Dan Zanes and friends - Nueva York“This CD is the sound of my band and I working with our Latino friends here in Nueva York. While the conversations about who should and shouldn’t live here in the USA rages on, we’re having a 21st century party celebrating some of the amazing culture that’s come here from various parts of Latin America. The spirit of collaboration and friendship has made this for me the most emotional and exciting of the Dan Zanes and Friends CDs. Did I mention that we ate great food and laughed a lot?”
“Friends” for this musical party include Zanes' group Colin Brooks, Sonia De Los Santos, John Foti, Saskia Sunshine Lane, and Elena Moon Park along with ranchera and jazz singer Lila Downs, singer and actress Daphne Rubin-Vega, Mexican trio The Villa-Lobos brothers, frequent Zanes collaborators The Rubi Theater Company, avant-garde guitarist Marc Ribot and Afro-Colombian roots ensemble La Cumbiamba Eneye making ˇNueva York! a wild, 21st century party of the sort that is sure to be springing up more and more as musicians and their friends build musical bridges with songs that can connect us all.
ˇVivan las canciones del mundo de habla hispana!
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Daily Telegraph 13/1/9 HIS pulling power is such that Nick Cave was a guest performer on a recent album.
But children's music star Dan Zanes can also boast collaborative efforts with Deborah Harry, Sheryl Crow, Suzanne Vega and minimalist composer Philip Glass -- among many others.
``Basically we try to make it sound as though they came over for a meal and afterwards we decided to play a song together,'' he says.
``So we try to make it sound as though Angelique Kidjo or Aimee Mann is singing in your kitchen, which tends to be very different from the way people are typically recorded and my guests appreciate that.''
The idea of an impromptu singalong is the guiding principle of Zanes's six albums of children's music.
It's a notion that came to the American musician with the birth of his daughter Anna in 1994. Up to then he had enjoyed some success with 1980s group The Del Fuegos but the band split in 1989 and Zanes went solo.
``I put out a solo record and 12 people bought it,'' he says with a chuckle.
Then Anna arrived and things changed.
``When my daughter was born I just wanted a kind of music we could enjoy together,'' he says. ``I was thinking about the music I grew up with, the old folk records that were a mix of old and new songs drawing on a variety of traditions, sounding like it was recorded in a house and wasn't ever too polished.''
So Zanes made a tape of his own ``family'' music, giving it out to other parents he met around the neighbourhood.
``Everybody wanted more copies so I turned it into a proper release and that became my first CD and I've been doing it ever since,'' he says.
``I didn't know how much fun it would all be and how much kids and grown-ups like to sing together.''
Zanes, 47, is keen to encourage such activities through his CDs and live shows.
``It's inclusive music and it's celebratory music and that's what music is -- it's social glue,'' he says. ``So come to our shows and then go off and make your own music.''
Chris Hook
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