In My Hometown
Harry Chapin's younger brother Tom never made the elder's commercial splash, but his recordings for kids are doing wonders for parents. Chapin's seventh children's recording,In My Hometown, is unapologetically excellent at several musical levels. Simplicity in melody here never cheats the rich instrumentation or complex, polystylistic composition. In the profusion of styles are lively mariachis, bouncing ragtime, funny ska, and, of course, plenty of dyed-in-the-wool folk. And for all the musical variety, none of the songs shoots above kids' heads. Like his brother, Tom Chapin writes narrative songs, many of them turning on witty repetitions that perk kids' ears up--and still strike adults as worth hearing. If you peruse Chapin's musician list, you'll also find some marquee talent, such as jazz trumpeter Lew Soloff, uilleann pipes maestro Jerry O'Sullivan, and former Blues Brother Blue Lou Marini on alto sax.--Andrew Bartlett