I hate so called “children’s music”. Most of it is cheesy ass crap and I’m of the philosophy that if mami can’t stand to hear it, my kids won’t listen to it either. I especially dislike Spanish language music, usually sung in a saccharine voice and with a bad accent. Enter Dan Zanes and his latest cd ¡Nueva York! Now, Dan Zane’s Spanish accent leaves much to be desired pero the collaborations on this cd featuring some classic canciones that mami loves, even nursery songs, makes the constant requests by my toddler to replay this cd over and over and over again a ok.

From Dan Zanes site:

“This CD is the sound of my band and I working with our Latino friends here in Nueva York. While the conversations about who should and shouldn’t live here in the USA rages on, we’re having a 21st century party celebrating some of the amazing culture that’s come here from various parts of Latin America. The spirit of collaboration and friendship has made this for me the most emotional and exciting of the Dan Zanes and Friends CDs.

And who are some of the amigos on the cd?

Bronx Rican poeta la Bruja sings a new version of the classic bilingual tune Pollito Chicken, that under the spoken word hip hop speaks to writing poetry and the importance of multiple generations passing down traditions. Plus it helped my two year old learn two new words: piso and window!

Lila Downs does a remix of her song la Bruja, which could be a little scary with it’s lyrics of chupando niños pero it’s Lila Downs!

Another favorite song is Dame la Mano Paloma, here sung with Silvia Sierra. This song always reminds me of Christmas in Puerto Rico pero it’s good enough to sing all year round.

You can buy Dan Zanes ¡Nueva York! aqui.