A MUSICAL FEAST OF SEASONAL FOODS - ORANGE SHERBET'S "DELICIOUS" (Review)

CD Details: DeliciousFor all ages.  Especially appropriate for preschool/elementary school.
Label: Elephant Red Records
SRP: $15.00 CD,  $10 download
Run time: 38 minutes.

ORANGE SHERBET’S

‘DELICIOUS’

A MUSICAL FEAST OF SEASONAL FOODS
DELECTABLE, JAZZED-UP, AND COOL!


“Jazzy jammin’ and folky strumming soup up this electric hodgepodge of rhythm-propelled ditties.”– Parenting magazine review of Orange Sherbet’s Big Brother, Big Sister

“It’s a wholly winning sound … timeless songs sound fresh, and new songs sound like they’ve been part of the canon forever.”   –Zooglobble review of Orange Sherbet’s Campfire Sing-Along

Top-notch musicians praise the delights of eating seasonal, locally grown foods!  The award-winning Bay Area group Orange Sherbet serves up its most abundant family platter yet with its fifth album, Delicious. Set for release on May 15, Delicious is a tasty, jazzed-up, seventeen-song musical celebration of the foods of spring, summer, fall, and winter and the joys of growing, preparing, and enjoying nourishing, delicious meals.

Five years ago, Orange Sherbet’s Tamsen Fynn participated in the Eat Local Challenge with her husband, professional baker Eduardo Morell.  They spent a month preparing and eating local foods grown and produced within 100 miles of home.  Around that same time, Tamsen was introduced to the Local Foods Wheel, a wonderful tool for discovering local, seasonal food in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her creative energy went into high gear, and she soon found herself spending hours at the kitchen table with a pile of cookbooks and a long list of foods, on a quest for dishes that were mouthwatering and would lend themselves to musical treatment. With the enthusiastic agreement of Orange Sherbet bandmates Jill and Steve Pierce, both of whom love savoring a good, home-cooked meal, Orange Sherbet embarked on writing music for Delicious.

Recalls Jill Pierce, "We fell in love with every food we wrote songs about.  What started as an inspiration to create a celebration of foods in season became a meditation on every bite."  Tamsen Fynn adds, “Everyone who worked on the CD needed regular lunch breaks, because we all got so hungry listening to the tempting descriptions of rice & beans, sautéed vegetables, or al dente pasta.  This might be the first time a child who hears our music wants to taste bok choy, rutabaga, and mustard greens!"

Delicious encourages adventurous eating as it moves happily through the seasons of the year, with songs ranging from the jazz-influenced title track exploring the many flavors of food to a rock anthem in praise of waffles! Other highlights include “Farmers’ Market,” in which folk and rock combine with a dash of pop and a pinch of gospel, and “Chase That Pig,” where opera meets Zydeco. There’s even a nod to Santana in the Latin infused “Rice and Beans,” a song that is also a Puerto Rican recipe taught to Steve by Tamsen’s husband, Eduardo. The album’s finale, the “Garden Song,” was inspired by the simplicity of Kaulana Kanekoa and Vince Esquire’s version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” with just three voices and ukulele, recorded live.

Orange Sherbet has been featured in Parenting magazine, San Francisco magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, DailyCandy Kids, SF Weekly, Zooglobble, and more. The band’s award-winning body of work includes the CDs Jackson’s Lullaby (2001), Ridin’ (2003), Big Brother, Big Sister (2005), and Campfire Singalong (2007; recorded with the band Hot Buttered Rum and featuring special guest Dan Zanes on an Orange Sherbet song written especially for him).
 

Delicious will be available online at www.orangesherbet.org, amazon.com, cdbaby.com, and iTunes.                           

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My Thoughts:

This was the first time I heard music from the band, Orange Sherbet, and am so glad I had the opportunity to review their firth album releasing on May 15th with my daughter, Savannah.  Whenever Savannah hears music, she stops what she is doing, just to dance around.  So, when I received this CD in the mail, I knew she would have so much fun listening (and dancing) along to it with me.  

I love it when children's music offers an assortment of music genres, and with Orange Sherbet, children are exposed to jazz, rock, pop, gospel and Latin.  And, with the warmer weather and the local farmer's markets opening soon, this is a great CD to listen to with young children to get them excited about food and healthy eating. It was hard to choose a favorite song, as each track was catchy and made you tap your feet along to the beat.  But, I have to say that Savannah and I did like listening to "Rice and Beans".  And, another title track, "Juicy Berry" made Savannah sway her head back and forth, which I found cute.  Who knew that singing about food could be so fun and melodious?  

Even though this was the first time I heard music from the band Orange Sherbet, it will not be the last.  And, I will be playing this CD and singing along, when I take the girls this summer to the local farmer's market and to pick up our local CSA share.  Be warned, these tunes are not only catchy, but they will get you hungry.  So, don't listen on an empty stomach.  :-)

Disclosure:  I was sent a copy of this CD in order to write up an honest review.  The views above are mine and mine alone.