Quick Hits: Jazz Cats Get Friendly, Levy Loves Magic

Friendship is more powerful than a pandemic. That's never been as true as on "Friendship Party," the new video from Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats' upcoming EP, WHAT KIND OF WORLD? (from kids label Eight Pound Gorilla Records). The Grammy Award-winning band's trombone player Ron Wilkins survived a bout of COVID last year, yet he sounds as fit and feisty as ever on the EP (review to follow in September). "Friendship Party" cuts between black-and-white instrument playing and colorful street scenes. The buoyant lyrics feature 1940s harmonies from Lucy and fellow jazz enthusiasts Jazzy Ash and Joelle Lurie (of JoJo and the Pinecones). For kids who might be confused about what kind of dance moves should accompany this type of American music, the accompanying video (shot in Brooklyn) showcases swing dancers and choreography that they can easily follow and teach to their friends and family. Here is the brand swinging new video from Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats:

Alison Faith Levy is back on the children's music scene after taking a well-deserved hiatus (and I'm not talking the enforced coronavirus isolation break that we all endured). With filmmaker Danny Plotnick, Levy has released a video for the title track of her upcoming CD, YOU ARE MAGIC. The theme of the concept album is how our own individual creative energy and momentum draws from – and is reflective of – the universe that surrounds us. The song nicely tracks how actions can have positive consequences:

Can you care for the earth and things that grow?
Just plant some seeds in nice straight rows
See you did it, there’s nothing to it
You are magic, and you can do it!

YOU ARE MAGIC is currently available for pre-order on Bandcamp. In the meantime, you can watch the video for "You Are Magic" from Alison Faith Levy: