Music for a Green Planet (by Hayes Greenfield, Children's Music)

Just in time for Earth Day comes this fantastic family jazz album by Hayes Greenfield, a veteran musician whose "Jazz-Ma-Tazz" album and education series won multiple awards and praise from the industry and parents alike. Now, he's added saving the environment to his mission and has come up with an album that will have parents and kids alike celebrating the environment and renewing their commitment to do something to help. With help from some of Broadway's top performers, as well as a host of jazz greats, this CD gives old lullabies new life with lushly layered studio production and smart, never overbearing messages (the lyrics were penned by environmental activist Margo Schepart).

Each song mixes familiar and new ideas and is packed with a lot of information -- like how turbines work (water power) and what geothermal power is, all set to superb jazz beats. The Things we Throw Away," fetchingly sung by 8-year-old Les Miserables star Carly Sonenclar, lists the hundreds of seemingly insignificant items we toss everyday, like Ketchup and sugar packets and plastic forks that come in paper bags, tracing them back to the places they were made -- factories and sugar cane fields. The gorgeous "Rock-a-bye Rainforest" sounds like a song you'd listen to in an after-hours jazz club and will rock your little ones to sleep in style. Destined to become a family favorite.

Released on: April 3, 2008
Label: Dots and Lines
Genre: Children's Music