Press for Dean Jones & NAPPER’S DELIGHT
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Napper’s Delight was featured on
National
Public Radio’s “All
Things Considered”
as one of 2007’s best CDs for kids.
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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Children's Music That Rocks
Warren Truitt
***Dean Jones***
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. This is music that you hear in your head
when you're sitting on your front porch, miles from your nearest neighbor,
watching the sky change colors as the sun goes down. Besides having THE
absolute best album title of the year, Dean Jones' Napper's Delight is
very appropriately named, as this is not a bedtime CD, but a CD to listen
to before an afternoon nap, when you and your kids can contemplate the
drowsy music and thought-provoking imagery of the words.
Those familiar with Dog on Fleas' work will recognize lead Flea Dean Jones'
playful, cosmic lyrics, tenderly sung by Jones and guest vocalists Elizabeth
Mitchell; fellow Flea Debbie Lan; and Amy Poux, founder of Working Playground,
Inc., and High Meadow Arts, Inc. In fact, Jones showcases a mindboggling
array of Hudson Valley talent, including the aforementioned voices, the pedal
steel of Fooch Fischetti, and fellow Flea David Levine's fiddlin'.
The slightest touches of electronica mixed with the sounds of mbiras (thumb
pianos) and balafons (marimba-like instruments), especially on "Tiny
Fishes", make the music on Napper's Delight both now and timeless. And
listen to how Dean quietly and slyly works Steely Dan into the lyrics of "Sally
Ann". "Wheelin' and Dealin'", cowritten with NYC's Emily Curtis,
would be a lo-fi electrotrance hit on any college radio station, and the
Elizabeth Mitchell-sung "Grow Little Flower" would fit in just
nicely on Neil Young's Harvest Moon.
Other highlights include the 5/4 - 3/4 verse/chorus of the Vince Guaraldi-influenced "Needs",
the mournful trombones of the call-and-response antebellum-sounding waltz "Filly
and Dilly", and the uniquely Dean Jones lyrics of "Hush Little
Baby". Dig these tasty lines from "Hermit Crab": Minnows swim
in minnow school / Stand askance of tidal pool / Swim on swishy beaucoup
fishies / Pesky little Pisces settle down nicely". Cool.
What's going on here is more than pretty little folk songs: The album as
a whole is all about observing, understanding, and caring for your world,
including the people around you. It's not enough to live in it, you have
to be a part of it. This is music, man. If anyone in the universe wants to
jump in and get their feet wet, well, c'mon. Everyone's invited, Dean Jones
ain't keepin' nobody out.
www.kidsmusicthatrocks.blogspot.com
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Zooglobble Review: Napper's Delight - Dean Jones
Written by Stefan Shepard
Though this is the best kids music album title (or at least most amusing to parents) since the Sippy Cups' "Electric Storyland," people who expect Dean Jones' Napper's Delight to be a traditional lullaby album or a goofy riff on a traditional lullaby album will be disappointed.
Surprise and, not infrequently, delight are more likely feelings here. Jones
is one of the ringleaders of the fabulous New York band Dog on Fleas. While
it sells both this album and the band short, to call Napper's Delight a Dog
on Fleas lullaby album is a good place to start in describing the CD. One
of the chief attributes of a Dog on Fleas CD is its spirit of adventurousness,
of lack of calculation in song selection and instrumentation. Such is the
case here as well. There probably aren't many CDs that include both drum
machines and traditional African instruments such as mbiras or the balafon,
but they all appear here and neither of them really sound out of place.
I think it takes a few tracks to get into the CD -- the drum machine on the
third track "Wheelin' and Dealin'" might not be everyone's cup
of tea -- but by the time fellow New York musician Elizabeth Mitchell takes
over the vocals on the fifth track, "Grow Little Flower," the CD
has really started to establish a relaxed but not sleepy mood. The next track, "Bygones," struck
me as a long-lost Vince Guaraldi Trio track, while the reworked 18th century
folk song "Turtle Dove" gets a nice assist from fellow Dog on Fleas
bandmate Debbie Lan and a couple fiddlers. By the time you get to "Hush
Little Baby," which sounds like it's got a tiny calliope helping to
provide musical accompaniment, you're sold. (I also adore "Filly and
Dilly," a duet with Amy Poux which is a reworking of the traditional "Lavender's
Blue.") The overall effect is definitely not one of a lullaby album,
if only because many of the songs don't deal with unconditional love as many
lullabies do. Rather, the CD creates a mellow mood that will work well as
the soundtrack to many a lazy afternoon reading with the kids.
The 42-minute CD is fine for all ages, of course, but I think kids ages
2 through 8 will respond to it more. You can hear samples at the album's
CDBaby page.
Napper's Delight isn't a traditional lullaby album -- it sounds nothing like
it. Although it has echoes of Dog on Fleas, Elizabeth Mitchell, and the Innocence
Mission, it doesn't really sound much like those, either. It is, as I said
above, filled with surprises and delights. I'm not sure kids will necessarily
run to pull this off the shelves. But I think a lot of parents (especially
those who are regular readers here) will find this a soothing balm for family
listening and, given five or six spins, will find this working its way into
their brain. It did mine. Definitely recommended.
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Cookie Magazine Review: Napper’s Delight
Written by Chris Healy
2 cookies (out of 3)
As the lead singer of Dog on Fleas, Jones has shown his aptitude for raucous party pleasers. Here, he proves he knows his was around a lullaby, too. The tunes are properly peaceful, yet each is catchy enough to make you sing along.
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Chronogram Magazine
Music for Morpheus by Robert Burke Warren, November 28, 2007
As one teeters on the border between sleeping and waking, when time is more
elastic and associations are freer, one is likely to see the images, murmur
the words, and hear the sort of music that is on Napper’s Delight,
the gorgeous new CD from Rosendale’s Dean Jones.
Part Lewis Carroll,
part solo McCartney, part Vince Guaraldi, Napper’s Delight is whimsically
deep, with lyrics both thought-provoking and playfully nonsensical.
Napper’s Delight is Jones’s first released solo effort, and he’ll
be celebrating its unveiling at Rosendale Cafe at 8pm on Saturday December
15. An adult event at which children are welcome, this gig will be a gathering
of some of the best musicians in the area, all of whom contribute to the
album. Smithsonian Folkways recording artist Elizabeth Mitchell, who sings
the timeless “Grow Little Flower” will be on hand, as will Fooch
Fischetti on pedal steel, vocalists Amy Poux and Debbie Lan, fiddle player
David Levine, and bassist John Parker. In addition to the odd Tom Waits cover,
Jones also promises to play “humorous, upbeat songs about pirates and
lowlife” from his “bootleg” album Ophelia and Lucky Go
To Hell. Bring the family!
“We’ll save the swearing ‘til after the kids leave,” Jones
says, with a laugh.
In addition to composing music for television, Dean Jones has made a name
for himself as the indispensable multi-instrumentalist behind—and at
times in front of—such diverse Hudson Valley-based bands as Sonando,
Uncle Buckle, Big Sky Ensemble, and the renowned family music group Dog On
Fleas. Jones explains his “day gig” is traveling with Arm of
the Sea Theater, a “troupe of puppeteers wielding giant puppets and
big ideas,” as their one-man band.
Of Napper’s Delight, produced, recorded and mixed by the maestro himself
at Rosendale’s No Parking Studio, Jones says, “I have all these
mellower things that we leave off the Fleas’ CDs, just me by myself.” When
asked about his deft mash-up of synthesizers and traditional wooden instruments,
modern-day lingo and olde English ballad-speak, Jones admits, “Even
if I’m doing a folk song, I’m thinking about Kraftwerk.”
The result is that rare song collection that pulls the listener in rather
than jumping in their face. Jones’ cool-water phrasing is at the center,
and he has expertly cast sounds and voices to complement both his originals
and his takes on public domain chestnuts. The latter activity, not unlike
modern-day sampling (but without the lawyers) is in the grand tradition of
folk “song-joining;” the performer uses extant forms and words
and adds or subtracts, making something new while referencing something ancient.
Although the Napper’s Delight liner notes humorously cite this as “butchering,” it’s
actually the best way to keep a song alive.
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ROLL MAGAZINE Review by Ross Rice, October 2007
On the completely opposite side of the musical street …local favorite Dean Jones [Uncle Buckle, Dog On Fleas, Sonando, Fighting McKenzies, to name but a few] has recorded a charming batch of tunes designed to ease the little ones into nap mode, without driving Mom and Dad bananas. With They Might Be Giants-like whimsy, and help from friends like Amy Poux, Foosh Fischetti, and John Parker, Jones delivers a gift to parents everywhere.
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