Getting Hooked on New Trout Fishing CD

Audio

inFINity. Trout Fishing in America. Trout Records. CD: $15. Ages 4 to 6, and adults. (888) HEY-TFIA, https://www.troutmusic.com.

Cool and comical, with a vigorous rock ‘n’ roll groove and deft jazz licks, the music made by Trout Fishing in America, a.k.a. Ezra Idlet and Keith Grimwood, is never for kids only. This new release is an opportunity for all ages to hear terrific music together and share smiles at the duo’s witty lyrics.

A kid imagines “My Best Day,” with fantasies of whipped cream snow and chocolate rain--and the eviction of his sister. There’s a dynamite “Junk Food Jump” (“let’s all get hyperactive now”) and a wicked nyah, nyah delivered in “You Can’t Go,” a list of delightful treats for everybody except those who didn’t do their chores and homework. “It’s Better Than That” is a sardonic affirmative (unlimited trips to Disneyland, no bedtime, chocolate eclairs for breakfast) to any kid who thinks adults have got it made. The album ends with the memorably tasty “Something Sweet”: “Say something sweet to my baby/(Chocolate custard, pudding and pie).”

Odds Bodkin: Little Proto and the Volcano’s Fire. Rivertree Productions. CD: $15. Ages 5 to 10. Cassette: $10. (800) 554-1333. https://www.oddsbodkin.com.

Master storyteller Odds Bodkin follows up his spellbinding dinosaur tale “Little Proto’s T-Rex Adventure,” set in the late Cretaceous Period, with an equally fine sequel. Bodkin doesn’t just speak the story, defining each character with an evocative voice; he sings it and plays it, using his 12-string guitar to punctuate, heighten and underscore the action.

Here, little Proto the protoceratops is caught up in a dramatic disaster-in-the-making when a distant volcano threatens the Sea Forest.

Old Wrinkles, the ancient triceratops, has a moving tale to tell about the last time the volcano erupted and left him an orphan; room must be found for thousands of plant-eaters displaced from the Sea of Grass by the volcano; and timid Ankles the ankylosaur, Plessy the plesiosaur and Proto find themselves in a very tight spot.

Bodkin’s humanizing of his characters doesn’t preclude some real information about the time; nor does he patronize listeners with a lack of dimension. Old Wrinkles’ memory of his parents’ self-sacrifice is a throat-catcher, and there is real drama in the volcano’s threat.

Children of the World--Lightwaves. Marrina Waks Entertainment. CD: $13. All ages. (800) 960-2689, https://www.cotwc.com.

The Los Angeles-based Children of the World chorus, whose 150 young members have roots in 35 countries, has been bringing its pop-style musical message of peace and unity to world sports events, charity events and such heads of state as President Bill Clinton and King Hussein of Jordan since 1992. That’s when concert pianist and composer Marrina Waks founded the group, made up of singers ages 5 to 18.

This well-produced first CD, with its hip-hop, choral and pop anthem rhythms and its messages of hope, tolerance and idealism, is enjoyable for any age, even the Britney Spears and ‘N Sync crowd.

Video

Elmo’s World: Wild Wild West! Sony Wonder. 50 minutes. Video: $13; DVD: $20. Ages 2-6.

“Elmo’s World,” the show-within-a-show on “Sesame Street” starring the cuddly, immensely popular little red Muppet, becomes a full-length adventure as Elmo and his pals explore the world of cowboys (without guns).

The buckaroos visit a ranch, go riding down the trail, sing songs around a campfire and meet a cow. Elmo, as Pecos Bill, ropes a tornado, thanks to country music star Travis Tritt. Elmo’s goldfish, his computer, his desk, window and TV get in the act, and the silly Noodles (amazing physical clown Bill Irwin, comic actor Michael Jeter and Broadway’s Kristin Chenoweth) demonstrate how to mount a horse and how to do a cowboy dance.

Cute stuff.