On their last CD, “Night Time!,” Dan Zanes and friends sung about that time of day when there’s only one thing parents want their kids to do. And parts of that album had a certain sleepy quality.
Now comes “House Party,” which veers in the opposite direction. Starting with the title track “House Party Time” – a bouncy ditty featuring the kid-filled Dandelion Chorus and a tuba – the album is filled with guest musicians who sound as if they’re having the time of their lives. And they probably are.
Barbara Brousal, a Spanish teacher at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights and a Zanes regular, contributes her gently swaying, syncopated composition “Qeremos Bailar” (“We Want to Dance”).
The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir lends his voice and guitar playing on the traditional American tune “Wabash Cannonball,” while punk rock icon Deborah Harry gives surprisingly sweet voice to the traditional Aussie tune “Waltzing Matilda.”
That World Music bent continues with “Jamaica Farewell,” sung by Angelique Kidjo, and “West Indian Counting Song,” sung by Aggie Decaul from Saint Vincent
No Dan Zanes disc would be complete without a cut from Father Goose, a.k.a. Rankin’ Don.
“Down in the Valley” begins with a story in which Goose faints after Zanes tells him he threw out the TV. They then lead the Dandelion Chorus in a song with a “Mustang Sally”-like chorus of “Ride Sally Ride.” With Goose’s deep-voiced “uh-huhs” and rap style, it becomes a real party song.
“House Party” finishes with “A Place For Us,” a heartfelt, Woody Guthrie-like plea for tolerance featuring Philip Glass on the portable pump organ.
In Zanes’ world, everyone – even an avant-garde composer like Glass – is welcome to join the party.