Kid-tested, mother-approved.
* It seems appropriate on what would have been Charlie Parker’s 87th birthday to direct your attention to Chris Raschka’s Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, now 15 years old and one of The Scamp’s favorite books. Reviews tend to rate this one for children ages 4 and up, and I don’t know why, as The Scamp has been grooving on it since he was 15 months old. Said to be inspired by Parker’s reading of “A Night in Tunisia,” the text is a jazz poem whose pages barely contain its exuberance. As The Hub noted earlier today (while listening to WBGO’s birthday tribute), Parker’s work sounds like it was recorded just yesterday; likewise, Charlie Parker Played Be Bop never gets old.
* Yeah, yeah, the Langley Schools Music Project is great and all, reminding me of the days when schools had music classes, kids had to learn an instrument, and an hour of the school day could be devoted to singing “Tom Dooley” and “Let the Sun Shine In” instead of memorizing for the next standardized test. The stellar kiddie choral versions of “Space Oddity” and “Desperado” are in my iTunes library. But if you’re ready for the next level — kid musicians tryin’ to go pro — check out Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid Soul, a compilation of soul classics by would-be Jackson 5ers like Cindy & the Playmates and Little Murray & the Mantics. “You Are a Dream (School Time)” is liquid lovin’, and I suspect that “Don’t Leave Me Mama” is going to haunt me all the way home the first time I leave The Scamp at nursery school. (And while you’re picking up new releases, don’t forget about Madlib.)