Jazzy Tunes for Parents and Preschoolers Alike

Audio

Hello on the Go. Music Workshop for Kids. CD: $16. Ages 3 to 6. (888) 470-1667.

The award-winning Music Workshop for Kids (Mary Jane Alm, Pat Frederick, Kathy Mueller, Mark Mueller, Scott “Scooter” Nelson) rarely disappoints parents. After all, Mom and Dad are as much the Minneapolis group’s target audience as children.

Its most recent release is no exception. Performed by professional artists (who also compete in the world of music for adults), this terrific, jazz-fueled collection includes the stylings of the Hornheads, a respected brass and winds group that has performed with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, Janet Jackson and others.

Preschooler favorites such as “This Little Light of Mine” and “Pop Goes the Weasel” get new treatments.

New songs include “An Inch Tall,” an imagination-stirring look at the world from the ground up; “Wipe Wash Flush and Brush,” a remarkably sunny--and clean--celebration of personal hygiene; and an irresistible, funk-and-rap-style philosophical look on “The Bright Side.”

The most unusual offering is a child’s narrative about “My Dad (and Me)”--an observation of small but important moments of companionship and communication, deepened with nostalgic, wistful musical accompaniment.

The loveliest tracks, most likely to linger in adult minds, are “Cranberry Red Balloon,” about a child who comes to realize that actually catching an errant balloon is less meaningful than the chase; and the poignant lullaby “Ship of Dreams.”