Hooray! Recording has begun for my 3rd kids CD. I have been talking about it for months and now it is finally happening. This picture was taken in Richie’s living room while recording the song “Matilda the Gorilla.” Richie plays the accordion (and piano) on all of my CDs and also in The Loose Acoustic Trio. 3 songs were recorded there a couple of weeks ago. Last Sunday, I started the rest of the songs at my new friend’s house. His name is Scott and I’ll be going back there soon to finish up the basic tracks. Right now, 18 songs are being recorded for the finished CD. Some of the titles include “Matilda,” “The Circle of Seeds,” “Doctor Seuss Is On The Loose,” and Trevor Zinky’s song called “That’s What Beauty Is.” How many of these tunes will make the final cut? I don’t know, which is also the name of another song scheduled for the CD (“I Don’t Know“). And if I come up with a new song soon, that one may go on there as well. It’s all part of the fun. Creative mistakes can sound great sometimes. Unexpected things happen. Some songs take a turn for the worse. Others come out better than you ever thought they could. Hopefully, it will be completed by the end of the year. I will let you know what’s going on every step of the way. Stay tuned…

The “Growing Veggie Soup” CD is being released today to everyone everywhere around the world. Here is the official statement from the good people at Recess Music:

Recess Music is proud to present Growing Veggie Soup, the second installment of the Celebrate Earth music series. The thirteen songs on the disc were picked for their focus on educating kids about gardening and sustainable farming practices. Like the first disc, Growing Veggie Soup is sure to entertain and educate kids of all ages. Put Growing Veggie Soup in your computer to access exclusive content, including a digital sing-a-long booklet, artist bios, a recipe for veggie soup, and more!

Here’s the good part. A portion of the proceeds of this product will go to the America’s Grow A Row, a program that provides food for the hungry and teaches children about gardening and its impact on hunger and nutrition. It’s a fine organization and worthy of your support. I am honored and grateful to be a part of this project.

If you’d like to read a nice review from the Marin Mommies website, click here.

On Saturday, July 10th, Belle Cooledge Library will re-open its doors after many weeks of renovation. A big day of fun activities is planned. There will be face painting, juggling, music, balloons, refreshments, and who knows what else! For more information and a map, click here.

I am also very happy to announce that on Thursday, July 15th, from 10:30 – 11:00 am,
The Sing-A-Long Club will also begin again. This music program is designed for youngsters (age 3-7) and their families to come sing, learn and do the freeze dance. I am so excited to be playing music for my neighborhood friends at my local library. Here are the dates for the rest of the summer:
July 15, 22, 28
August 5, 12, 17, 26
September 2
All Thursday sessions start at 10: 30 am.

So, please come and sing along with me on Thursday mornings. It will be nice to see you all again. And I can’t wait to check out the changes at Belle Cooledge. I’ve heard that even the fish have a new home. It’s going to be great. Happy 4th of July, everybody.
Stay cool.

This time of year has always been a difficult one for me. It’s not the last week of school. It’s the week before the last week of school. Let me explain…

The last week of school is filled with parties, picnics, barbeques, promotion ceremonies, and lots of fun end-of-year activities. Kids are always smiling because the learning is over and it’s time to have one more big celebration before summer vacation begins. The smiles are contagious and the potluck food is always delicious.

But this is the week before the festivities begin. This is the week when I look around and see students I won’t be singing with again during the next school year. The kindergarten kids at Bret Harte will all be moving on to first grade and I don’t sing with the first graders there. The same goes for the first graders at Hollywood Park, Crocker-Riverside and John Cabrillo schools. They’ll be second graders in the fall. Likewise for the second graders at Sutterville. Wow. They will be grown up third graders. Each of the classes I visit and the kids that fill them have become so special to me over the past school year. Every group has its own personality. One class will have favorite songs, while another likes singing completely different tunes. Some sit quietly to sing, while others can’t stay still for two minutes. I will miss them all, all summer long.

Luckily for me, there will be a new crop of kindergartners starting school in September. The class sizes may grow a little bigger and some of my favorite teachers will be teaching a different grade level. But, hopefully, I’ll be asked back to all of the places where I sing now. Then the joy I feel teaching and singing with children will return once more in a fresh and special way. Maybe I’ll even get a surprise and see a few kids that I already know from one of the pre-schools I sing with. That’s the best.

So have a good summer, my little friends. I look forward to singing with you again in the fall. And if you’ve moved on to a class that I don’t visit each week, come and see me at Belle Cooledge or Valley Hi Library. I’ll be back at both libraries starting in September. We can sing some songs you already know and maybe even do a little Freeze Dance. It will be great seeing you once again.

Pete Seeger – “Birds, Beasts, Bugs & Fishes Little & Big: Animal Folk Songs” : In 1955, Pete recorded two fabulous albums of songs about animals that have now been reissued on one CD. Just Pete, solo and acoustic. A true classic.

Wee Hairy Beasties – “Animal Crackers” : Recorded by a group of Chicago’s best alt.country musicians (John Langford, Kelly Hogan, Sally Timms, and Devil in a Woodpile), there is something for everyone here. Up-tempo acoustic blues, folk, country, and more songs about animals.

Dan Zanes – “Parades and Panoramas” : I used to listen to Dan Zanes when his band, the Del Fuegos, were rocking out in the ‘80s. Now he records kids music. I like all of his CDs, but this one is especially good. It’s filled with 25 songs from Carl Sanburg’s “The American Songbag.” A wide variety of sounds and subject matter.

Natalie Merchant – “Leave Your Sleep” : This is a brand new CD but one I can’t stop listening to. Natalie adapted 26 children’s poems and recorded them using chamber orchestras, bluegrass pickers, Cajun musicians, even a reggae band. And that’s just for starters.

I’ve recently begun working on my next Mister Cooper CD. I’m really excited about the songs I have ready to go. Hopefully, I’ll be able to add it to the list. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon.

One of my favorite music activities during the school year is the Sing-A-Long Club with Mister Cooper. It’s an after-school program for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders who get together each week to sing songs that don’t quite fit in with the curriculum based material we sing in the classroom. It’s a 5 week program that ends with a big concert for families and friends. Kids think the best part is when I break out the kazoos to play. A kazoo is a plastic submarine-shaped instrument that buzzes when you hum into it. The intention is to make it sound more like music and less like a swarm of bees. Imagine the chorus of the Beatles song “Yellow Submarine” played on a yellow kazoo. Yikes! Maybe I should rename it the Kazoo-A-Long Club.

Happy Earth Day, Mother Earth! You are the most beautiful world in the world.

I play music and sing with 5 elementary schools and 3 pre-schools on a regular basis. And every one of them had this past week off for Spring Break. Hopefully, all of the students, but especially the teachers, had a relaxing time. I had a long list of things to do and I’m proud to say, most of them got done. I have started gathering songs for a new kid CD. One song in particular has become very special to me. A 4th grade friend of mine named Trevor wrote a fantastic song titled “That’s What Beauty Is.” He gave me a recording of him singing the melody, but there was no music. I worked on it, made some edits, figured out some chords, and recorded a version of it for him to hear. Maybe if he likes what I did, he’ll let me put it on the new CD.

Last Saturday, I sang some songs at the Land Park Great Egg Hunt. The weather was nice and there was a big turnout. Here is a picture of me singing “Peter Cottontail.” Thanks to event organizer April Meszaros for a job well done.

On Thursday, I continued my afternoon Sing-A-Long Club at the Valley Hi Library. I am very grateful to have this music program extended through the first week of June. Please come and sing along if you’d like to. For more info, please click here.

Speaking of the Sing-A-Long Club, I’ll be starting the after school group again at Sutterville Elementary on April 19th. Sign-up forms will be going out this week. I’ve been saving some songs especially for this session, so it’s going to be big fun. And kazoos, don’t forget the kazoos.

Lastly, I will be singing some songs this coming Wednesday, April 7, at the Southgate Library. The performance starts at 4:00 pm. This will be a “Read Along – Sing Along with Mister Cooper” program where I pass out booklets with all the lyrics to the songs I’ll be singing that day. Then everyone will be able to read along and sing along with me, Mister Cooper. These shows are always great. For more info, please click here.

Spring has sprung and it’s starting to get busy. My Spring Break was a good one. I hope yours was too. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon.

Gee, I had a great time yesterday. I finished up a 6th grade music residency, called “Back To The Notes”, with a rock and roll concert that had the joint jumpin’. Over the course of the last week, I visited each classroom playing the recordings of some influential African American musicians, directly linking them to the “Beyond The Notes” unit in their Open Court reading anthologies. The kids enjoyed hearing the sounds of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, and Ray Charles (pictured). As a writing prompt, each 6th grade class wrote their own version of “The Homework Blues.” Then the real fun started. With the help of my fellow band mates in the Loose Acoustic Trio, plus our good friend and drummer, Jim Caselli, we turned on the electricity (guitar, keyboard, bass) and rocked the house. The set list included “The Thrill Is Gone,” “Crossroads,” “Unchain My Heart,” and all three original versions of “The Homework Blues.” Who knew the 12-bar blues could be educational and so much fun at the same time?

I enjoy everything about a Farmers Market. I like the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that are available. The growers are great people to talk to and learn from. There will always be a surprise or two you didn’t expect to see. No two Farmers Markets are the same. Not too long ago, after playing some music at a Farmers Market with the Loose Acoustic Trio, I found myself humming the beginnings of a song. That song is now called (oddly enough) “Farmers Market” and can be heard on the 2nd Mister Cooper CD titled “This World.”

The good people at Recess Music and Big Round Records have asked if this song could be included on the 2nd volume in a series of music compilation CDs having to do with various aspects of our planet Earth. Wow.

The 1st CD, titled “Celebrate Earth,” is scheduled to be released on Earth Day 2010. The next CD plans to spread a positive message of sustainability. I will keep everyone informed as this exciting project moves onward and upward.