Friday, August 8, 2014

Children's Music Artist Review: ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés!

I was going to wait before featuring another musician, but I feel so much enthusiasm after seeing the kids music program ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés!, that I'm taking a break from what is written on my calendar to tell you about his music immediately. I bought a CD and had a great chat with Andrés after his show at Pohick Library yesterday.  He gave me a shout out on his Facebook page, which I always appreciate. I have really enjoyed listening to his CD and highly recommend it for children ages 3-9 along with their teachers and parents.


Andrés Salguero presents a program of superb musical quality while teaching children language, geography, and the value of reaching across perceived cultural barriers. With the help of Juana the Iguana (a puppet), la guitarra, and el saxofón, kids sing, move, and imagine to a variety of Latin styles. As a performer Andrés sincerely enjoys his young audience and keeps them engaged with plenty of dancing and verbal interaction.

His recently debuted album ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! presents a different genre of Latin music with each vibrant track: a perfect way to introduce children and their parents to the sounds of Latin reggae, bachata, plena, salsa, mariachi, vallenato, bolero, norteño, y champeta.  The orchestration easily takes its listener to an enchanting place of energetic rhythms and dreamy melodies. Take, for example, the bachata "Los Colores". The melody and vocals have me swooning, and I completely forget that the lyrics are teaching children colors.


Another notable song, "If I Had A Mariachi", teaches mariachi instruments by both name and sound. The mix and arrangement provide enough clarity that a child's ear can easily distinguish between instruments. "Where does my salad come from?" is a brief discussion introducing us to "Daddy Was a Migrant Worker" which describes some values of migrant workers while teaching the Spanish names for produce. "My Friend Manuel" teaches basic Spanish greetings, and in a heart-warming way,  reminds us that when we are happy together, we all laugh the same.

Truly a delight from start to finish, ¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés! belongs in every child's music collection.

Visit Andrés' website to hear sample tracks and find out where you can see his show!






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