"Our son was talking about Herbie Hancock, Mozart, Samba, and African music - and he knew the difference."      - Harvey Keitel

Woodwind Maestro Oran Etkin Shares A World Of Musical Journeys In New Release For Kids

Enhanced CD Featuring Etkin's Timbalooloo Method Hits Stores September 14th, 2010

New York –

Oran Etkin, an internationally acclaimed jazz/world artist and composer whose NYC based music classes for children are endorsed by Harvey Keitel, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber, will release Wake Up Clarinet! on his new Timbalooloo label on September 14th (Motema Music /Allegro-NewSound distribution).

Coinciding with this release is the launch of Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo, a new company which will make Oran's popular music classes available to hundreds of children throughout the New York City metropolitan area and other cities.  It will also serve as the umbrella for all of Etkin's work with children through CDs, concerts, DVDs, books and television programming.

Wake Up Clarinet! is the first family release for Etkin, who was a featured performer on Putumayo Kids' award-winning CD Jazz Playground earlier this year and whose 2009 release Kelenia was named Best World Beat Album by the Independent Music Awards. With Wake Up Clarinet, Etkin turns the spotlight on his innovative Timbalooloo method for enriching the innate musicality of young children. Etkin's method effortlessly conveys sophisticated concepts in a fun musical language that kids of all ages can understand.

The recording is as musically rich as it is engaging. The all-star band, featuring Jason Marsalis on drums, and the talents of soulful jazz vocalist Charnee Wade, provides an introduction to jazz and other musical styles. Other featured artists include Fabian Almazan on piano, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, and Garth Stevenson on bass. Etkin is lead vocalist and performs on the clarinet and saxophone.

From the first song, "High Low," it's apparent that this is no ordinary children's recording. The song helps children internalize the concept of pitch through be-bopping musical phrasings and an easy going conversation between Etkin and Wade. Their jazzy take on the familiar nursery rhyme, the "Little Lamb Jam," is so engaging it was selected for the recent Putumayo Kids CD Jazz Playground, which won a 2010 Parents' Choice Gold Award and placed Etkin in the national spotlight for his children's music. The Philadelphia Daily News ran a feature article headlined "Pied Piper Oran Etkin Wakes Up Instruments and Audiences."

After this rousing start, we get to the title song,"Wake Up Clarinet." The instrument literally comes to life through Etkin's masterful , vocal style of performance. With the fourth and fifth tracks, even very young children will be singing "Eh La Bas" New Orleans style, and they'll even be able to tell their parents which French king the state of Louisiana was named after. Wake Up Clarinet! works both to introduce musical concepts as well paint a captivating picture rich with historical and cultural context.

Oran Etkin has been described as a "great clarinet player" and "an excellent improviser" by the New York Times' jazz critic Ben Ratliff and a "woodwind maestro" by PRI's internationally syndicated show, Afropop Worldwide. He has performed around the world with musicians ranging from jazz guitarist Mike Stern to rapper Wyclef Jean. His 2009 album Kelenia (Motema Music), fuses traditional Malian and Jewish music with modern jazz creating what the Boston Globe dubbed a "hypnotic balance between straight-ahead jazz and world music." Etkin brings this uniquely diverse perspective to his music for children, which incorporates rhythms and melodies from Africa, South America, Asia and Europe.  For example, after concert tours in Haiti, Africa and Europe, Etkin returned to New York and adapted songs from these regions for his Timbalooloo music classes.

Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo gets its name from a three year old boy enrolled in Etkin's music classes, who recently expressed his extreme musical excitement by sitting his parents and baby brother down for a 20 minute "music class" during which he pretended to be Oran and demonstrated to his "pupils" a new instrument he called the timbalooloo.  The story captures the essence of Etkin's mission: to excite children about the wonders of music and musical instruments and encourage their creative freedom and personal ingenuity.

“I have been a fan of Oran's music since I heard him perform in 2008 and heard his first CD, Kelenia.  I found Oran's music to be truly spectacular and beautiful -- can't say I've heard anything quite like it before.  As a parent, I have seen my son's musicality and creativity flourish in Oran's Timbalooloo music classes, which I first enrolled him in at the age of 2.  Oran has a rare ability to immediately captivate both children and adults with his music and storytelling.  I think because of this unique combination of storytelling and music and his ability to immediately connect to a child's imagination, Oran's approach could translate very nicely to TV or book realms. I am looking forward to seeing my younger child grow to feel and love music in Oran's classes too, and to all the dancing and be-bopping with both kids in our house to his new CD!”  -Edie Falco

“After seeing the wonderful atmosphere in Oran's class we knew immediately we had to have him in our son's lives. His ability to teach children (2's and under!!!) about interesting music (rather than the litany of obvious choices) and keep them fully engaged and willing to learn was really really remarkable. he has touched both of our boys lives...”  -Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber

“We were very happy to see how Oran Etkin's Timbalooloo classes awakened an excitement about music in our daughter, enabling her to be creative and express herself through music.  Our daughter often came home showing us how many beats were in a waltz or telling us a story about Dizzy Gillespie. Oran is able to impart complex musical ideas in such a unique and fun way that the children learn without ever knowing they are learning. They get engrossed in the stories and music-making for 45 minutes and come out the other end feeling like Tito Puente is their lifelong friend and that they too can play the drums and make the xylophone 'talk'.”  -Ken Burns and Julie Burns

Press Quotes About Oran Etkin:

“Pied Piper Oran Etkin Wakes Up Instruments And Audiences”

-Philadelphia Daily News

“Woodwind Maestro”

-PRI’s (Public Radio International) Afropop Worldwide

“He’s a great clarinet player… beautiful sound… excellent improviser”

-Ben Ratliff of The New York Times, Speaking on WBGO Radio

“Ebullient”                                      “Hypnotic”

-New York Times                -Boston Globe

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