feather", and the quiet lullaby to tiny tots 'round the world, "Babies," featuring Frances England.
This Hudson Valley, NY, collective of musicians and artists have been performing together for ten years now, and their combined experience together as bandmates and songwriters just makes them that much better. Look around you: it is a beautiful world, and Dog On Fleas are happy to tell you all about it.
Top Turkey Tunes for Tots
Wow, only a week until Thanksgiving! Just for the occasion, I've put together a list of downloadable Thanksgiving music for kids over on my About.com site for your last-minute holiday party planning.The list of iPod-ready Thanksgiving songs includes favorites like Laurie Berkner, Dog On Fleas, John McCutcheon, and The Uncle Brothers, as well as lesser-known tunes by folksinger Si Kahn, kids from the Quincy Choral Society, Jewish Music superstar Debbie Friedman, and a 1956 recording of children from Brooklyn's P.S. 24.
Save me a slice of pumpkin pie!
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