Critic's Review
Heather Phares, All Music Guide
1962's Dance, Sing & Listen marks Bruce Haack's debut as a children's composer. The first part of the Dance, Sing & Listen series, the album includes medieval, country, classical and pop styles in its embrace, interpreting the songs with a mix of electronic and acoustic instruments. From the boogie-woogie of "Introduction" to the electronic-classical hybrid of "Medieval Dances," Haack's wide-ranging musical vision has free reign on Dance, Sing & Listen. "Sunflowers" is an activity song in which children imagine they are sunflowers, from seed to bloom; behind Esther Nelson's instructions, Haack provides fizzy, bubbling keyboard effects, a vaguely African guitar line and bongos as accompaniment. In other hands this might be a simple activity song; with Nelson and Haack's creative approach, it borders on sci-fi spoken word.
Similarly, tracks like "Eine Kleine Gebouncemusik" feature discussions between Nelson, Haack and the children they recorded the album with, resulting in a parallel-dimension version of Kids Say the Darndest Things. The sprightly, keyboard-based "Gebouncemusik" is a quintessential Haack work, referencing Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" as well as Hindenmith's concept of "gebrauchmusik," or "utility music," which can have a specific musical purpose or be played by anyone. Only Haack, however, could come up with such a unique array of elements and blend them into something even more distinctive.
Similarly, tracks like "Eine Kleine Gebouncemusik" feature discussions between Nelson, Haack and the children they recorded the album with, resulting in a parallel-dimension version of Kids Say the Darndest Things. The sprightly, keyboard-based "Gebouncemusik" is a quintessential Haack work, referencing Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" as well as Hindenmith's concept of "gebrauchmusik," or "utility music," which can have a specific musical purpose or be played by anyone. Only Haack, however, could come up with such a unique array of elements and blend them into something even more distinctive.
