On August 30 Smithsonian Folkways presents Pieces of Home by renowned musicians Dan + Claudia Zanes. For almost 25 years Dan Zanes has been known as a pioneer and a leader in family music, bringing people of all ages together and blending cultures and genres in his distinct voice, style and vision. For the past decade, Claudia Zanes has brought her skill and extensive history as a jazz vocalist and her experience compassionately practicing community music therapy to performing with Dan. This fresh collection from Dan + Claudia of soulful and uplifting songs carries on these noble traditions and expands both artists’ vast, unique and impressive catalogue.
Pieces of Home, the duo’s second album with Smithsonian Folkways, is rooted in American and Haitian folk traditions that call family and neighbors to sing, dance, and play together. Dan + Claudia like to think of this gentle and energetic album as a front porch concert—an invitation to sit and stay for a while. In beautiful harmony, the artists remind us that with the people we love by our side, we can find home wherever we are.
Next year marks a quarter century since the release of Dan Zanes’ genre changing album Rocket Ship Beach, a classic which redefined the modern family music genre. Today Dan is still creating homespun music from the heart for kids and for kids who’ve grown up. Now, he and Claudia embark on a shared music-making mission: it’s always a party and everyone’s invited.
Pieces of Home is all about finding peace in this moment, surrounded by family, friends, and even pets. “A Friend in Springtime” tells us that through the good times and the bad, it’s our friendships that carry us and make our lives so rich and meaningful. “Conversations” highlights the ways we share our thoughts and willingly open our hearts to each other. The swinging and sentimental “Nobody Smiles the Way You Do” salutes uplifting talk while “Breathe, I’m Here” offers a soothing reminder to seek out calm when things get tough. “Believe” is a ballad written for all of the young graduates who have been through so much since the pandemic began, featuring Dan + Claudia’s dear friend Father Goose. Performed with Munit Mesfin, a well-loved Ethiopian-American singer, and her family band Z Lovebugs, “Sweet and Cool” sounds a groovy call-and-response singalong about freedom and love for all humanity. Claudia learned the Haitian storytelling favorite “Se On Tifi” from her mother. “My God” explores the possibility of a spiritual home. The endearing “Little Pal of Mine” was written for Dan + Claudia’s dog Rezi, who reminds them that every day is an adventure.
So much of Pieces of Home is rooted in Dan + Claudia’s local community. Greater Baltimore is their home now, and on the jazzy “Walkin’ Talkin’ Baltimore” they celebrate Charm City and its beautiful people. “Fly Like a Raven” is a retro hand-clapping house party song that may or may not have something to do with the local football team. It was also in Baltimore that Dan + Claudia met Tyree Austin, a talented young jazz vocalist who is featured all over this record and currently tours with the artists. The album also features Baltimore’s own Brad and Ken Kolodner, fronting the banjo-driven old-time song “Cranberry Rock.” Front porch music, indeed!
In the Pieces of Home universe, home is also about keeping it moving. For the original folks out there who are not afraid to be themselves, Dan + Claudia perform the dance party song “Jump–O!” Any fan of Dan Zanes knows he is no stranger to a train song, and “Tomorrow’s Train”—featuring the iconic Americana singer-songwriter Steve Earle—rolls in as a social experience. Get on board, have a seat and watch the world go by.
A special stand-out on the album is “Guide My Feet (for Ella Jenkins),” dedicated to The First Lady of Children’s Music in anticipation of her 100th birthday this summer (August 6). Ella Jenkins opened many of the doors that Dan + Claudia walk through today and they are honored to pay tribute to her. Ella learned this song from the Freedom Riders in the early 1960s. The message of Dan + Claudia’s version resonates in our moment and in tribute to Ella, who challenged inequality with her music throughout her decades-long career.
ABOUT DAN + CLAUDIA ZANES
Grammy award-winning children’s performer Dan Zanes and Haitian American jazz vocalist and music therapist Claudia Zanes march to the beat of their own tambourine as they mix a love of early rock and roll, vocal jazz, and North American folk music with a deep desire to lift spirits and “get the house singing.” They are modern day social music makers creating a joyful noise for kids and kid sympathizers with bits and pieces of yesterday’s harmonious traditions.
Dan is a rock and roller who became one of the most well-known and well-loved family musicians of the 21st century. He’s released over a dozen all-ages records, toured several continents, and has appeared on every major children’s TV network. Before meeting Dan, Claudia was running one of the largest music therapy programs in New England at the Community Music Center of Boston. She was the first Black woman in Massachusetts to direct a program of such size. The two sang together on the day they met in 2016 and have been singing with each other ever since.
The past several years have been filled with many musical adventures. Together, Dan + Claudia created Night Train 57, America’s first sensory friendly comic folk opera for the Kennedy Center. To make people feel less isolated from each other, they also recorded a video of a song every afternoon for the first two hundred days of the pandemic in what they now call “The Social Music Song Series.” They published House Party, an award-winning songbook, with The Quarto Group. And now, this summer, they will release Pieces of Home on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, their second for the legendary folk label.
In their extensive touring life, Dan + Claudia are committed to sensory-friendly performances that make space for neurodiversity and create the conditions for a relaxed and exciting theater experience for large numbers of people. In addition to their family theater performances, Dan + Claudia are also developing a “deep touring” model that includes community outreach in places like classrooms, shelters, eldercare facilities, and hospitals. Wherever people are hungry for music, Dan + Claudia want to be there serving it up with love, humor, and harmony.
