MP3 Rebecca Frezza - Tall And Small

âTall and Smallâ is the third award winning CD from children's music artist Rebecca Frezza and features the talents of her rockin' band Big Truck. This collection of fourteen original songs is sure to please everyone in your family both tall and small....

14 MP3 Songs
KIDS/FAMILY: Children's Pop, KIDS/FAMILY: General Children's Music



Details:
WINNER! 2006 NAPPA Gold award
WINNER! 2006 iparenting Media award

As seen on PBS Kids and NOGGIN!!!

âChildren's recording artist Rebecca Frezza rocks your socks off with her band Big Truck.â â Nicole Lyn Pesce, New York Daily News

âWith her third studio album, âTall and Small,â Rebecca Frezza and her band Big Truck make a bid for kids' music stardom.â -Stefan Shepherd, Zooglobble

âBefore Frezza and her freewheeling Big Truck Band are through here, they throw everything from Ramones-style punk to Blues Traveler-type harmonica riffs kids way. Tall or small, 3 or 35, it's a mash-up that commands a fist-pumping conga line around the toybox. â - Tammy LaGorce, Amazon.com Editorial Review

âFrezzaâs obvious respect for musical variety, along with a clear understanding of kidsâ real-life themes, makes Tall and Small a delightful addition to every familyâs music collection.â - Kathy OâConnell, Metrokids, Philadelphia

âNogginâs latest video superstar melds a classic childrenâs music sound with todayâs adult friendly kiddie pop. Be sure of it, little feet will be dancing. Many tracks will also inspire parental toe-tapping, and perhaps even some humming long after the stereo has been turned off.â â Christopher Healy, Cookie Magazine

âTruly, almost giddily feel-good music for tall, small and allâ - Amy Reiter, Time Out NY Kids



Rebecca Frezzaâs focus is on creating music for a largely forgotten audience â kids who are too old for pre-school tunes, but who arenât yet ready for mainstream adult âpopâ music. Says Rebecca, âOnce kids start elementary school, they donât have easy access to age-appropriate music. Theyâre not listening to Raffi any more, but they donât have music thatâs âjust for them.â So Iâve tried to write music that speaks to the everyday lives of these kids, but is smart, funny and appealing to parents, too.â The childlike spontaneity of Rebecca, the composer, is matched only by the emotional range, exquisite phrasing, and virtuosity of her voice.

âTall and Smallâ follows Rebecca Frezzaâs 2002 and 2003 recordings, âMusic In My Heartâ and âRoad Trip,â winners of Parentsâ Choice, Childrenâs Music Web, iParenting Media, Parentsâ Guide to Childrenâs Media, and Dr. Toy awards. Barnes&Noble.comâs Amy Barkat enthused, âRebecca Frezza's talent lies in her fearless exploration of diverse musical styles and her dedication to making the everyday world of kids' lives burst into musical life through deceptively simple lyrics and a whole lotta heart.â Janet Copple Davis of Parentsâ Guide to Childrenâs Media declared that Rebecca Frezzaâs work extends âfrom lyrical to imaginary to expressive to innovative and reflective â a great panorama of musical sounds.â

On âTall and Small,â listeners will note influences ranging from rock ânâ roll and jazz to Celtic and bluegrass, with a depth of instrumental color that is unusual in a childrenâs album. In addition to two backup vocalists singing harmony and the usual guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums, âTall and Smallâ features flute, harmonica, pennywhistle, djembe, bongos, cajon, mandolin, ukulele, fiddle, bodhran, clarinet, trombone, trumpet, electric violin, and washboard!

Rebecca Frezza was a triple threat -- accomplished as a singer, dancer and actress -- whose artistic gifts and hard work carried her into the life of a musical-theater âgypsy.â She crisscrossed the country in regional productions of shows like âWest Side Story.â She traveled Europe in âA Chorus Lineâ and circled the globe in âEvita.â

So it was a bit of a surprise, when Rebecca finally left the road to marry and start a family, to find herself with a new performing career -- pretty much in her own backyard.

Just about as soon as her baby daughter could sit up, Rebecca began attending parent-child Music Together classes. âI loved the classes, loved the idea and the practice of bringing music to children,â she says. Soon Rebeccaâs son joined them, and Rebecca took the training course that qualified her to teach Music Together classes herself.

âThatâs when I started writing music,â she says. âThe funny thing is, I didnât set out to write âfor kids.â I wrote a couple of songs that I liked, about topics kids like â birds, my back yard, looking at leaves â and I brought them to my classes. The kids loved them. And the parents loved them too!â

It wasnât difficult to pinpoint what was special about Rebeccaâs songs. âThe direction I took really got started when parents started to come to me, saying how their kids had loved the music classes but were outgrowing them,â she says. âEven though the kids still loved so much of what theyâd learned, they were ready for more sophisticated material.â

Working in the Music Together program, Rebecca helped create curricula for 3- and 4 year-olds. But she found herself thinking about children outgrowing that range, too. âI was very clear on wanting to make real music for kids,â she recalls, and as she wrote, songs like âI Know Iâm Gonna Drive a Carâ emerged: more complex ideas, their tone a little more sly and knowing, than music for younger children, yet still completely appropriate to a post-toddler, pre-Lindsay Lohan listener.

Energized, challenged and ready to draw on her musical theater roots, Rebecca rearranged her artistic priorities to place singing first while keeping dance in the mix. While penning the songs that became her first CD, âMusic in My Heart,â she was also creating a stage show. Performed by the artists who became Big Truck â a back-up band more accurately described as a shifting cast of multitasking musicians and thoroughly choreographed back-up singers, numbering anywhere from two to ten onstage â Rebeccaâs shows, like her songs, feature a global range of instruments, from Celtic pennywhistle to African percussion.

âThis band is so versatile, so capable in such a variety of musical styles,â she says. âThe nuances really make a difference, giving children something to hang on to. Thereâs a resonance: theyâll hear one of our songs and recognize these instruments in other music.â

And the music is only part of the bargain. Rebeccaâs songs, when performed live, also feature their own set of simple but specific dance moves, taught to each audience by the lifelong hoofer herself. âItâs something like the old Motown choreography â a lot of arm movements,â she explains. âItâs really interesting to see how important the movements are. When the kids are doing them â whether perfectly or not! â the participation is very compelling for the children. Thereâs such a great life lesson here: It doesnât have to be perfect; it just has to be fun!â

Now, with the increasing success of âMusic in My Heartâ and its follow-up, âRoad Trip,â Rebecca and her merry band of Big Truck collaborators are looking forward to the release of their third CD, âTall and Small,â and are poised for nationwide success. Already a popular feature on the NOGGIN Channelâs âJackâs Big Music Show,â theyâre also seen throughout the day in âMove to the Musicâ interstitials that will continue to air through the summer.

As for touring, âitâs really a question of how much we want to take on,â Rebecca says, âbecause once weâve played somewhere, they always hire us back!â From their base in Montclair, N.J., Rebecca Frezza and Big Truck have performed throughout the Tri-State region and have dates set through Fall 2006. (Visit www.bigtruckmusic.com for specific concert dates.)

Rebecca is especially proud of her success at creating age-appropriate music for youngsters immersed in an overheated, oversexualized media environment. âA couple of weeks ago, I watched a 7-year-old girl dancing her heart out during a show,â Rebecca says. âI thought, now, thereâs a girl who could be listening to Britney Spears, and instead sheâs having a great time, not a bit self-conscious, totally age-appropriate. My whole point is, you donât have to lose them!â