¡Nueva York!

1	El Pescador / La Cumbiamba Eneye 3:37
2	Colás / Beto Villa Lobos 3:03
3	Dame La Mano Paloma / Silvia Sierra 3:30
4	Polito Chicken / La Bruja 3:33
5	Verde Luz / Sonia de los Santos 3:11
6	Compadre Pedro Juan / Joaquín María DelRosario 4:07
7	Alba Mañanera 4:10
8	Tambora de Los Morenos / Sonia de los Santos 2:11
9	La Bruja / Lila Downs 3:59
10	Phone Call Home 0:50
11	El Pijul / Beto Villa Lobos 3:11
12	Son Borinqueño / Silvia Sierra 3:48
13	La Piragua / Sonia de los Santos 3:50
14	El Canario / Rubí Theater Company 3:21
15	Cuida el Agua 3:12
16	Palo Bonito / Joaquín María DelRosario 3:36
17	El Botellón / La Cumbiamba Eneye 3:09
18	Mi Luna / Sonia de los Santos 6:05

Barnes & Noble

More so than any of his other records, it's hard to define what makes Dan Zanes' ¡Nueva York! a "kids" record. A carnival of Latin rhythms and standards, the songs are uniformly in Spanish and don't endeavor to teach the language at all ("Pollito Chicken" has some English words). Instead, what Zanes is teaching is compassion, as he and his multicultural band represent all the stripes of Latin identity among his New York neighbors, each telling their stories in melody and rhythm. One track that all children will understand, for example, is Sonia De Los Santos' "Phone Call Home" to her mother in Mexico, infused with all the longing of a child far away in a strange place. Perhaps it's best to use Zanes' terminology here -- ¡Nueva York! is family music, with appeal to parents as well as their kids, created for listening and dancing together. (In fact, the language barrier is a great equalizer between big and little listeners.) And it triumphs, from Zanes' fluent, if accented, Spanish to the exuberance of his band -- probably the tightest outfit working the kids circuit today. Driving his message home are Zanes' guests, who represent some of the lights of New York's Latin music community, from the Colombian folkloric group La Cumbiamba eNeYé to the Puerto Rican-Jewish star of Rent, Daphne Rubin-Vega. While their language and music may be different, they are all part of the same community in Nueva York, sharing together the joy and spirit of their cultures. Zanes has also referred to the collection as his "pro-immigration album," a stance that's second nature in a polyglot city like his own, but which makes a timely lesson for kids and parents across America. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Former Del Fuego Dan Zanes has been anything but dormant since the rootsy college rock collective called it quits in 1990. Six years after his 1995 solo debut, Cool Down Time, Zanes discovered a way to merge his two favorite things (fatherhood and music) into a sustainable career with a series of folk albums for kids that has proven to be just as enjoyable for their larger counterparts. After snagging a Grammy Award in 2007 for the singalong album Catch That Train, Zanes, ever the cultural sponge, gathered his musician friends from New York's Latino community and began work on a collection of songs from the Spanish-speaking Americas. The resulting Nueva York!, referred to frequently in print by Zanes as his "pro-immigration CD," features 17 high quality songs, mostly traditional, that touch on many Latin folk styles like cumbia, merengue, son, and bachata. Zanes brought in some serious muscle this time around, including Marc Ribot, Panamanian actress/singer Daphne Rubin-Vega, Latin jazz singer Lila Downs, Mexican rockers the Villa-Lobos Brothers, and Afro-Colombian roots ensemble La Cumbiamba Eneyé, and he allows the spotlight to fall on them more times than not, resulting in a fun, all-inclusive listening experience that's a lot like sitting on a hot set of apartment steps during a summer block party. Reverend Lee Power