Kids Music in Chicago

Sorry for the interruption. I’m back from my winter break now. Lots in kids music in Chicago is happening! More on the way…

Written by Ann Torralba

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to give a kids concert to some of the families at the World Relief Organization. This organization provides free services for refugee families that have immigrated to the United States. Some of the families that attended the concert were from Burma/Myanmar, Russia, Burundi, Congo, Uganda, and Somalia.

The concert took place in the World Relief Organization’s early childhood room in Albany Park. The interesting thing about this concert was that the families and I started off with different knowledge bases. While many of the families were probably familiar with their countries own traditional children’s songs, they were not familiar with this country’s traditional children’s songs like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Initially, the language barrier also seemed like it might pose a challenge. Here’s where the amazing part comes in . . . we were all able to communicate with each other through music. For 45 minutes, we danced, clapped, did hand movements, smiled, laughed, swayed, stomped, and marched. In the end, it really didn’t matter what language anyone spoke.

I met some wonderful dedicated people working at the organization like Annie, the early childhood teacher and Keri, the Director of Education. If you are interested in making a donation to WR-Chicago’s education programs, you can make a tax deductible donation by writing a check to World Relief-Chicago, Attn: Keri Lucas, Director of Education Dept, 3507 W. Lawrence Avenue , Chicago , IL 60625 .

If local Chicagoans want to donate items (i.e. household goods for apartments for newly arrived refugees, toys or other classroom materials for the early childhood education classroom, etc….) or volunteer with any of our programs, they can contact Keri Lucas at klucas@wr.org or 773-583-9191 x248.

Written by Ann Torralba

The first time I heard Erin Flynn sing was when I went to see a production by Chicago’s own Red Moon Theater. Honestly, I really don’t remember much about the play. All I remember is Erin Flynn coming out on stage strumming her guitar and commanding the audience with her angelic voice. That unique voice coupled with the Co-op band is what makes “Dreamers of Dreams” (2004) worth listening and adding to your collection. The 13 traditional and original songs take you on a musical journey where you travel through ska, jazz, folk, rock and punk. At times, this album truly rocks out making you want to dance and other times it gets soft and sweet. The best thing about this cd is that while it definitely has a consistent sound throughout, all the songs are uniquely different from one another.

The song “Mary Mack” lured my daughter in with its cowbell. Slowly the song builds momentum and ends in a Blondie like frenzy. One favorite of mine was “Butterfly”. One could mistake the lyrics to be written by Simon and Garfunkel with its description of the darkness of winter. Filled with hope, Flynn begs throughout the song for a butterfly (Spring) to come back to her. My favorite song however is “Join in with a song”. With its full chorus of voices, this song belongs in some sort of rock musical like “Hair”.

The title “Dreamers of Dream” is taken originally from a poem from Arthur O’Shaughnessy. You might recognize it from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. Even though this cd was created in Philadelphia not Wonkaland, I think even Willie Wonka would put his stamp of approval on this cd.

There is a lot (really a lot) of kid’s music excitement this weekend. I think this must somehow be related to that thing where the busses all come at the same time. The Folks & Roots Festival was one of the best events we went to all of last year, so we’re definitely going again this weekend, hopefully to both days. If my husband will keep an eye on our daughters during their nap, I’m also going to head to Schuba’s to see Little Miss Ann. Lots more is going on though (see the Calendar for more details).

• July 13-15 Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park.
• Saturday, July 14th Ralph’s World at Morton Arboretum
• Saturday, July 14th Justin Roberts at Ravinia
• Saturday & Sunday, July 14th & 15th Folks & Roots Festival with many, many great performers (especially at the kids tent)
• Saturday & Sunday, July 14th & 15th Central Street Family Fest with Joel Frankel
• Saturday & Sunday, July 14th & 15th Rock Around the Block with Little Nashville
• 1:00 pm, Sunday, July 15th Little Miss Ann band at Schubas

Written by Ann Torralba

Last night, I went to go see Remembering Fela, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 with my family and some friends. This is part of the incredible Music without Borders series at Milllenium Park. I would highly recommend going to see a show the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. The space is beautiful and very open and it is a perfect meeting place for a summer outing with a group of friends and family. Kids of any age would enjoy this setting. Last night, I saw babies carried in their baby bjorns, toddlers dancing, and kids blowing bubbles. I didn’t see one tear the whole evening as I walked through the crowd. You can even bring your own food and and drinks or buy food there. The shows are free and Millenium Park is easily reached by train so you don’t have to pay for parking. As I listened to the music and watched people from many diverse cultures dancing, I couldn’t help but think that this is what would happen if the Hot House met Ravinia.

There are a bunch of really exciting kids music events this weekend. I’m especially interested in the Belmont Art & Music Festival where you can get the chance to not only see our own Little Miss Ann in person, but also Karen Banks-Lubicz, Mary Macaroni and Stacy Buehler. I also want to see Erin Flynn and Lenny Marsh at the Notebaert Nature Museum again. This is really a unique event that is worth making the time for.

Saturday, June 23rd

• 10:00 am – 11:30 am Karen Banks-Lubicz at Winnemac Park (near playground SW corner of park), 5100 N. Leavitt St
• 11:00 am Erin Flynn and Lenny Marsh at the Notebaert Nature Museum Cicada Sing-Along with songs and games all about the 17-year cicadas set to emerge in Chicago this summer. Children will build their own instrument to sing like cicadas and learn about the lives of these fascinating creatures. This program is free for children of all ages and their caregivers.
• 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm Joel Frankel at the Chicago HealthFest at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park

Saturday & Sunday, June 23rd and 24th

• Belmont Art & Music Festival Great family and kids entertainment from noon - 3:00. I’m not sure exactly who’s performing when but they say our own Little Miss Ann, Karen Banks-Lubicz, Mary Macaroni and Stacy Buehler.
  • Saturday, 1:00 pm Karen Banks-Lubicz and Karen for Kids
  • Sunday, 12:30 pm Little Miss Ann Band
• Chicago Summerfest in Lincoln Park
  • Saturday, 12:00 pm Scribble Monster

Written by Ann Torralba

While you’re thumbing through the kids CD’s at the Old Town School of Folk Music, it could be easy to pass over “Karen for Kids” with its charming homemade cover design. If you do though, you’d be making a big mistake! This 20-song CD full of traditional and original songs is a gem for both kids and adults. Karen Banks-Lubicz is a long-time Wiggleworms instructor at this legendary school and a popular performer throughout Chicago.

“Karen for Kids” is a family effort. Karen’s husband Carl plays various instruments on the CD and also recorded it. Karen and Carl’s daughter, Kayla helps out by singing a few tunes.

With a consistent loving vibe throughout and simple instrumentation, Karen has created an endearing CD. Karen’s voice is reminiscent of Carol King’s on “Tapestry”. Her take on some “untraditional” traditional songs such as “Bom Bom Biddy” and “Ally Bally” are done in a true folk fashion. The brightest spots are really Karen’s originals. They include “If I were a bird” (written with Amy Lowe), “Five Little Snowmen”, and “Back and Forth”. Armed with this CD, all can only be good in the world of parenthood.

Written by Lori Barrett

This weekend is Taste of Randolph Street. If you have kids who are able to stay up late, there are some bands playing that the whole family might enjoy. Friday night’s lineup includes the Broken West, Stephen Kellogg and, at 8:30, Fountains of Wayne. All three acts are pop enough for music fans of all ages. We’re hoping to be able to catch Fountains of Wayne. I played a couple of songs and videos for my 9-year-old on the other day, and he liked them, though I wish we could have skipped the many upper-torso closeups in the “Stacy’s Mom” video.

Local band the Changes play early on Saturday, at 5:30. This would be the perfect musical accompaniment to an al fresco dinner. The Walkmen play at 7:00, and the Smoking Popes play at 8:30, for those with little sk8er boys or girls.

Sunday afternoon there’s a Baby Loves Disco set at 2:30, and a treat for moms and dads of a certain age, Marshall Crenshaw. His set is also pretty early, at
6:30.

We are big Erin Flynn fans and we listen to Dreamer of Dreams at least once a day, so we were very excited about the Cicada Singalong at the Notebaert Nature Museum. As it turns out, the event was even more wonderful than we expected. This time, I remembered my camera and battery. I wish I had a larger memory card, because I would have recorded more of the event.

For those of you who aren’t from the Chicago area, the 17 year Cicadas are up and about, even though you don’t really see any in the city. Interesting information from Wikipedia that mentions insects and prime numbers:

The Magicicada goes through a 17- or occasionally 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles are an adaptation to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis, as a predator could not regularly fall into synchrony with the cicadas. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, so while a cicada with a 15-year life cycle could be preyed upon by a predator with a 3- or 5-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles allow them to stop the predators falling into step.

The event is hard to describe. I think it was more “interactive educational kids theater” than a singalong. Erin had the kids act out the life cycle of the Cicada while she described each stage of the Cicada’s life in song. What is amazing is that it completely worked. The kids loved it, the songs were amazing and everything just flowed. Erin just seemed to connect really well with the kids. She was never condescending and the kids really seemed to get what she was talking about. I wasn’t sure how much my 2 year old really absorbed, but then this morning when youtube finally finished processing my videos, she exclaimed, “I want the Timbales song”.

On Sunday, our girls woke up from their naps 30 minutes earlier than usual at 2:30. My husband and I looked at each other and said, “I bet we could get down to Printers Row for the Justin Roberts show at 3:00.” We ran around, piled in the car, parked illegally and made it to the show only 10 minutes late. We have Justin Roberts’ “Meltdown” CD and listen to it quite a lot, but we’ve never seen him live before. In all our rushing, I forgot my camera, so no video (again).

As expected, the show was a terrific amount of fun and Justin Roberts was even better live than on his CD. Lots of the kids knew his songs by heart and everyone danced and sang. He really seemed like a friend and you could tell the kids thought so too.