Customer Reviews

Funky Kidz

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Once you become a parent, your own musical tastes often have to take a backseat. If you don't believe me, just try putting on your favourite CD in the car next time you go on a long drive. Unless your children are really good natured (cough), they're likely to begin yelling at you to turn it off. But hours of low grade overly synthesized kiddy songs can wear very thin (maybe not as thin as an ongoing argument between the two younger kids though). Also, what your children listen to when they're young is important - it can have real implications for the quality of what they'll listen to when they're older. Too much gooey junk (or worse, canned pop) can affect their neurolinguistic skills. At least that's what I'm telling them. And even if that's not true, bad music early can certain impact on their aesthetic skills. I'll stand by that statement.

So what do you do. It's not as hard as you might think. Just buy good kids music. If you don't think such a thing exists, you're not trying hard enough. Funky Kidz is a new release which is particularly good. Kids will recognize that it's for them because the songs are familiar ones that they probably already know from nursery/pre-school: 12 songs in all, including things like Hokey Pokey, Zip A Dee Doo Dah, Yellow Submarine, If I Only Had A Brain, and This Land is Your Land, but these are not your Grandma's kids songs.

Even the toughest nine year old won't call Papa Grows Funk's version of The Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" `babyish' (and I know because I've got the toughest nine year old around and he loved it). Big Sam's Funky Nation's "Hokey Pokey" is the coolest version I've ever heard. And check out Theresa Andersson's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for a version to rival even Eva Cassidy and Tori Amos' renditions (never mind Judy Garland). From the Johnny Cash inspired guitars and grit of "Froggy Went A Courtin", the luscious skat of Ingrid Lucia's "This Little Light of Mine," to the hilarious Armstrongy swing of "When I See An Elephant Fly" of Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, this is pure New Orleans jazz - the full on hit, with real music, real musicians, and great sound. Try taking this one to your next playgroup session and try and keep the parents off the dance floor.

Let me put it simply, Funky Kidz is excellent music: danceable, funky, complex, and utterly jazzy. It's as good as anything I might listen to while the kids are at school. The fact that I can put it on while they're in the house or car with me is a bonus. The additional neurons and musical sensibility they'll grow from listening to such musically astute stuff is icing on an already rich cake. So what are you waiting for? Another incentive? A portion of the proceeds of Funky Kidz will go to fostering music education for children, both in New Orleans and Nationally.

Magdalena Ball is the author of Sleep Before Evening

This CD is great for my 1 year old and for my husband and I. I wanted to find a CD with the kind of tempo my son enjoys dancing to and yet enjoyable for my husband and I. My husband is a jazz fan, while I love the mix of rock and show tunes. The songs on this CD are upbeat and fun to sing along with. A few of the cuts aren't quite up my alley, but are favorites of my husband. Something on it for everyone. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a change from the usual children's music.

I didn't actually purchase this on Amazon though I do a lot of shopping here. I downloaded it through Verizon. The other reviewer who said they didn't like the fact that there was no way to preview the songs just didn't try hard enough!

The CD is, in a nutshell, a jazzy redo of a lot of childhood favorites.

http://mediastore.verizonwireless.com/onlineContentStore/index.html#selectedItemID=26192985&artistName=Bonerama&primary_ArtistName=Bonerama&albumName=Funky%20Kidz

My husband and I love most kinds of music, especially rock and jazz. With our first child on the way, I was concerned about our lives being taken over by annoying children's songs/music. I bought this CD because our favorite band, Bonerama, was on it. We are so happy with this CD! Bonerama's version of "You've got a Friend in Me" is excellent and Dumpstaphunk's version of "Zippadee Doo Da" is jammin. The bands on this CD managed to really infuse their own personal sound/style to these once monotonous children's classics. I highly recommend this to any parents that love jazz and the sound of New Orleans.

FUNKY KIDZ is a musical compilation featuring classic kids songs we all know and love (think "Yellow Submarine," "Zip a Dee Doo Dah," etc.), stylized and recorded by a dozen of New Orleans' finest artists including Ivan Neville, George Porter Jr., The Radiators, Papa Grows Funk and more. The songs are meant to bridge the gap between adult and children's music, while exposing young listeners to the multi-instrumental rhythmic sound of New Orleans. Songs are upbeat, fun and funky - perfect for the kid in all of us!

Worth the entry fee alone for Yellow Submarine by Papa Grows Funk. Our daughter's favorite CD. Teresa Anderson and Paul Sanchez turn excellent vocals on Over The Rainbow and Only had a Brain. There are a couple weak cuts but this one is good enough to stay in the car player. We stay away from smarmy kids stuff, but find up-tempo stuff like Zydeco and Horn bands keep all of us tapping our feet. This one fits that bill.