Jazz For Kids

‘‘‘Man, you have GOT to check out that version of ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep!’’’

Now there’s a sentence I never anticipated writing.

I laughed out loud listening to this album seven times within just the first three songs. This music is hilarious, adventurous, and playful. The arrangements are creative and clever, and listening to it is fun.

I knew I was in for a treat within the first seconds of the first song, when I realized that, while it sounded like a brass section was introducing “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” what we’re really hearing is a bleating herd of sheep.

As soon as the bass enters and settles into its steady, mysterious strut, I found myself, as I never had before, actually interested in that 17th-century English nursery rhyme. Just how did those three bags of wool get full?

While “Baa Baa Black Sheep” sounded life-like, “Old MacDonald” (1925) and “Pop Goes the Weasel” (1852) bring to life the uniquely ebullient, driving feeling that can only be brought to a melody through jazz.

It’s a refreshing reminder to hear how these arrangements can turn a seemingly plain, ordinary, and extremely familiar melody into a surprising, joyous, uplifting delight.
I love that my first reaction to “Itsy Bitsy Spider” was not a technical analysis of the alternating intervals shared by the bass clarinet and flute, but rather,
a very real image of a kid—think Eddie Murphy in Delirious—taunting his buddy at the ice cream truck. That struggle to make it up the water spout? It’s real. In fact, when first published in 1910, the words “blooming” and “bloody” took the place of “itsy” and “bitsy.”

1939’s “Wheels on the Bus” becomes much more than a simple children’s singalong for bus rides, as its composer, Verna Hills, intended.
Both sophisticated and fun, “Wheels on the Bus” becomes both an epic reflection of and metaphor for the unlimited possibilities within reach—in music and in life—if we keep an open mind. And practice.

The uplifting swing of “I Like to Take My Time” reminds me of that which originally made me fall in love with jazz: the irresistible ways in which melodies I already knew could be interpreted.

As I finished listening to this arrangement of the Fred Rogers classic, I was left wondering, for the very first time, why this song wasn’t considered a standard.
Same with “It Ain’t Easy Being Green”: the full, lush arrangement here brings new perspective and meaning to the song’s powerful, self-redemptive lyrics.

Two Muppets songs serve as reminders that unique musicians and good music are timeless. “Mah Nà Mah Nà” becomes a swinging nod to the late, great Slam Stewart, who often hummed along to his own basslines. And Ernie’s nod to his favorite toy, “Rubber Duckie,” becomes our tour guide of sorts through jazz history, from the speakeasy to the supper club to the concert hall and back.

Elsewhere, the joyful, celebratory samba treatment given to “La Cucaracha” belies the political weight the song carried during the Mexican Revolution. The song becomes a tribute to that great Johnny Griffin adage, “Jazz is music made by and for people who have chosen to feel good in spite of conditions.”

Jazz for Kids is a perfect representation of another timeless adage: “jazz is life.” There is seriousness in the fun, and there is joy in the seriousness.
Music is at its most powerful when it makes one feel connected with the past, and Jazz for Kids breathes new life into songs we think we’ve known forever. It shows how jazz can elevate even the most minuscule events in life. Jazz for Kids takes simple folk songs and nursery rhymes and turns them into something that you never saw coming.

- Joe Alterman

1. Baa Baa Black Sheep

Traditional
Arranged by Sherman Irby
Solos: Kenny Rampton (trumpet), Vincent Gardner (trombone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone), Marcus Printup (trumpet—fills), Chris Crenshaw (trombone—fills), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone—fills)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

2. Old MacDonald

Traditional
Arranged by Ted Nash
Solos: Sherman Irby (alto saxophone—fills), Dan Nimmer (piano), Vincent Gardner (trombone—fills), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Joe Temperley (baritone saxophone), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

3. Mah Nà Mah Nà

Edward B. Marks Music Company
Written by Piero Umiliani
Arranged by Wynton Marsalis
Solos: Jonathan Russell (violin), Carlos Henriquez (bass and vocals)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

4. Itsy Bitsy Spider

Traditional
Arranged by Wynton Marsalis
Solos: Ted Nash (flute), Chris Crenshaw (trombone—fills)
Recorded on October 17-19, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

5. La Cucaracha

Traditional
Arranged by Wynton Marsalis
Solos: Marcus Printup (trumpet), Victor Goines (clarinet), Chris Crenshaw (trombone), Dan Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez (bass), Ali Jackson (drums)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

6. Wheels on the Bus (feat. Hoda Kotb)

Traditional
Arranged by Sherman Irby
Solos: Hoda Kotb (vocals), Ali Jackson (brushes), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

7. It Ain’t Easy Being Green

The Joe Raposo Music Group, Inc.
Written by Joe Raposo
Arranged by Ali Jackson
Solos: Vincent Gardner (vocals), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Marcus Printup (trumpet)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

8. I Like to Take My Time

Fred M. Rogers
Written by Fred Rogers
Arranged by Sherman Irby
Solo: Ryan Kisor (trumpet)
Recorded on October 17-19, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

9. Rubber Duckie

Festival Attractions, Inc. (ASCAP)
Written by Jeff Moss
Arranged by Vincent Gardner
Solos: Dan Nimmer (piano), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Vincent Gardner (trombone), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone), Ali Jackson (drums), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet—hollers)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

10. Pop Goes the Weasel

Traditional
Arranged by Wynton Marsalis
Solos: Ted Nash (alto saxophone), Elliot Mason (trombone)
Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

Personnel:

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

REEDS

Sherman Irby (alto saxophone, clarinet, and flute)
Ted Nash (alto saxophone, clarinet, and flute)
Victor Goines (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and clarinet)
Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)
Joe Temperley (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet)

TRUMPETS

Ryan Kisor
Marcus Printup
Kenny Rampton
Wynton Marsalis

TROMBONES

Vincent Gardner (trombone, vocals)
Chris Crenshaw
Elliot Mason

RHYTHM SECTION

Dan Nimmer (piano)
Carlos Henriquez (bass)
Ali Jackson (drums)

Special Guests:

Hoda Kotb (vocals)
Jonathan Russell (violin)

Executive Producer: Wynton Marsalis
Front of House Engineer: David Robinson
Recording Engineers: Rob Macomber for SiriusXM and James P. Nichols
Editor: Gloria Kaba
Post Producer and Mixing Engineer: Todd Whitelock at Amplified Art and Sound
Production Assistant: Wes Whitelock
Mastered by Mark Wilder at Battery Studios, NYC 2019
Label Head and A&R: Gabrielle Armand
Label Manager: Aaron Bisman
Art Direction: Ron Jaramillo
Design: Brian Welesko, Iris Dai, Patricia Encarnacion
Legal: Daphnée Saget Woodley, Wesley Friedman, and Allison Job
Assistant Label Manager: Jake Cohen
Product Manager: Madeleine Cuddy
Marketing Manager: Nicole Morales
Product & Marketing Assistant: Benjamin Korman
Music Administration: Kay Wolff, Christianna English
Audio Archivist: Ben Carbone

Recorded on May 8-9, 2011 and October 17-19, 2011 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall.

Support for Blue Engine Records is provided in part by the Arnhold Family, Jay Pritzker Foundation, Dalio Foundation, and Boulé Foundation.
Additional support is provided by Diana and Joseph DiMenna, Robert and Helen Appel, Lisa Schiff, Leonard and Louise Riggio, and David and Thelma Steward.

The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy.
jazz.org
blueenginerecords.org

℗ & © 2019 Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.

• Carlos Henriquez – bass
• Dan Nimmer – piano
• Ali Jackson – drums, tambourine
• Ryan Kisor – trumpet
• Kenny Rampton – trumpet
• Marcus Printup – trumpet
• Vincent Gardner – trombone, vocals
• Elliot Mason – trombone
• Victor Goines – tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
• Ted Nash – alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute, piccolo
• Sherman Irby – alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, flute
• Walter Blanding – tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet
• Joe Temperley – baritone sax, bass clarinet
• Hoda Kotb – vocals
• Jonathan Russell – violin