Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Brave Combo

All Wound Up: A Family Music Party
Rounder Kids 82161-8092-2

Teach your children well.

Unfortunately there is no Dutch music magazine for children yet. So what else could I do than seek refuge at Heaven, the magazine for discerning adults, in the hope that more than a few readers have started raising a new generation of music lovers.

We may be blissfully unaware of it in Holland, but the States are a booming market for children’s CDs. It’s not just prime time perennials that venture into this genre, also artists of note like Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Buckwheat Zydeco and Taj Mahal. Seasoned children’s performers Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer were looking for a breath of fresh air and teamed up with wild world music mongers Brave Combo. The result is an album that will not only appeal to kids. Even though a children’s choir (incidentally, expertly conducted) is prominently featured, this offering sparkles with childlike joy without ever slipping into silliness.

The number of genres visited is anything but childish: from calypso to mariachi, from polka to swing, from the Jewish hora Mayim, Mayim to a track like Paddy On The Railroad that evolves from Irish folk through bluegrass to dixieland. The horn section of Jeffrey Barnes and Danny O’Brien really shines here, but the ladies don’t take a back seat to them. As sung by Cathy Fink, De Colores, covered before by Joan Baez and Los Lobos, would fit snugly on a Linda Ronstadt CD, just like the wistful Home, while Marcy Marxer adds exotic instruments like steel drums and dulcimer. It may sound pleasantly unassuming on the face of it, but it’s a hidden jewel that should be treasured by anyone trying to avoid the horrible pitfalls of electronic Smurf dance fodder or the inescapable nursery classics. Let’s hope someone will have the bright idea of recording a Dutch-language version of similar quality.

Richard Piepenbrock

*** (three stars)

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