Customer Reviews

Family Dance

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What a fantastic album for kids, parents, and anybody who loves a blend of folk/roots/pop. The whole album is great but these tracks stand out:
- Malti and Linstead Market have a Caribbean feel to them.
- Wonder Wheel has some good pop hooks and reminds me of The Kinks "Come Dancing.
- Hokey Pokey, Water for the Elephants and Skip to My Lou let parents listen to a children's song and still enjoy it even after dozens of playings.
- All Around the Kitchen is a kid's song that rocks.

We own several of Dane Zanes' CDs, but this is the one that's currently in my car's CD player. Consequently, I've listened to it approximately a zillion times in the past month.

The good news? My 3 and 6 year olds love it, and both enjoy singing along. It hasn't driven me insane yet, and I'm actually quite fond of "Malti" and a couple of the other songs. My 3 year old has learned to count to 10 in Spanish. The CD comes packaged in a board book, and both girls enjoy looking at the book as we drive. My older daughter has learned to properly pronounce "Edinburgh."

The bad news? I wake up in the morning and find myself humming "Fooba Wooba John" or "Yo Yo." I think these songs are permanently imprinted in my brain. A couple of the other songs are a little boring.

I think kids of most ages will enjoy this CD, and grownups won't hate it. It's not my favorite of the genre, but it makes a nice addition to our car music rotation. Oh, and if you visit Zanes' website, most of the song lyrics are posted there. I wish they were printed in the board book so the kids could read along.

I feared having a child would mean ceding the stereo to "Cartoon Monkey Love Song" and whatever other dreck Disney and other companies pass off as kids' music. Fortunately, I saw a profile in The New York Times Magazine on Zanes soon after my son was born and ordered both this album and Rocket Ship Beach. I like this one a little bit better, while my wife prefers the other, but they're both excellent.

More important, our son loves them both. He's been listening to them since he was six months old, and he's gone from sitting on the floor clapping along to dancing around and bouncing up and down with the beat. I'm sure he'll be singing along soon. I'd say "Thrift Shop" is the best song on this disc, but they're all good, and the contributions of Father Goose on both of Zanes' albums are outstanding.

Another interesting note: Donald Saaf, the outstanding illustrator of children's books (check out "Pushkin Meets the Bundle" if you don't already have it), not only provides art for both of these discs, but he sings on both as well.

I have an admission to make. I listen to this cd over and over-- when my kids AREN'T around. This sparkling cd follows Dan Zanes' wonderful first "kids" cd, Rocketship Beach, and shows that Dan is really on to something revolutionary. Most of the material here is more vibrant than most of what's on today's radio for grownups, let alone kids. Special favorites on this one are "Jump" and "Wonder Wheel". Rankin' Don's "Skip to My Lou" and "Hokey Pokey" are a hoot. "All Around the Kitchen" with Loudon Wainright III is a true nitty-gritty rocker which wouldn't be out of place in a smoke-filled rock club at 1:30 am. Finally, Roseanne Cash imbues "Fooba Wooba John" with haunting beauty; surprising and welcome on this traditional children's tune.

Buy this for yourself. If they're very, very lucky, maybe you'll share it with some young people you know.

Dan Zanes has refocused his music career on entertaining families, and we are all the better for it! This is a rare CD--it entertains kids without pandering to the latest fads. Dan Zanes and friends have made an album that will sound as good and fresh 20 years from now as it does today. Can anybody say that about the usual kid-band dross? Every song is a gem, and the production is frist-rate. Grab this CD and savor it with your kids, again and again. A five-star treasure!

Dan Zanes has put together an amazing and varied collection of songs for kids of all ages. While we like all of his CD's, this may be the favorite.

I love to listen to this while I cook dinner. It's a time of day that can be ultra-stressful, but the music seems to take the edge off. The Rock Island Line gets me dancing around the kitchen. The kids set the table while circling it to All Around the Kitchen (a little chaotic, yes, but fun.) The carribean beat of Yo Yo Sweet Yo Yo is catchy and very fun. And, I have to disagree with those reviewers who didn't care for Father Goose, we're fans, especially of his version of the Hokey Pokey.

I am anxious to take my kids to see Dan in concert; if it's half as much fun as his CD's are it will be something my kids will remember for a long time to come.

I love this CD, love Dan Zane. It's nice to find music that can be enjoyed by the whole family. In other words, music for kids that is actually musical. My favorite by far is track 10, All Around the Kitchen (with Loudon Wainwright III). My wife is partial to Malti (with Barbara Brousal) and my daughter picked The Hokey Pokey (with Father Goose) as her favorite.

After enjoying this CD for a while, we had the luck of seeing Dan Zane live in Somerville. It was a fun show. I looked around at the other parents at the show and realized that these were the same people I was shoulder to shoulder with at different kinds of concerts just a conspicuously short decade ago, but now we were here with our kids. There was a moment when my daughter was dancing in the aisle with a friend and security approached us. After years of an antagonistic relationship with concert security, I was bracing myself for a confrontation. I must have looked like a jerk. But the security person smiled and told me I was welcome to bring the kids up front to dance in front of the stage. It was very nice. When they did All Around the Kitchen the place erupted, as if the Vince-era Dead had pulled out a Casey Jones. Dan Zane and friends were charming and fun. But also musical. One of the side musicians (it was earlier announced that her parents were at the show to see her perform live) played a beautiful bird-like solo by bowing a bent saw blade.

Interesting thing that caused the outing to end on a surreal and somewhat down vibe, forgive me for sharing. After the show, all the band members (and friends) stood outside the theater and graciously signed autographs for the kids. All were quite friendly and appreciative of the fans. The women who played the saw was standing in front of the theater with her parents. She looked a little frosty but we approached for an autograph. She signed an autograph reluctantly, but when asked some benign question like "how did you learn to play a saw," snapped "I'm sorry, I'd rather to talk to my family now." It felt especially odd, experiencing the wrong end of a diva moment, because in my mind I was essentially humoring her by asking for the autograph. I thought it was an inside joke that the adults were all kind of in on. Believe me, I'm the last person who would have the audacity to approach an actual celebrity. These aren't A-listers, we're just making the kids feel excited about meeting people they've listened to and just saw on stage. I don't know, not sure why that moment haunts me, maybe losing face in front of my daughter, but thanks for listening, it was just bizarre. Just wanted to unload that, I think I can let it go now. But, please, don't see that as an attempt to dissuade you from purchasing any of Dan Zane's wonderful CDs or seeing him live. It's great music, I enthusiastically recommend it, and would recommend the concerts as well. I'm not even docking a star for the snub.

As a die-hard music lover with a three-year-old, I am always searching for that elusive CD that my daughter and I can agree on. We've had some pleasant suprises on the "grown-up music" side, but precious few on the kids' music. Dan Zanes is the exception. This CD is clever, well performed, musically diverse, and completely singable. I will never forget the first time I heard my daughter singing along to "Water for the Elephant" from the back seat--priceless!

The thing I love best of all about this CD is the infusion of different musical influences--Caribbean, zydeco, American roots, and rock, to name a few. What a great way to introduce your child to the many sounds of the world around us!

When we had kids we hated to give up good music in favor of high-pitched vocals and overly repetitive hooks. What a relief to find some good kids music! Our kids are hooked on Dan Zanes and Laurie Berkner, and we couldn't be happier! Bring on Dan's "Fooba Wooba John" and Laurie's "Victor Vito," we love it!

My 3-year old and I really enjoy this CD. The songs are simple enough for him to enjoy, but entertaining for me. Most of the songs have a folky vibe to them. I like the style, but my wife says it sounds like Bob Dylan for toddlers.