African Dreamland
putumayokids.com

 
Hayes Greenfield Music for a Green Planet musicforagreenplanet.com
 
 

Kermit had it right—it’s not that easy bein’ green. But jazz great Hayes Greenfield’s new CD can help teach your children that “our Earth’s like a mother with so much to give, we have to protect her because that’s where we live.”
Having been to the Blue Note and done CBGB’s in New York City, Greenfield turned his attention to children. His mission was to open up the world of improvisation to children. His first release, “Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz,” was met with critical acclaim.

Greenfield’s newest venture, to help bring environmental awareness to children, is equally successful. I listen to quite a few CDs and this is the first I’ve heard with sustainability and the environment as its focus. Spinning children’s standards into environmentally conscious songs could have produced contrived, pedantic lectures set to music, but Music for a Green Planet makes you want to go buy a hybrid vehicle and plant a pine, dancing all the while.
Not only are the lyrics original and engaging, the musicianship is especially noteworthy. A legend in the jazz world, Joe Lee Wilson’s voice on “Turbines” is as soothing as the water he sings about.

The emotion in 8-year-old Carly Sonenclar’s voice singing “The Things We Throw Away”—a reworked “Oh My Darling Clementine”—makes her seem years older, and the message she delivers is poignant: “In a world that is so fragile, let’s not throw it all away.”

“The Greenable Rap” is a terrific example of call-and-response with kids and is one of the few songs in which Greenfield himself sings. The song demonstrates his playfulness with words and emphasizes the fact that “we’re savable, behavable, our power use is shaveable.”
The exuberant New Orleans feel of “This Little World of Ours” joyfully reminds us “We‘re not the first ones here to walk upon this earth.”

Continuing with the global awareness theme, African Dreamland is the fourth world music lullaby CD from Putumayo. A collection of songs from Cameroon, Mali, Zimbabwe and a half dozen other countries, this CD is filled with peaceful voices and calming music.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a well-known South African group, sings “Nomathemba,” which means “hope” in Zulu. It’s the first song that Joseph Shabalala, founder and leader of the group, ever wrote. And if you have never heard a kora, a stringed instrument made out of half a calabash, you’re in for a treat: Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko perform a beautiful duet.
These two CDs are sure to convey Greenfield’s point, “Our planet is a treasure box, our minds can open up the locks.

Whitney Lou’s 4- year-old daughter Sophie loves to sing outside except when Mother Nature makes too much pollen. They live in Richmond’s West End.

Archives: