You bet! And I was as surprised as anyone when I heard the story earlier this month on NPR. Reno is actually the Executive Producer for “Song of America” a 3 CD compilation due out this September. Her mission was to collect a history of America through song and bring these traditional songs to life with new arrangements. The project features a wide spectrum of artists from Take 6 and the Blind Boys of Alabama to Harper Simon (Paul’s son), Martha Wainwright and Andrew Bird.

I must say that I was impressed by Reno’s thoughts and ideas about music. Like this gem, “One of the joys that I’m looking forward to is to play these recordings for (her young great-nieces and great-nephews), so that they can build on their ability to use song to express themselves.” I don’t know about you, but when I heard the former Attorney General of The United States speak about children and building “on their ability to use song to express themselves,” I was moved. Reno is slow and deliberate in her words (certainly affected by her Parkinson’s disease) but her thoughts are clear and articulate throughout the interview.

Do yourself a favor and check out the interview for yourself. Click here for the complete NPR story and interview. You will also be able to hear five songs from the upcoming CD.

Makes me wish I were still a music teacher…

For the first time in my life as a teacher, I will not be working as an elementary school music specialist when the next school year begins… (more…)

As you can tell, events of Spring and early Summer have occupied so much of my time that I have neglected to keep up-to-date with this lil’ blog. More on that later…

Here are my latest music reviews. These links will take you directly to the review pages at the Chicago Parent website, though you can also access them via the REVIEWS link on the main page at BestChildrensMusic.com.

April 2007: True Musical Artistry
My Green Kite by Peter Himmelmann
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen

May 2007: Engage Kids Through Great Music
A Hop, Skip and a Jump by Pam Donkin
Circle Songs by Sukey Molloy

June 2007: Don’t Let The Band’s Name Fool You
Mommy Says NO! by The Asylum Street Spankers

July 2007: Musical Journeys For Summer Days
Animal Playground by Various Artists (Putumayo World Music)
Hootenanny by Johnny Bregar
If You Ever See An Owl by The Terrible Twos
Pumkids by Pied Pumkin
The Mozart Effect: Music for Dads and Dads-To-Be by Various Artists

Coming up:
My August column spotlights Peter and the Wolf - the fine new CD release from the folks at Magic Maestro Music.

Yesterday I received the following e-mail from Tamara O’Shaughnessy,
editor at Chicago Parent magazine:

Dear Fred,

I just returned from Nashville and the annual PPA convention.
Your column is a winner again. You received a silver second place award (in the category of ‘55,000 and above’ circulation).

Editorial 6 - Column: Reviews
Silver: Chicago Parent; Fred Koch, writer;
Tamara O’Shaughnessy, editor

Here are the judges’ comments:
“The mix of question-answer format from a music educator and relatively detailed reviews is effective. The writer’s knowledge obviously transcends that of many music educators, most likely because of his producing and performing backgrounds. The content is didactic without sounding overbearing.”

Congratulations.

Tamara

Here is the link to the awards page at the PPA website.

As I promised, here is the link to my Grammy Award Finalists column for the March issue of Chicago Parent magazine. Take a peek at my quick overview of the five finalists. You will also be subjected to the closest I have ever come to writing a not-so-complimentary review…

My April review will feature a full review of Peter Himmelman’s latest, My Green Kite, along with another highly recommended, and Grammy award winner, Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions.

We received word last week that BestChildrensMusic.com was named to the list of Best 100 Products for 2006 by the Parent To Parent Adding Wisdom Award website.

Thanks to everyone for helping to spread the word about BestChildrensMusic.com!

From Parent To Parent’s Adding Wisdom Award website…

“We evaluate products based on feedback from child care facilities, experts and parents nationwide. Our criteria is an intricate part of our process in finding the best products for moms-to-be, children and young adults. Our goal is to reward these products with recognition by various media outlets on an international basis through print, radio and the Internet through, but not limited to, our award winning column, Parent to Parent, written by internationally syndicated parenting/family columnist, expert and author, Jodie Lynn.”

And here is a pre-release piece I was happy to write for Peter:

“Peter Himmelman raises the bar for all children’s music artists with My Green Kite – this is children’s music at its best and represents the level of children’s music that our kids should be hearing. Listen carefully and you will hear true musical artistry! In a overly saturated and increasingly promoted market full of kindie rock artists, Peter Himmelman has soared above the crowd with an extraordinary recording that is worthy of everyone’s attention. Kids will squeal with delight and parents will wonder why there is not more great music out there like My Green Kite.”
- Fred Koch, BestChildrensMusic.com

I promise to post a link to my full review when it is published by Chicago Parent.

A little background story…
I had the pleasure of meeting Tricia two summers ago when we both were hired (along with Ella Jenkins, Joel Frankel and Nelson Gill who came on later) to perform on the children’s music stage at a Chicago neigborhood family festival. We had never met before but I was a big fan of her music.
We did get a chance to talk on the phone because earlier in 2005 we featured two of her songs (including El Chocolate) on the CD “Singin’ In The City.” This was a compilation CD which I produced for Chicago Parent Magazine to showcase the diverse and talented pool of children’s music artists from the Chicago area. We spotlighted two songs each from Tricia, Ella Jenkins, Justin Roberts, Jim Gill, Susan Salidor, Joel Frankel, Steve Rashid, Nelson Gill and me. The sad news is that after the initial run of 1,000 CDs, this wonderful recording was not remanufactured - long story, I’ll spare you the details.
Back to the performance - anyway, what looked like to be a wonderful day of musical merriment encountered one small obstacle. It was 105 degrees that sunny Sunday in Chicago! And of course the stage was in the full sun. All the performers were waiting for the phone call that the event was cancelled since all over the TV and radio they were telling everyone to “stay out of the heat, it is dangerous.” But, alas, no such call, so all the artists showed up at the festival.
The real problem was that there was virtually no audience. I mean I think maybe a dozen people walked by in the three hour slot we all had to play. But we had some fun anyway. Teddi and I started the day with “Jingle Bells” (I think one person walked by and gave us a bewildering glance). Then each artist climbed up on stage to sing to the sun. And, yes, I think Joel sang “Here Comes The Sun.”
Since there was no audience to interact with and since so much of the music we play is designed for audience interaction, I must say it was a bit strange and with the sun factor, also a bit of a challenge. The highlight (no pun intended) came when we abandoned the format and went up on stage to play along with each other. Joel came with a drummer, another guitarist and his wife, Helen, on bass. So after his set, I picked up the bass, Teddi, Helen and Tricia became background singers and we all backed up Ella on a bunch of great traditional songs.
The joy of music making was stronger than the heat that day and we all had a wonderful time, even if no one was there to enjoy it with us.

If you are a performing artist out there, let me know if any of this sounds familiar…

“One of my fondest memories in life was a Lil’ Cow Band gig at The Copernicus Theater (Chicago); it was one of our biggest gigs, I think Fred said there were like 1,100 kids at the concert, and they were literally bouncing off the walls. It reminded me of the movie theater scene in the film Gremlins, but in a cool, sweet, funny way.

Every once in a while we’ll play for a bunch of suburban kids who have already been emotionally beaten down by their parents into not being able to have any fun, and you really hate to see that. Sorry to have to put it in this kind of way but we never have those problems when we play for city kids; they’re not afraid to scream out answers to questions, or to dance and sing. Sure, you’ll always have a couple who are afraid of not looking cool, but if the majority of the crowd is having fun, the holdouts can usually be coerced into joining in.

But when the parents are present and they’re sitting on their hands, or even worse, talking on cell phones and completely ignoring the performance, it sends a not-very-subliminal message to the kids that it’s ok to be rude or constricted, since every kid, no matter how rebellious, really wants to be like mom or dad (I’m talking ages 3 to 9 here, not so much about young adolescents).

So parents, if you’re intent on being a drag, just drop your kid off at his next musical event and let them have some fun.”

Amen!

Photo citation: robin_van_dalen’s photos / Flickr

Now that I’m fully rested, I must say I am happy for Dan Zanes (a real artist making real music for kids) who danced away with the Grammy in the Best Musical Album for Children category for ‘Catch That Train!’ I would have cheered any winner except for one…

Here is the list of finalists:

• Baby Einstein Meet The Orchestra
• Beethoven’s Wig 3: Many More Sing Along Symphonies
• Catch That Train! - Dan Zanes and Friends
• My Best Day - Trout Fishing In America
• The Sunny Side of The Street - John Lithgow

I know music is very subjective, but with more and more great kids music out there, it still bothers me that each year at least one overly commercialized recording makes it as a Grammy finalist. Yes, it is less the case in recent years, but it still is a concern, and to my way of thinking it marginalizes children’s music.

In my March column for Chicago Parent magazine I give a quick review of each title, so I will post a link as soon as it is published. I didn’t go out on a limb this year and make a prediction as I have done in past years, but I did do something I’ve never done before in print - pan a recording. I promise not to make a habit of it because I prefer to take the high road most of the time. But this time I couldn’t hold back. It is the Grammys for goodness sake…

Back to the good stuff - I was pleased to see Bill Harley receive the Grammy award in the one other children’s audio category, Best Spoken Word Album for Children, for ‘Blah Blah Blah: Stories about Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates & Dogs.’ Harley has been a favorite around our house for years and my students are fans, too. Two Bill Harley songs receiving heavy rotation at school recently are “Most Valuable Player” and “King of Calibar” - both from his ‘Down In The Backpack’ CD (available at BestChildrensMusic.com in the Older Kids section of OUR PICKS).