Scat Like That: A Musical World Odyssey (by Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Children's Music)

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer are veteran children's performers and two-time Grammy winners -- they know what they're doing, and do it very well. SCAT LIKE THAT is filled with kid-friendly musical word games in a variety of accessible styles.

A musical journey through kid-friendly versions of big-band swing, polka, blues, folk, old-time country, and Latin styles, this will expose young children to some fun and funny word play. The vocals are easy to understand; Cathy and Marcy both have thin, clear voices that sound more friendly than soulful. The musicians are excellent and appropriate, and the songs perky as can be. Self-consciously sincere and wholesome, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer would never serve up anything remotely offensive or bothersome.

But the well-played songs will make more musically sophisticated parental ears long for the "real thing." Use SCAT LIKE THAT as a jumping-off point, then find some Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Sturr, Tito Puente, or B. B. King (using songs with family-friendly lyrics, of course) and make your own musical-journey mix tape.