Again...and Again

"Do it again!"
That's usually my daughter's reply to when I do literally anything to make her laugh.
From spinning her around off the ground by her hands, to blowing 'zerberts' on her belly.
Or it could be playing a new song on my iPhone (which runs through the radio in my pickup truck) that she's never heard of before, and now finds herself a fan of.
Latest additions include The Osmonds, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, Neil Young, Chris Rea, Elton John, Tavares, and Sister Sledge.
Yeah, can you tell I like 70's music?
One of my faves.  What can I say?
But there's more to it than that.
My parents were Top 40 Rock 'n Roll people.  On their own, my mother drifted more towards folkish sounds, while my dad drifted towards the psychedelic harder sound.  So I grew up accustomed to a steady diet of a variety of music tastes.
Though I did have the baby Einstein classical music playing in her nursery as a baby, the time came to upgrade her tastes once the MP3 player bit the dust one day and I did not have the music on a master file anywhere.
So...what to do for an 18-month-old?
Chick Corea.  Anthony Burger.  George Winston.
If you're not familiar with any of these artists, they're not 'kids music'.
They're very much for adults.
While I don't hold anything against parents who are content with cranking up Laurie Berkner and 'learning to love it', I prefer to keep my kid on the adult side of things.
My first experience with jazz was not in a club as an adult, but rather, in front of a television screen at the age of three.
The show was "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood".
If you go back and watch one of those old episodes, listen to the music played under the closing credits.  It's probably one of the most sophisticated jazz pieces you'll ever listen to.  When children are in the stage of their lives when they're doing the most listening (albeit selectively), this over-the-top music sets the stage of what can be learned and adapted, and often at an early age depending on motor skill progression.
And my first known experience with soul music was at the age of three as well.  A different show this time.
Sesame Street.
Stevie Wonder performed his 1973 chart-topper "Superstition" live on the show, complete with clavinet and horn action.
The clavinet's the big one.
I have Stevie Wonder's music on my iPhone.   Three tracks are clavinet-based pieces.  The song I just mentioned, "You Haven't Done Nothin', and "Higher Ground".
I solicit feedback afterwards when I introduce one.
"What do you think of that one?"
The answer's almost always the same:
"Very good."
Kids know what they like.  Most of them want to be grown up.  What Mom and Dad have, they want access to.  I don't have to remind anyone of this.
Music is no exception.
When Johnny Costa was first named music director for "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood", PBS officials were somewhat skeptical of his complex piano arrangements, believing that young children would not be receptive to it.  Costa maintained his ground, with Fred Rogers' support, and the music remained his way.
While it didn't make him rich, this work ultimately made him a household name.
Good thing.
Classical and jazz music have long been relegated to the non-commercial broadcast outlets, due to their lack of advertiser appeal, and relying instead on listener or corporate support that can be deducted next year at the tax preparer's office.
Long before the Eagles, Maroon 5, Nirvana, the Beatles and Elvis, there were other names.
Mozart.  Bach.  Beethoven.  Schubert.
Bach could have been a country music artist of his time, according to the late Harry Chapin, who described him like this:
"wrote gorgeous music all day, then came home, drank beer and screwed his wife".
Bach had 20 children...half of whom survived into adulthood.
When you think about it, that could very well be a country song.



NEXT WEEK:  Vacation