MP3 Chris Molla - Jump Up
Former founding member of alternative rock''s Camper Van Beethoven, Chris Molla gets back to basics with his original and traditional songs made with children in mind.
14 MP3 Songs
KIDS/FAMILY: General Children''s Music, ROCK: Americana
Details:
Chris Molla is an independent composer, musician and educator who has been working with young children since 1990. While working on a bachelor''s degree in music at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Chris co-founded the band Camper Van Beethoven. As a member of C.V.B. he recorded albums, toured widely, and enjoyed the status of a college-radio cult figure. After this little taste of stardom he left the band, finished that pesky B.A. degree, and went on to earn a master''s degree in music composition at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he studied with such heavy hitters as Anthony Braxton and Robert Ashley.
It was shortly after finishing at Mills that he stumbled into his first teaching job at an elementary school, and discovered that it was just the thing to do. Since then, Chris has taught at elementary schools and preschools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, and has studied Orff-Schulwerk with Doug Goodkin, Sophia Lopez-Ibor, and James Harding; practitioners of international reputation. All the while remaining active as a performer and composer in various ensembles, and as a solo artist. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, daughter, and three cats.
"Former founding member of alternative rock''s Camper Van Beethoven, Chris Molla gets back to basics with his original and traditional songs made with children in mind. "Old Joe Clark" and "Erie Canal" are among the old favorites Molla makes accessible to kids with his warm voice and quirky instrumentation. There are kooky originals like "Great Big Cat." "Twinkle" borrows from that old melody about the star, while it takes young listeners on a cross-cultural instrumental journey. The tunes are funny, cute, clever, and catchy, in part thanks to the use of child-friendly instruments like flute, banjo, and accordion."
-Denise Sullivan, All Music Guide
"My daughter''s friend loves Chris Molla so much he named his goldfish ''Chris Molla''."
-Marty
"Chris Molla''s music is just the kind of plain old wonderful kids adore."
-Jessica Baron Turner, Acoustic Guitar Magazine