Charity and the JAMband

Jam is not a food or just a musical genre, it's a way of life for Charity Kahn, front woman of Charity and the JAMband!

When I started off writing this post, I was struggling to find a word to describe Charity. The words multi-talented gets thrown around in the kids music genre quite a bit, and I hesitated to use it in this case as it just doesn't seem to do enough justice. But there isn't a word that sums her up more completely. This is a lady who takes kids music and fun to a whole new level!

Charity is the front woman for Charity and the JAMband. They are a group of six eclectic musicians from varying backgrounds who came together piece by piece to create the JAMband experience. They now have with four albums under their belts (Jam (2002), Peanut Butter and JAM (2004), Rock Your Socks Off (2006) and the brand new double CD Party Like a Twinkle Star (2010)).

Charity (in the pink T) and the JAMband are... Charity Kahn: vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar; Daryn Roven: acoustic and electric guitars, cavaquinho, keyboards; Jake Wood: drums, bottles; Paul Lamb: bass, Mellotron, engineering; Laurie Pomeranz: vocals; Danny Zingarelli: percussion; and Jasper & Silas Crocker, Jonathan & Sophia Roven: kids' vocals!

Charity started off her musical career recording an album for adults while pregnant with her first child. She figured it was do or die time as the demands of motherhood would put any musical aspirations on the back burner. But motherhood does something to all of us that we least expect and before she knew it Charity had her own music and movement class in her lounge room with her own playgroup.

Fast forward nearly 10 years and Charity and the JAMband, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, perform regular gigs in libraries, pre-schools and elementary schools. on top of this, Charity also runs JAMspace which offers music, dance, theater and art experiences for toddlers, pre-schoolers and school-aged kids.

I've had a few email chats with Charity while getting to know her and her music and there is one thing I'm definitely missing out on over here in Australia and that's the live JAMband experience. But luckily for us Charity's clear and true voice will get you groovin in the lounge room via her four albums. There is a little bit of everything in her repertoire, pop, a bit of funky soul, jazz, a folksy blues sound, scat and even a little rap and you'll find yourself dancing around with the kids acting out the lyrics of the songs.

Image: Kids rockin with the JAMband @ Dolores Park

The latest JAMband album, Party Like a Twinkle Star, is split into two discs. The first Party is for when it's time to get up out of bed and start rocking. It's energetic, smile generating music that you just can't sit still and listen too, it requires participation, in fact almost demands it. that's where the flip side to the album Twinkle on the second disc comes in. Starting off with a very zen single note of One Golden Bowl, the mellow almost lullaby tunes and the combination of charity's meaningful lyrics and soulful voice make it perfect chill out and relax music. And I wouldn't be the first to say Twinkle is an album you'd listen too even without the kids around.

Pop on over to the JAMband website to hear Row Row your Boat from Party like a Twinkle Star. It's the current song of the month.

Click here more music from Party Like a Twinkle Star (disc 1 Party)
Click here more music from Party Like a Twinkle Star (disc 2 Twinkle)

Click here for more music from Rock Your Socks Off

Click here for more music from Peanut Butter and Jam

Click here to hear tracks from the first album Jam

Check out Charity and the JAMband's website for LOADS of information on the band, their ethos, music and if your lucky enough to be in the SF Bay Area, where you can find them for a live JAMband performance!

A little colouring and a little prize winning

A little bit of rock n' roll flavoured colouring to kick off the week...

The Indie Rock Colouring Book

Andy J. Miller (think Yo Gabba Gabba animation) is the illustrator behind The Yellow Bird Project's Indie Rock Colouring Book. A collection of 25 hand drawn illustrations inspired by some of the greatest indie rock bands of our time including Iron & Wine, Bloc Party, The National and Devendra Banhart. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to support the varied and deserving charities of the Yellow Bird Project which is dedicated to finding musical opportunities to incite change.

A must for indie rock fans. Purchase the book from the Yellow Bird Project direct for US$10 or from Australia's own MixtapeZine Shop


Congratulations are in order.... for Richard G who is the lucky winner of our Gustafer Yellowgold giveaway. Keep your winning smiles on for another new artist to meet tomorrow and another giveaway to boot!!

Set your Piggies Free with Ziggy Marley

I was supposed to be posting a review for music month today.... but I got a little side tracked during the day and haven't finished it yet :o( Never fear, tomorrow is another day!!

But I did happen across this little gem today on the TV. Something funky is definitely happening over on Sesame Street these days. I was making sock monkeys this afternoon during quiet time, and I got just a little bit excited when the song on today's show was Ziggy Marley singing Set your Piggies Free. I instantly LOVE this song!!!



How times are changing on Sesame Street this year with celebrity's popping out everywhere, they are making a big move to cross over pop cultures (I think I posted something a while back on appropriate celebrities popping up?)

Anyway, here's another one, it's Feist with 1,2,3,4 (the Sesame Street take) on their hugely popular song from back in 2008.



Now, back to that review....

Melodies & Memories with Chris from The Brothers Trimm

Chris Familton is the resident music guru at hip boys only blog The Brothers Trimm. He is also a freelance music writer (www.doubtfulsounds.wordpress.com) and a musician (wow!), and I'm telling you, I like the cut of his jib!! I asked Chris to contribute to Kids Music Month by telling me what his top 10 kids songs are and why he finds them so memorable. The list that Chris sent back not only includes some of my personal favourite from my own childhood but also introduced me to a few new finds.

I love them all, let me know what you think. Oh and don't forget to check out The Brothers Trimm. It's one of my favourite new blogs to follow.... even though I don't have boys!
Peter & The Wolf - composed by Sergei Prokofiev
Not strictly a song, this was a mesmerising collection of music with animal parts played by orchestral instruments. The cat was a clarinet, the wolf was represented by french horns and the bird was a flute. It encourages imagination in the listener and is a magical entrance into the world of classical music for inquisitive kids.



Spike Milligan - Ning Nang Nong
From the Bad Jelly the Witch album comes this brilliant nonsense song with its clever rhyming and crazy voices. It was a mix of The Goons eccentric humour and the psychedelic music of the time. Of course to a child it was just a catchy and funny song and one that I loved to sing along to.



Meet The Flinstones Theme
Of the TV shows that I worshipped as a child this was probably the one I heard the most often and never tired of singing along to. It was catchy, fast and had Fred’s infamous Wilma! yell at the end.



Rubber Duckie - Ernie (Sesame Street)
A classic jazz based song by one of Sesame Street’s most beloved characters. I remember and love this because of the swing to the song. It has that melodic nursery rhyme feel to it.



The Ramones - Spiderman (available on - Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits)
This is a fantastic version of the classic cartoon theme in the only way that The Ramones know how. Relentless drumming, surf guitars and Joey Ramone’s 60’s tinged vocals. A band that all kids should get hooked to.



Danger Mouse theme - composed by Mike Harding
DM was the cartoon hero of the 80s generation. It stood out because it was a British production and the opening scene with DM and his assistant Penfold was set to an over the top Bond-like spy soundtrack. This reminds me so much of after school in front of the TV with biscuits and a glass of milk.



Chromeo - Nice N Clean (Yo Gabba Gabba)
Chromeo’s funk is perfect for kids as it has just the right balance of energy and melody. Here they preach the virtues of washing ones hands on Yo Gabba Gabba, pretty much the best show currently combining contemporary music and kids TV.



Mark Kozelek - Bedtime Lullaby (Available on - The Finally LP)
A gorgeous paean to sleep that works both as a beautiful song and a useful tool to send the kids off to dreamland.




Fat Freddy’s Drop - The Nod (available on - Dr Boondigga & The Big BW)
Reggae and funk music seems to really click with kids with its strong rhythms and swing. Put this song on and not only will they be dancing in no time, they’ll be singing along to the lyrics about cooking in the kitchen - with smiles on their faces.



Ron Grainer & Delia Derbyshire - Dr Who Theme
One of the scariest and most intriguing themes ever and was a lot more terrifying than the show itself. As a child this had me glued to the screen and transported to another planet. Taken as a standalone piece of music it was revolutionary at the time for its electronic composition and now sounds both hypnotically ominous and beautiful.

Interview: A mellow fellow... Morgan Taylor is Gustafer Yellowgold

Have you met Gustafer Yellowgold yet? If not, give yourself a smack to the head and pop on over to his website to checkout what all the fuss is about! Gustafer is a yellow fellow from the sun who has moved to greener and cooler pastures here on earth and is entertaining everyone with his mellow tunes about friends, his home on the sun and all of his adventures along the way.

Our special guest this week for Kids Music Month is Morgan Taylor who is the creator behind the musical sensation that is Gustafer Yellowgold. There isn't a music reviewer around who hasn't had stunning things to say about the Gustafer Yellowgold experience, so I thought we'd give Morgan a few questions to ponder.

Me - In a chicken and egg world, what came first? Gustafer Yellowgold the character or the music?
MT - The image of Gustafer came about physically in 1997. Really just two drawings I did when I worked at a record store in Ohio back then. One of them had the (yet unnamed) Gustafer frying up amphibians on the stove-top. That image was the genesis, and later after I moved to New York City I began to find comfort in this silly side to my songwriting. I started coming up with songs like "Your Eel" where I mention him cooking snakes. So that image really stuck in my subconscious and I built upon it much later. But when I was writing the songs I didn't realize I was making kids' music per se', I was just having fun making some tapes for my band mates really. SO the answer is BOTH.

Me - You have quite a musical pedigree, and I’ve read some impressive reviews comparing you to Dr Seuss and The Beatles, where do you draw inspiration from for Gustafer? Both musically and for the story and illustration?
MT - I certainly aspire to being great at what I do, and to be compared to those iconic masters of their fields, I really think is a bit lofty. But the description conjures the right mood of what I'm going for, I believe. Melodic, catchy pop songs paired with absurd humor and cartooning.

Me - A live performance for you combines a bit of comedy, obviously the music and the audio visual aspect in the back ground, and you've opened shows with Gustafer Yellowgold for bands like the Polyphonic Spree. A live performance for an adult audience compared to one for kids is obviously very different, but who do you find the better audience and why?
MT - The large majority of my audiences are half adult, half kids so I'm always playing to both. The rare occasion where I've played to adult-only crowds is funny because I barely change what I say to them. It shows that Gustafer Yellowgold is, simply, for PEOPLE.

Me - Gustafer Yellowgold is an original in the world of children’s entertainment. One of the biggest differences is that he is so mellow where everyone else seems to be trying to work kids into a frenzy. Do you find your audiences at live performances chilling out, or is there any fan hysteria happening?
MT - In the live shows I do tend to lean towards the more up-tempo numbers. But none of the stuff invites crazy or rowdy behavior. My goal is to make the audience think and laugh and sing. I realized a while back that the song "I Jump On Cake", has the craziest lyrics but is actually the slowest tempo, but it is the comedic centerpiece of the whole concert.

Me - The Golden Heart Symphony performance from 2009 looks like it was a feat to behold. What is the story behind your involvement in this project and is it something you’d like to do more of?
MT - Oh, that was a feat for sure. I would love to play with different orchestras all over the world if I could. It was really inspiring to see the music reach such a sonic platform. It felt like an out of body experience for me some of the time while performing. It was the first of hopefully many Gustafer symphony experiences.

Here's a little snippet of that performance... it involved a 52 piece public school orchestra!!


Me - Gustafer Yellowgold is a family affair, does being a parent and collaborating with your wife make the inspiration for Gustafer Yellowgold flow more easily, or do you find yourself a harsher self critic as a result?
MT - It makes us take it more seriously. We have to be organized with our time so that we don't go crazy. There's too much to do, really. At this point we're spending nearly every waking hour working to push it along. And there's still a lot that never gets done. We have way more ideas than hands at this point!

Me - You are up to your third CD/DVD for Gustafer Yellowgold and your touring schedule looks pretty full, what does the future hold?
MT - We're dividing our time so that I can finish drawing the new DVD. It will be called "Gustafer Yellowgold's Infinity Sock". It's on schedule for an early 2011 release.


Win a copy of Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Fever and a Gustafer Boneless Action Figure

Morgan has so kindly offered a copy of the latest CD/DVD release Gustafer Yellowgold's Mellow Fever and a Gustafer Boneless Action Figure. To win simply tell me the name of Gustafer's Pterodactyl friend. Email your answer to vicki@monkeytailandwellington.com.au with the title Gustafer Giveaway by 12pm Monday 17th of May 2010 and I'll randomly pick a winner from all the correct entries :o)

Lunch Money winner & tomorrow's interview

Well the first week of Kids Music Month has gone by in a flash!! We've still got loads more music to tell you about starting with an interview tomorrow with Gustafer Yellowgold creator Morgan Taylor and the chance to win some Gustafer goodies.

But firstly, the winner of last Tuesday's Lunch Money giveaway is Sara. M from Auckland. Congratulations Sara and thanks so much for entering, your CD's are on the way tomorrow :o)

Don't forget you can claim a 20% discount voucher to spend on anything in store if you give a Shout Out about us and can provide a link. Click here for more details.

Sweet sleeps and see you tomorrow ;p

Charity and the Jam Band

Just a little snippet this morning before I post the winner of the Lunch Money album giveaway (ps... you've got till 12pm Qld time today to enter)

I'll be reviewing/interviewing the lovely Charity Kahn from Charity and the Jam Band this month and I can't wait to introduce her to you. But in the mean time, Charity has just posted a super special offer on her website, you can download her latest album Party Like a Twinkle Star today only for just $1 as a lucky Mothers Day special. Click here for details....


Gone now... back soon.... with Lunch Money winners and a sneak peak of tomorrows interview and giveaway :o)