Sol y Canto says: Let's all sing together / Todos cantamos juntos

By Scott Alarik, Globe Staff, 10/23/2003

Brian and Rosi Amador have made a career out of welcoming North American audiences to the joys of Latin music. With their group Sol y Canto, they have become that rare Latin act that is equally comfortable -- and popular -- with non-Hispanic and Hispanic audiences.

The Amadors have become increasingly busy doing children's concerts lately, for the same simple reason so many folk musicians do: they had kids. Now, Sol y Canto has released its first children's album, "El Doble de Amigos (Twice as Many Friends)" on Rounder Kids.

For adults, it is a typically globe-trotting, sophisticated and wonderfully performed Sol y Canto tour through Caribbean and Latin American musical styles, from calypso to reggae, Puerto Rican plena to the captivating Afro-Brazilian ijexa.

But for children, there are other delights. "The idea was to make a CD for kids that was bilingual, so it would be accessible to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking families," says Brian Amador, who wrote 10 of the CD's 16 songs.

Some of the songs were written for this CD, but several were created as parenting tools to help the Amadors' twin 7-year-old daughters, Alisa and Sonia, with specific tasks, such as learning to count and name the days of the week in Spanish and English. There is also a delightful song that lists all the different names for kites in the various Latin cultures, and another that travels through the animal kingdom, with opportunities to imitate each animal as it is named in Spanish and English.

Beneath all the fun, though, is a more serious and timely theme that extols the values of multiculturalism and bilingualism. With gentle humanistic anthems and simple songs stressing the uniqueness of each child, the CD connects feelings of self-esteem to an expansive, open-minded view of the diverse world around us.

"There's really two audiences we're aiming at with this CD," says Rosi Amador. "One is English-speaking families who want their kids exposed to some Spanish and to understand the cultural value of music and language. The other is Spanish-speaking families who not only want to help their kids learn English, but to make them proud of who they are and aware of how important Hispanic culture and music is to the fabric of life in the United States."

She told a story about the impact the recording can have. A friend's 5-year-old daughter is a great fan of the CD. She recently met a new kid in preschool who had just arrived from Mexico and spoke no English. The American child immediately introduced herself in Spanish, as she had learned to do from the CD, then rattled off the numbers from one to 10, also in Spanish.

"This little Mexican girl cracked a big smile because it meant so much that someone did that to welcome her," says Rosi Amador. I can't tell you how happy that made me; it's exactly what we wanted this CD to do."

Sol y Canto kicks off a series of family performances for World Music at the Somerville Theatre Sunday, Nov. 2. Alisa and Sonia Amador will also be on hand to sing some of the songs they helped inspire.

For a dandy sampler of the best local coffeehouse talent, check out "Sounds of New England," an anthology featuring Lori McKenna, Greg Greenway, Robbie O'Connell, Barbara Phaneuf, Cactus Highway, and Michael Troy. Call 508-339-2822 or visit www.mmas.org.

E-mail Scott Alarik at folkscene@ yahoo.com