BestChildrensMusic.com 2.0

Another Grammy Award show is now history. I suppose I should feel bad for nodding off early on, but it seems that others saw the show as a sleeper, too. Check out this brief article from today’s San Francisco Chronicle.

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).

This entry was posted on Monday, February 12th, 2007 @ 9:31 am on the category Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.