Chicago Parent's music reviewer, Fred Koch, does more than teach and critique music. He also performs and produces it.

Koch's latest release, just in time for the holidays, is 'Tis the Season: Holiday Songs For The Child In All of Us (Melody House). It's a pleasing collection of holiday favorites he performs with his musical friends--and talented friends they are, even if they're not all full-grown.

Kid-pleasers such as "Must Be Santa," "Up on the Housetop" and Koch's own "Sleigh Bells Jingling" feature Koch's mellow voice echoed by an appealing chorus of children from his school music classes. These straight-forward vocal renderings are enhanced, but not overwhelmed, by instrumental flourishes in a variety of styles, including Zydeco and jazz.

Many fine Chicago-area musicians augment Koch's acoustic guitar, including Steve Rashid (trumpet), Sheri Hoffmann (flute), and some terrific pint-sized vocal soloists, including 7-year-old-Jenny Hall ("All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth") and her brother Scott ("Jolly Old St. Nicholas").

To order, call Red Rover Records at 847/615-0366.

- Mary Williams

Go back to Early Holiday Picks . . .