Max's Family Band

From Kids' Music that Rocks:
http://kidsmusicthatrocks.blogspot.com/2009/06/maxs-family-band.html

When you first pop Max's Family Band into the CD player, the first thing you think is, "Man, this is like Broadway music for kids!" Well, it's not a coincidence: Gary and Yvette Negbaur have years of musical theater experience as both composers and performers, and they translate their talents into their kids' music debut album Max's Family Band. Inspired by the antics and day-to-day life of their son Max, the Negbaurs composed 15 songs for and about him that all parents can relate to, and some tunes will even get a giggle out of the grownups.

"Gobbledygookster Baby" is full of fun words, "One Sock Octopus" is entertainingly silly (hey, made me laugh!), and when it's "Haircut Time," what better style to sing about it than barbershop quartet? Dig how the swingin' verse of "Grandma Time" jumps to a doo-wop chorus, then try to follow the piano/vocal runs on "Picky," and dance to the hand jive boogie of "Rockin' Zebra."

Check out "The Color Medley," a four-song mini epic that utilizes Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles psychedelia, some Chicago blues, a little New Orleans shuffle, and a taste of hot Salsa to musically describe yellow, blue, green, and red. And on the songs "I'm Glad that You've Discovered M" and "Hello Mr. Diaper Hello" you can practically feel the heat from the footlights! Both songs would make perfect preschool stage productions, complete with tiny dancers and singers.

Max's Family Band is cute, catchy sing-along entertainment for your youngest music lover.

Posted by Warren Truitt at 6:00 AM

Labels: broadway, max's family band, musical theater - Kids' Music That Rocks

From the Boston Children's Music website:
http://www.bostonchildrensmusic.com/maxs-family-band/

Have you ever just started singing to your baby while changing a diaper or feeding them? You know, just some silly song about how much you love them or how cute they are?

Well, now imagine you’re a talented singer/songwriter or cabaret singer. I bet those songs you sing to your baby would be awesome!

I don’t know if that is where the songs on the Max’s Family Band CD really came from, but some of them have that feel. Songs like Gobbledygookster Baby sound like songs that a loving mom and dad (who are also very musically inclined) may have started singing to their baby one day. Then they may have thought, “Hey, that was fun! Let’s share that song with other families!”

This CD is just plain sweet and fun. Great for little ones, especially babies and toddlers. I love the a cappella song Haircut Time and my son loves We are Traveling because they sing about underwear (well, he is four, after all).

You can find out more about Max’s Family at their website: www.MaxsFamilyBand.com. - Boston Children's Music.com

From Out With The Kids:
http://outwiththekids.blogspot.com/2009/07/maxs-family-band-kids-cd-review.html

Imagine, if you will, What to Expect: the Toddler Years as a kid's musical production on the Broadway stage. Relax in a plush, red velvet seat as you're treated to a toe-tappin' family performance with song & dance numbers about picky eaters, babies learning their first letters, haircuts and a newborn's most important wardrobe accessory.

What I've just described is not on the stage (although maybe should it be) but if the idea of such a collection of music sounds super cool, check out Max's Family Band. Yes, they are indeed a family and their children's album debut is one which, if I didn't know any better, I'd think was straight from the Great White Way. All the staples of a fine stage show recording are here: vocals high in the mix, bouncy piano, a smattering of punchy horns and a focus on annunciation (the key, really, in any great musical cast recording).

I hear shades of Dear Edwina on "Picky" and "Grandma Time", with it's sweet "Grandma Time / it's all fine" backing vocal. On "I'm Glad You Discovered M" and "Kiss all My Boo-Boos Away" - a great companion song to Dreyer Family Band's "BooHoo"- I can hear a little of A Year with Frog and Toad, too.

With roots planted firmly in musical theater tradition, the family's foray into the kiddie music world yields some truly unique and highly enjoyable results. As a point of reference, Sandra Boynton's work is probably Max's Family Band's closest cousin musically.

Max's Family Band, the album, is a hit and if it was indeed an off-Broadway show it would no doubt be extended by popular demand.
- Out With The Kids

From L.A. Parent:
http://losangeles.parenthood.com/LA_CD_Corner.php

Max's Family Band
$14, www.maxsfamilyband.com
Max's Family Band is very much a family band. The group is fronted by Max's parents, Gary and Yvette, although little Max gets the first and last words on the disc. Their friendly family music is geared mostly for preschoolers and their parents with tunes about diapers, boo-boos, strollers and gobbledygooster. A gentle silliness surfaces in "One Sock Octopus" and "Rockin' Zebra," which boosts a Bo Diddley beat. It's also hard to resist a disc that contains a song about haircuts done up barbershop quartet-style. - L.A. Parent