Zucchini Alley
Tom Mawhinney
Calliope Music
2000
27 tracks
Tom Mawhinney is a bit of a phenomenon, at least around the town where I live. I'm sure he's known in other parts of Canada, but in Kingston, Ontario, it seems that every parent and child knows his name and associates it with the mythical street Zucchini Alley. Performing with large, sometimes impromptu choirs of children, Mawhinney seems to have found the secret to entertaining kids and their parents too. This release, the long title of which is 27 Original Songs from Zucchini Alley, perfectly showcases the man's talent.
Co-starring the "Elginburg Spontaneous Zucchini Choir" of fifteen children, this release also features guest appearances by the "Percy Street Spontaneous Zucchini Choir" and Randi Helmers. The overall effect is of a large children's party filled with fun and song, all directed by a brilliant Oz at its centre.
A nice touch is the html enhancement that comes up when the CD is placed in a computer's CD-Rom drive. (Unfortunately, it's not been set up to work in a Mac.) The front page is a bright yellow screen featuring the title Zucchini Alley in multi-coloured letters plus a big, bold purple "Click here to enter" link. Demonstrating some clever forward planning, the link is designed to discern whether the computer is set for one of three resolutions and to display the screen appropriately.
The next screen is a big picture of an alley bounded by zucchini's, lots and lots of zucchinis, with a large title, zucchini alley, in multi-coloured letters at the top. To the left of the alley is an exit door and to the right is a bright yellow link to a photo gallery of Mawhinney in performance on his own and with choirs of kids. Most interesting is the alley itself, tiled with images related to each of the songs on this release. Click on an image and the song will play with the lyrics displayed on the screen, presumably for sing-along. It's a fun concept.
Clicking the exit door leads to an online version of the liner notes, including some e-mail links. Unfortunately, there's no escape from that page except to use the back arrow or type a new url into the address bar.
Mawhinney's music is bright, lively, and often participatory. It's the sort of thing that kids are pretty well guaranteed to enjoy. He's a good player on several instruments and he has a strong vocal style. His voice and style remind me most of Burl Ives on a couple of albums we had in our home Fifty or so years ago. Mawhinney has the same dry sort-of-baritone voice that makes Ives so recognizable, and there's that same impish twinkle in his vocalizations that lets the kids know he's having at least as much fun as they are.
Most of Mawhinney's songs carry messages, sometimes pretty obvious messages, about how we should think about ourselves and behave toward others. Done wrong, this could undercut the appeal of the songs. However, Mawhinney manages to write and perform his songs with a soft touch that allows the message to come through without seeming forced-in or abrasive. At times, as in his "Song of the Troll," Mawhinney slips into role and plays the central character of the song. He does this well and this adds to the charm of his music.
Over all, Mawhinney's songs are well-written and well-performed, falling into a standard format that seems to have pervaded Canadian children's music for several decades. Had he ever made the move to national television, he might have been right up there with other top Canadian performers like Sharon, Lois and Bram or Fred Penner. Certainly the quality is there.
Somehow out of place among the children's songs on Zucchini Alley, "Ellie's Lullaby" is a sweet, beautiful song performed by Mawhinney and Randi Helmers. Expressing a parent's concern for the future prospects of a sleeping child, this traditional-feeling song deserves more exposure. Perhaps, someday, Mawhinney will release a set of songs for grown-ups and will include this one among them.
Tom Mawhinney doesn't have a web site (more's the shame), but Zucchini Alley can be purchased from Calliope Music, 10 Park Crescent, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7M 4J2.
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Review written: March 22, 2005
Page modified: March 22, 2005
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