Big Wide Grin (CD - 2001)

Personnel includes: Keb' Mo' (vocals, guitar, banjo); Brenda Russell, Barbara Morrison (vocals); Leo Nocentelli (guitar); Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar, mandola); Clayton Gibb (banjo); Gerald Albright (saxophone); Jeff Young (piano, organ); "Ready" Freddie Washington (bass); Sergio Gonzalez, Laval Belle (drums); Luis Conte (percussion); The Family, Alex Brown, Bobette Harrison-Jamison, Randy Phillips (background vocals).

Recorded at Groove Masters Studio and Sony Studios, Santa Monica, California; A Cut Above Studio, Ventura, California; House Of Blues Studio, Encino, California.

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

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).

Audio Mixer: Ed Cherney.

Photographer: Carl Studna.

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. ~ William Ruhlmann

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." minimize