Post Description

Keb' Mo' - Big Wide Grin (2001)

AMG Records; Release date 05.06.2001

Recorded at Groove Masters Studio and Sony Studios, Santa Monica, California; A Cut Above Studio, Ventura, California; 

House Of Blues Studio, Encino, California.

Personnel: Keb' Mo' (vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica, keyboards, background vocals); Barbara Morrison (vocals); Leo 

Nocentelli (guitar); Greg Leisz (mandola); Danilo Lozano (flute); Gerald Albright (alto saxophone); Robert Hurst (upright 

bass); Laval Belle, Roy McCurdy, Sergio González (drums); Luis Conte (percussion); Bobette Harrison-Jamison, Alex Brown, 

Perla Batalla, Phillip Ingram, Randy Phillips (background vocals).


The rise in the number of titles in the children's music category around the turn of the century was accompanied by a shift 

in the approach to such recordings. As baby boomers, who remain loyal record buyers, have become parents, the artists who 

appeal to them have turned to children's music, but it often seems as though the records are still being made for the 

boomers, not their children. Though the recordings often concern the subjects of childhood and parenting, it is often hard 

to imagine a child actually enjoying the music. Such is the case with the Keb' Mo' children's album, Big Wide Grin, which 

is better regarded as a regular Keb' Mo' album on the theme of family rather than an album for children. The singer covers 

a number of pop evergreens from the late '60s and 1970s -- the O'Jays' "Love Train," Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands," the 

Winstons' "Color Him Father," Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair," Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi," and Stevie 

Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" -- and he reaches back even further for the swing-era standard "The Flat Foot Floogie" and 

"America the Beautiful." All of these are likely to be familiar to parents of a certain age, and most have something to do 

with family issues, but only a couple are likely to appeal to children. This is not to say that, to be a children's album, 

a record must be filled with singalongs for the preschool set. But albums like this belong to a recent subset of the 

children's market that should perhaps be labeled "parents' music." In the case of Keb' Mo', the recording serves to ease 

him even more in the direction of being a folk-pop interpreter, an approach he has embraced increasingly since initially 

coming across as a new-style folk-blues singer. 
Rating: 3 of 5
[bron: Allmusic]

BIG WIDE GRIN was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album For Children.

With baby boomers and many members of Generation X having grown up with rock & roll as their music of choice, it stands to 

reason the idea of a "children's album" needs to be redefined. Contemporary blues guitarist Keb' Mo' keeps this concept at 

the forefront of BIG WIDE GRIN, a collection of songs suitable for sharing with the whole family as opposed to being 

tailored solely for the little ones.
Blessed with a rich singing voice, fleet fingers, and a laid-back delivery, Mo' delivers clever arrangements of R&B 

favorites by The O'Jays (a twangy "Love Train"), Sly & The Family Stone (a casually swinging "Family Affair"), and Bill 

Withers (a loping "Grandma's Hands"). In keeping with the familial theme, the Compton native addresses topics including 

adoption (the heartfelt Brenda Russell duet "I Am Your Mother Too"), love for a step-parent ("Color Him Father"), and 

thankfulness for a blessed life (a Bonnie Raitt-like "Infinite Eyes"). Goosing along this occasionally weighty collection 

are a few instances of Keb' Mo' loosening up, particularly on a jumping version of Slim Gaillard's jive classic "The Flat 

Foot Floogie" and a playful duet with son Kevin Jr. on Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi."
[bron: cduniverse]

Dank aan Motormuijs!