This morning Robbi K & Friends took us on a musical tour of the world, and we didn’t have to travel farther than Tribeca. I have to hand it to anyone who can bring that much energy to a room full of kids on a rainy Sunday morning.
Robbi K was a background singer for artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart, Harry Belafonte, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, and Jewel, and that diversity shows in her music. The set included African and Latin rhythms, reggae and jazz, with some familiar numbers thrown in. Olive was very confused when they played My Favorite Things. Poor girl only knows the John Coltrane version, and she said, “Mommy, this song doesn’t usually have words.”
Robbi K has great stage presence, and she was great with the kids in the audience. At one point she got down in the middle of the kiddie dance floor and had the kids dancing and singing. It took shy Olive a while to get warmed up, but she was grooving by the end. Robbi K even brought some rooster puppetry into the act. Can’t go wrong with that.
It was a lovely morning, and Robbi K is a nice change of pace from the usually rock and pop inspired kids music. Also, 92YTribeca has a terrific space to see a show like this. The vibe is casual, there’s room to dance, it sounds great, and there’s a cafe on the scene to grab a cup of coffee. I’m pretty sure I even saw one parent with a mimosa. (I was tempted to hunt down a martini but then realized, despite the fact that I was in a club seeing live music, it was 11:00 in the morning and I was surrounded by preschoolers.) This concert was part of 92YTribeca’s B.Y.O.K. (Bring Your Own Kid) series of ongoing family concerts. Check it out.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Dear Amy and Olive!
Thanks so much for coming to my show….I’m so glad you were there. It was great fun for me to sing and dance with everybody! My biggest thrill to learn is that Olive knows Coltrane!!!!! I’m glad I am now officially part of her jazz vocabulary (no pun intended)!
Keep up the great work you’re doing as a mom, and with Media Macaroni! Hope to see you at one of the park concerts this summer – those are FREE!!!!
Talk soon!
Robbi K (& Friends!!!)
Thanks, Robbi! You totally made our Sunday. I’m also going to buy some of your music for Olive’s preschool – they’ll love it! We’ll be on the lookout for the park concerts.
Hi Amy!
If you like Michal Levy’s stuff you should check out http://www.animusic.com/downloads.html, if you haven’t already. They have two free samples would look and sound amazing!
-louai
Hey Louai! I remember seeing Animusic at a conference I was at several years back. I may even have a disk around here somewhere… I wasn’t in love with it, but I do wonder what Olive would think of it, especially as we’re trying to introduce her to different instruments.