Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes (Remastered) - Jim Gill

ArtistJim Gill

Album:   Jim Gill Sings The Sneezing Song and Other Contagious Tunes (Remastered)

Age Range: 2 through 7

Description: The Illinois-based Gill has been making music for families for more twenty years.  To commemorate the 20th anniversary of his first album, he's digitally remastered it and added a couple new songs.  Gill's called his songs "music play," and it's true that you (regardless of age) are going to get the most out of it if you interact with it -- "Silly Dance Contest" isn't nearly as interesting heard buckled in the car as at home dancing around the family room.  Gill's affinity for wordplay ("Old Sock Stew" and one of the new tracks, "Teapot Variations") and physical play ("I Took a Bath In a Washing Machine," "Spaghetti Legs") will appeal to playful families.  And while Gill is hardly alone in making music that encourages movement, his songs (and musical arrangements) are among the better ones out there.  Stream some samples of the 35-minute recording here.  If your family just wants to veg out and listen to well-crafted pop tunes, this is probably not for you, but for some families, libraries, and early education settings, this 20-year old album sounds just as fresh and inviting today.  For that set of folks, definitely recommended.

PLAY music, Volume 2 - Various Artists

PLAYmusicVol2.jpg

Artist: Various Artists (PLAY music)

Album: PLAY music, Volume 2

Age Range: 1 to 6

Description: When it comes to early childhood music and movement programs, we are (or at least have been) card- (and CD-)carrying members of the Music Together ​family.  And while I've heard a bunch of CDs from other programs, none have quite matched the quality and scope of those MT disks.  This album is one of the first early childhood music and movement CDs that I would consider adding to our collection.  It's from PLAY music, a Los Angeles-based program.  The 43-minute disk doesn't quite approach the breadth of a MT disk in terms of song selection -- it felt slightly more American folk-based and more less "odd" in places (e.g., not so many songs in non-standard time signatures or keys).  But the quality of the tracks themselves is top-notch -- it's somewhat more organic than the MT disks, thanks to the production of musician Willie Aron (who worked with Peter Himmelman on his kids music) and the presence of kindie musicians Randy Kaplan and Lucky Diaz on a few tracks.  I'm not sure what the market is for music and movement disks outside the context of those classes, but this is a solid collection of folk songs and other songs designed for singing (and dancing and rhythm-sticking) along with your kids.  Recommended.

[Note: I received a copy of the album for possible review.]