***Funky Kidz***

Normally, I steer clear of any children's CD that uses "z"s at the ends of words ... more often than not it's an artist's overcompensation for not being as hip as they want to be. But this album totally blows that theory out of the water: Funky Kidz funks the crap out of three old-school Disney songs, a couple Wizard of Oz tunes, a Beatles song, some public domain oldies, and an obscure David Mallet composition. Guar-an-teeeed to get the Preschool party started!

New Orleans mom Lauren Busch Singer decided to liven up the world of children's music by assembling a bunch of NOLA bands and performers and having them put their personal touches on some kids' classics ... y'know, give those ol' familiar tunes a kick in the pants. So c'mon, ride the ridiculously stanky groove of "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" with Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, git took to church with Meters' bassist George Porter Jr.'s version of "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands", and feel the swamp creep up yer ankles with The Radiators' "Froggy Went A Courtin'".

Bonerama turn in a great version of Randy Newman's Toy Story classic "You've Got a Friend In Me", and Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes' rendition of Dumbo's "When I See an Elephant Fly" outstrips the original while staying pretty faithful to the animated tune. Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys' cover of "Garden Song" is more country Cajun spice than Crescent City soul, while the most low-key performances happen to be from The Wizard of Oz, as ex-Cowboy Mouth Paul Sanchez teams up with trumpet and guitar for a coffeehouse version of "If I Only Had a Brain" and Theresa Andersson croons "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

This is a tight group of musicians, not only musically but on a friendship level, as well. You can tell by browsing their websites and myspace pages that most of them know each other, often performing on the same bill, and their camaraderie and their New Orleans pride shine through on every track. Buy several copies for your family, friends, and local libraries!