Children's
music superstar
Raffi
maintains his stellar standards on this charming 16-song album. Don't be fooled by the title, which is something of a misnomer: this isn't all play music. In fact, it covers a range of moods and subjects, not to mention genres.
The bearded
Pied Piper
from Canada weaves together a selection of familiar covers and imaginative originals. There's a
Celtic folk
version of
the Beatles
'
"Yellow Submarine,"
a delicate piano treatment of
"Eensy Weensy Spider"
(with an additional,
-penned verse), and, in an interesting choice, an airy rendition of
"What a Wonderful World."
Among the original numbers,
"Raining Like Magic"
is sea-breeze
calypso
,
"If You're Happy and You Know It"
skips along on
Chico Marx
-style piano, and
"It Takes a Village"
is bright
reggae
with an important message. Reaching farther around the globe,
"Tsetang Gangla (On the Playground)"
is an adaptation of a
traditional
Tibetan
children's
song and the dreamy
"May There Always Be Sunshine"
alternates between English and Russian. Of special note are
"Jane Jane,"
a bouncy tribute to
Dr. Jane Goodall
, who studied the chimps of Tanzania for 40 years, and the swingy title track with its nod to legendary
jazz
guitarist
Django Reinhardt
. Instructive, tender, joyful, and thoughtful, this is vintage
.
Let's Play!
comes with lyrics for all the songs. ~ Adrian Zupp