Review: The Sounding Joy - Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends

For all her Velvet Underground and Allman Brothers covers, Elizabeth Mitchell's most intense obsession on her albums for families to my mind has been with Ruth Crawford Seeger.  Her first two (pre-Smithsonian Folkways) family albums drew from many folk music wells, but starting with You Are My Little Bird, in which she specifically cites Seeger's 1948 book American Folk Songs for Children as a resource, and on through Sunny Day and Blue Clouds she returns to praise the composer and musicologist's arrangements of the American folk songs.

On her latest album for Smithsonian Folkways, the Christmas-themed The Sounding Joy, Mitchell and her family and friends, dives deeply into Ruth Crawford Seeger's final songbook, her 1953 book American Folk Songs for Christmas.  A sizable majority of the album's 24 songs come from Seeger's books and even many of the arrangements for which Mitchell and husband Daniel Littleton claim credit are noted as inspired by Seeger's songbook.

If the music of Ruth Crawford Seeger has been Mitchell's obsession, the guiding principle of her Smithsonian Folkways has been that she wants to rope 21st century communities into the grand folk music (in the broadest sense of that phrase) tradition -- a principle that Seeger would have endorsed whole-heartedly.  Her circles of influence ripple ever further outward -- on this album, I count 37 musicians in total.  She of course relies on Littleton and their daughter Storey, but on many others, including Natalie Merchant, John Sebastian, fellow community-roper Dan Zanes, Aoife O'Donovan, and Joan Osborne.  Amidst these celebrated musicians, the most impressive guest is Peggy Seeger, one of Ruth Crawford Seeger's daughters, who takes the melody on two tracks.   Could Folkways have picked an artist more interested in furthering their own aims than Elizabeth Mitchell?  I highly doubt it.  

And while I'm talking about Elizabeth Mitchell's obsessions and guiding principles, why not also suggest a undercurrent in her work, that of belief and faith?  Though the number of religiously-inspired tracks on her albums ("This Little Light of Mine," "Peace Like a River," and her glorious take on "Jubilee") can be counted on one hand and have not explicitly referenced God or other higher beings, Mitchell's tracks come closer to addressing the divine in everyday life than any other non-religious kids' musician.  And now she's got an entire album devoted to Christmas, one of Christianity's two most important holidays.

This is not a secular Christmas album -- this is a Christmas album that is very much tied to the story of Mary giving birth to Jesus.  Which isn't to say that it's praise music or even completely Christian, either.  While I like the liner notes by Mitchell and Natalie Merchant (not to mention Mitchell's song notes), I think the most gracious notes are by Daniel Littleton, who celebrates Seeger's melding of these many different birth narratives with several tracks about the stars and solstice.  They may not come from the same Christian tradition, but songs like "Oh, Watch the Stars" fit comfortably within the context of a birth on a cold winter's night many, many years ago.  Listeners from a non-Christian tradition may be able to appreciate the music itself, and the stories, but I think the album will feel most comfortable to those who grew up in that tradition (regardless of whether they still reside within).  Having said that, the songs aren't super familiar to modern ears -- Christmas Eve warhorses (warhorses I love, incidentally) like "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" are definitely in the minority here.  This album will stretch the musical knowledge of all but the most educated musicologist.

As for the music itself, the throughout arrangements are lovely but in many cases fairly simple, accessible to people with far fewer musical accolades.  In some places it's as if we've been dropped into a campfire song group - handclaps and percussion, such as those that dominate on the opener, "Oh, Mary and the Baby, Sweet Lamb."  Elsewhere (see "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow"), Mitchell and Littleton seem to channel the Alison Krauss Christmas she inexplicably has not yet recorded.  It's sometimes bluesy, sometimes soulful, and almost always reverent, though with a gentle touch.  The performances are all lovely -- I'll only single out one, and that's Mitchell's performance with daughter Storey on "Joy to the World," which I love if only because as Mitchell says in her song notes, based on her youth, she "always sung the harmony! So [she] asked [her] daughter Storey to join me."  The voices blend together very well, and it's that sort of careful planning mixed with serendipitous good luck that runs through the album.

This album isn't a family music album, it's a Christmas album, and so the age range I normally put on my reviews doesn't apply here.  There are certainly holiday albums that are targeted specifically at kids -- this is not one of them.  And while right now you can get the 70-minute album on mp3 at Amazon for just $5.99, if physical copies mean anything to you, you should get the physical copy of this album.  The album packaging is stunning.  Also, while I had to get my copy of American Folk Songs for Christmas used as it was out of print this summer, it's back in print once again. (Note: that's an affiliate link.)

In thinking about this review, I came to the conclusion that if I had to reduce the world into two types of people, it would be those who listen to Christmas songs and those who sing them.  Though it has its own sonic beauty, The Sounding Joy is more for the latter.  The communal experience of singing in celebration is honored here, somewhat hushed, always joyful.  Highly recommended -- may it repeat often.

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

Review: My Cup of Tea - Heidi Swedberg

On her first album Play!, Heidi Swedberg gave us a celebration of the ukulele, playing (for the most part) simple songs designed to get uke-enthusiasts to play along.  The songs and arrangements were playful to be sure, and definitely more than somebody strumming the ukulele, but its ambitions were modest.

Move forward three years, and her follow up My Cup of Tea reveals Swedberg's true ambition -- to be the vaudevillian Dan Zanes of family music.  Yes, that cover photo, with family and friends playing roles of Civil War reenactors, Frida Kahlo, and barechested strongmen (to name a few), is a nice visual complement to the album's contents.  From the Jazz Age zip of the original title track which leads off the disk with a good dozen instruments and nearly as many voices to Swedberg's vocally dramatic take on Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat," if you're looking for an album with a single, distinctive groove, please move along.

The songs here are varied, and not in the "one song reggae, one song rap" approach that kids albums sometimes take.  After that Edward Lear song, the traditional folk tune "Little Birdie," perhaps the simplest song on the album, segues into the uptempo Panamanian tune "Al Tambor."  And while on a lot of albums, "Duermete," a Spanish lullaby, might be the album closer, Swedberg's duet with Cesar Bauvallet subtly turns into a Cuban-tinged raveup.  It's in these wild leaps from song to song that Swedberg and her collaborators -- primarily Daniel Ward and John Bartlit -- shine instrumentally.

Of course, given the wide-ranging musical interests, not everything succeeds -- there is no love lost between me and "Boogie Man," which takes a cheesy boogie theme and cranks it up to the point of clicking fast-forward.  And while I liked her more dramatic takes on "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "Istanbul" (made famous once more by distant cousin John Linnell in They Might Be Giants), some listeners might be put off by that musical playacting.  YMMV.

In true Zanes-ian fashion, there is very little here that could be pegged at a specific (non-adult) age range, so I'll call it ages 3 and up.  You can hear a sampler here.

You can appreciate My Cup of Tea  as a straight-up album of music from folk and world traditions played with verve and imaginatively arranged.  But I think you'll get more out of it if you think of it as a variety show without the banter, skits, and sponsor thanks.  In fact, somebody please get Ms. Swedberg a gig hosting her own variety show, pronto.  Signed, the Universe.  Definitely recommended.

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

A Grab-Bag of Songbags

OK, now that you've read Nerissa and Katrina Nields' excellent book about family music-making, All Together Singing in the Kitchen, perhaps you've been inspired to make more music, either by yourself or with others.

Where next?

Well, I've got a number of books filled with notes and words for singing along with.  Except as noted, all songs feature piano notation with chords for the guitarists (and ukulele-ists) among you.  I've listed some Amazon affiliate links for those of you interested in purchasing a copy -- in many cases, only used copies are left as some of these books are currently out of print.

What if you can only get one?  Well, it probably depends on who you are -- i.e., your musical background -- who your audience is (older? younger?) and where you plan to use it (schools? homes?).  Hopefully I've given you enough guidance to help you jump in.

And so we shall.

Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag [Amazon link] was first published in 1927.  Regular readers may be familiar with Dan Zanes' take on the poet's collection of American folk music (indeed, that's how I was first made aware of it).  My collection features an introduction from Garrison Keillor, and feels as much like a textbook as a songbook, thanks in part to its exhaustive 290-song collection and Sandburg's slightly more ethnomusicographical notes compared to the other books here.  In fact, that's probably a problem for most dabbling singers -- its breadth makes it too hard to find a hit on every page.  (One of the joys of the Zanes album is that he mostly shies away from popular songs and instead resurrects the unknown.)  But it's that breadth that can also give you months of discovery as you work your way through the text.

Ruth Crawford Seeger's American Folk Songs for Children [Amazon link] was first published in 1948 and is in many ways the kids' equivalent of Sandburg's collection (indeed, he writes a brief introductory note to the collection).  Seeger was a composer and tireless folklorist, not to mention Pete Seeger's stepmom (so her influence works in many, many ways).  Adults not used to singing with kids may be heartened by Seeger's lengthy preface.  Many of the roughly 70 or so songs are brief, somewhat unfamiliar (the collection is, after all, nearly 65 years old at this point), and designed as much for a school setting as a group setting, but there is beauty here.  (And if you don't believe me, ask Elizabeth Mitchell, who has repeatedly cited this book as a major influence on her work.)

Moving on to yet another era, John Langstaff's Hi! Ho! The Rattlin' Bog and Other Folk Songs for Group Singing [Amazon link] (1969) will be of interest to fans of the Nields because the sisters studied with Langstaff growing up in Washington, DC area.  Langstaff selected 50 songs "especially for their suitability for group singing" for all ages, representing many different types of traditional music.  Given the book's age, some of the songs that may have been familiar in the mid-60s are less so now, but I find the songs well-chosen

Nancy & John Langstaff's Jim Along, Josie [Amazon link] came out a year later, in 1970, as Langstaff and his wife compiled a selection of "folk songs and singing games for young children," as the book's subtitle promises.  The book includes 81 different songs, all definitely targeted at the younger set.  Given the number of songs in the collection, there are a number of songs you'll recognize, though obviously quite a few will be totally new to you as well.

Kathleen Krull's I Hear America Singing: Folk Songs for American Families [Amazon link] (1992) doesn't have the pedigree the previous books have, but it's a pretty decent collection of 62 songs, primarily from the (historical) folk tradition, but with a handful of newer songs (e.g., "Little Boxes" and "Turn, Turn, Turn" -- OK, "newer" is a comparative phrase) thrown in.

Finally, Peter Blood & Annie Patterson's Rise Up Singing [Amazon link] is sort of the graduate work of this program.  With words and chords to 1,200 songs, you won't ever be at a loss for words for singing.  What you may be at a loss for, however, are the melodies.  In order to fit 1,200 songs in less than 300 pages, you'll just see chords.  Which is great if you have a huge musical background, but flip to any random set of 2 pages, and you're likely just to see one song you're familiar with.  The advantage, however, is that there are some more modern songs -- Beatles tunes, etc. -- than what you'll see in the other books.  Its compact size and breadth make it a nice complement to the other books listed here, but it would not be my first choice.