Raffi’s easy charm as toddler troubadour survives test of time

Bruce Springsteen, Elvis, the Pied Piper - take your pick. Raffi, the No. 1 children’s music star since he first began crooning about a certain little “Baby Beluga” nearly 25 years ago, has been compared to all three. Judging by enthusiastic shouts of “Waffi! Waffi!” and the number of small fry and their adult companions who packed Brentwood’s Wadsworth Theatre on Saturday -shaking their “sillies out,” barking, mooing and tweeting on cue, acting out all the verses to “Wheels on the Bus” and bopping along to “Down by the Bay” - the comparisons still apply, proving the agelessness of children’s music. No bells and whistles, no ear-assaulting amplification, no fancy set pieces, no puppets, no gimmicks. Just gentle, brown-eyed, salt-and-pepper-bearded Raffi at his most relaxed and playful, with an umbrella and a hat for props, his guitar and that big, mellow, velvety baritone, sharing old favorites and an eclectic mix of new songs. The rare event was the only L.A.-area stop on Raffi’s major U.S.-Canada concert tour, sparked by the recent release of “Let’s Play,” his first new album in seven years. And after earning loud appreciation for assuring that, yes, he would be singing his signature “Baby Beluga,” Raffi opened with the new album’s title track {mdash} an irresistible tune that pays subtle tribute to guitar great Django Reinhardt. Then, while the smallest fans were taken on bathroom runs, given a bottle or two and bounced on parental knees, Raffi joked, executed some smooth dance moves, sang a capella and with his own dynamic accompaniment, and made joyful music out of a set ranging from “May There Always Be Sunshine” to a piercingly sweet new second verse to “Eensy Weensy Spider.” His encore number, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” might have disappointed fans who shouted out for such Raffi faves as “Everything Grows,” but it proved to be an unexpectedly soulful sing-along. In one highlight, Raffi didn’t sing at all. He asked the audience to sing to him, and his quiet, smiling response to young and old voices warbling “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” made it seem as if it were a gift.