Abbasubi

Informe de Flatbush Frolic y Antic Atlántico / Report from Flatbush Frolic and Atlantic Antic

2010-09-29T19:59:00.001-07:00

Nuestros shows en septiembre fueron un poco difíciles, pero también especiales, justamente por eso. Comenzó a lloviznar cuando estábamos a punto de comenzar con nuestras canciones en la placita de Cortelyou entonces Alfred de Midwood Martial Arts muy hábilmente improvisó una carpa para cubrirnos un poco de la lluvia. Terminamos con unos ocho niños debajo de nuestra pequeña carpa cantando canciones mientras empezó a llover muy fuerte afuera. Como le pasó a muchos en el Frolic ese día, nos divertimos e hicimos sonreir a algunas caras a pesar de la lluvia.

En el Antic, empezamos nuestro programa, mientras que una banda de rock estaba tocando muy fuerte al lado. Decidimos dejar de hacer nuestro show normal y empezamos a contar historias y cantar algunas canciones a capella. Cuando leímos Se Venden Gorras, los chicos realmente se entusiasmaron. Tuvimos alrededor de diez monos con sus sombreros agitando sus puños hacia mí (yo era el vendedor de capas) con Chloe y Kylen siendo los líderes del grupo. En el momento en que terminamos con la salsa y el baile del sombrero, la banda de rock había terminado y nosotros terminamos con fuerza! Realmente es muy divirtiendo mezclar las canciones de nuestro show con las historias que hacemos en la biblioteca.

Our shows in September were a bit challenging but special because of that. It started drizzling just as we were about to start our set at the tot lot on Cortelyou and so Alfred from Midwood Martial Arts very cleverly jury-rigged up a tarp to give us a little bit of cover from the rain. We ended up with about eight kids under our little tent with us singing songs as it started really pouring outside. Just like a lot of people at the Frolic that day, we had fun and brought some smiles to faces despite the rain.

At the Antic, we started our show while an incredibly loud rock band was jamming. We decided to give up our normal set and started telling stories and singing some songs Acapella. We really got everyone involved when we got out Caps for Sale. We had about ten monkeys with their hats shaking their fists at me (I was the cap salesman) with Chloe and Kylen leading the group. By the time we finished up with salsa and the hat dance, the rock band was done and we finished strong! We’re really having fun starting to mix the songs and stories we do at the library with our shows.

Shows in June

2010-07-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

We had some really great shows outside this month. We performed at the New York Restoration Project Family Day, Children's Day at the South Street Seaport and at El Museo del Barrio for the Museum Mile Celebration.

Something special happened at each show. At El Museo del Barrio, after I fell asleep for the second time after the song La Pulga, instead of yelling my name, the kids tickled me to wake me up! It was the first time that had ever happened.

At Family Day, we had our first salsa-off competition--we had a little salsa dancing contest during the song Paco and based on some formula Fati awarded the prize to an adorable little girl that had followed every step of every song.

At Children's Day, we danced around in a circle with a little girl who had a giant smile on her face from the moment we started the show to the very end.

Best of all I think was that at each event, we had a really nice time with the kids after and or during the shows. All the events were wonderful for families and although we do usually get out and do things on the weekend, we don't always take advantage of special events like these which the kids really love.

We also got help on stage from Chloe and Kylen at Children's Day with the song Fermin. Little by little I think we're going to start having them participate more in the shows. They know all the songs so well and really seem to like performing. We'll see how that develops.

Thanks so much to Abigail, Rebecca and Magaly for the pictures and video!

Summer's Here!

2010-06-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

We've been having a great time with the kids and with shows but have just not found time to document everything. I'm going to play catch up for the next few weeks.

But summer is here which means we'll be playing shows outside which is always fun. We're playing at the South Street Seaport later this month which will be fun and later in August we'll be at Union Square. All great stuff which I am determined to document!

Here's our June newsletter which has info on everything happening this month. Please sign up for the newsletter at our website!

Swindler's Cove on a Beautiful Day

2010-04-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

The beautiful days seem to be coming fast and furious now. After days of rain and grey, we had an amazing day Thursday for our show up at Swindler's Cove Park for the New York Restoration Project's event called, Naturemania! I've actually never been so far up in Manhattan and it was fun tracing the path of the East River and then the Harlem River all the way uptown. More than anything, our kids were welcomed to join the fun and did face painting, drawing, and playing with rocks and sticks.

The show was great although after a few songs, kids drifted away to do other activities and we invited Kylen and Chloe to perform on the stage--well, the grass--with us.

As always, there were a few kids that seemed to just have the predisposition to have fun and their smiles and enthusiasm made the show great fun.

It was always nice because the majority of the kids there spoke Spanish and understood the lyrics of the songs. We had some nice conversations with the kids afterwards and stayed until the event ended.

It was great to find out a little more about the New York Restoration Project and this event. We'll definitely make it next year!

Dance Party at the Library

2010-03-29T05:13:00.000-07:00

It was so exciting to play at the MAIN Brooklyn public library. I spent so much time there in high school and over breaks in college. I always loved just going into that incredible building right at Grand Army Plaza.

We had a really nice group of kids that came for the music and then families that just came by when they heard the music and joined right in. Plus, our kids, my parents, Fati's mom, and my brother's family were all there. We were able to have a little family gathering at our show which was really nice.

I think we'll have to figure out another Saturday morning to bring our show to the Central library!

The Booking Agent is In..and very lucky

2010-03-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's going on but the booking gods have been smiling on Fati & I recently. I heard back from the the Summer in the Square that they'd like us to play there. Summer in the Square is a music series at Union Square in that other, smaller Island to the West. We're also going to participate in Children's Day again this year down at the South Street Seaport. It was a lot of fun last year and we're really looking forward to it this year.

The weirdest thing was that I called the New York Restoration Project last week at like 6 pm to see if I could send them some info to try to set up a show for later in the summer and it turned out they needed a performer for their Naturemania series next week! Talk about right time, right place.

We're really thrilled that we're going to be performing at some of the best music free summer music series around. Who knows? Maybe next year we'll be at Celebrate Brooklyn!

Arlington Library Show a Tight Fit

2010-03-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

Our show at the Arlington Library was kind of a tight fit because we were literally surrounded by three and four year olders as we were singing and dancing. More and more it seems like older kids seem to really get into our show and can follow all our complicated choreography! It's great whenever kids of any age pay attention to us and seem to enjoy the show, but it's really rewarding when we see kids shouting SOLO SOLO with fist raised, dancing salsa with Paco, or spinning and throwing hats in El Baile del Sombrero.

There were kids from a couple school in the neighborhood plus a few families who attend the programs at the library every week. As the show went on, new kids arrived and we were literally inundated with kids...and it was great! The first thing we did when we started the show was push away the chairs that had been set up so that the kids could dance with us! And once they all came up to wake me up after I had once again fallen asleep after "La Pulga", they were up with us to stay. One little boy kept laying down, I think copying me when I fell asleep.

The group that arrived a little late took a little while to warm up, but by the time we were dancing salsa with Paco, they were dancing with us too.

It was a really fun show with a great group of kids.

Show at Spring Creek Library or not

2010-03-12T09:05:00.000-08:00

We set off for the Spring Creek Library and arrived just in time for the librarian to tell us that we were going to do the show over at the school of the kids who were going to be our audience still were. It was a messy, cold, rainy morning and it would have been a long and miserable walk for the kids over to the library, so we went to them!

I love the way some libraries form partnerships with childcare programs and schools in their neighborhoods. It gets the kids into the library at a young age and introduces them to all the library offers. It's great for us because we get a nice audience of children who otherwise wouldn't have seen us.

We set up in one of the classrooms and it was fun seeing a typical day in the lives of these 3 year olds. The school was wonderfully colorful and decorated and the kids were as usual welcoming, kind and very cute.

More and more kids came into the classroom until finally we got the word that we were ready. Although very few of the kids spoke Spanish, we had them jumping, clapping, and spinning around from our first song and they stayed engaged throughout. There were so many kids that we didn't have nearly enough scarves, sponges, or hats to go around and using imagination didn't really seem to work that well. But kids still participated and had a good time.

For some reason, I got a really big laugh when I got all dressed up in Soy Muy Independiente. The laughter was so loud and immediate that it really made a big impression on me! It's so great to make people and especially kids laugh. I think I'm going to have to become a bit sillier and make that happen more often!

It seems like at a lot of shows there's one or two kids that really seem to love what we're doing. At this show, there was a girl who stood right in the front and followed every step, every gesture, mouthed every word, and really seemed to have a great time. If we had just done the show for her alone, I would have gone home happy.

It was a really nice morning! Thanks to the family that came all the way from Williamsburg to see the show at the library and then came over to the school! I hope you and your child had a nice time!

Show at El Taller a Family Affair

2010-03-01T18:45:00.000-08:00

Our show at El Taller Latino Americano could best be described as a family affair. I think most of that has to do with the space and feeling of El Taller. It feels kind of like a big house party and you automatically have something in common with everyone that's there. It was also that our kids, my mom, our friends from New Jersey with their kids, the mother of an old friend, and the director's family were all there probably had something to do with it too.

The families that came out through the snow to see us were particularly wonderful too. Everyone seemed up for getting out of the house and having some fun so adults and kids seemed happy and engaged throughout the show.

We performed Que Puedo Dibujar for the first time and used
pictures the kids are showing pictures the kids had drawn themselves!

Washing up with Esponjas

The kids were working hard to wake me up after La Pulga

El Baile del Sombrero

Giveaway Over!

2010-02-25T13:42:00.000-08:00

Our giveaway is closed. We're happy to announce the winners!

Susana won prize #1 and Wendy won prize #2. Thanks for entering our giveaway and we hope we'll see you at El Taller Latino Americano on Saturday February 27th at 11:00 am despite the snow!

Giveaway! Free Show and Free CD! Two Great Prizes!

2010-02-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

We're very excited to be hosting our first ever giveaway!

Here's the prizes!

Prize 1: An all expenses paid trip (i.e. subway fare) for your whole family to El Taller Latino Americano in New York City to see Fati & Charles on Saturday February 27th at 11:00 am and a copy of El Baile del Sombrero.

We'd love to be able to fly people in from all over the country and the world for our show but we're not quite there yet. We can however cover MetroCards for the whole family, the price of admission, and send you home with a copy of our CD! Plus you'll have a great time singing and dancing with us!

Prize 2: An autographed copy of El Baile del Sombrero by Fati & Charles

The autograph can actually be optional but it makes it more exciting right? We'd love to share our CD with you and get your family dancing and singing together! We'll be happy to send it wherever you are with a few extra little surprises inside.

How to enter:

Entering our contest is easy. All you have to do is be a part of our mailing list and make a comment on this blog post that you'd like your name thrown in the hat (include your name), and which prize you're interested in (1 or 2). If you're not already on our mailing list, you can join by filling out this form.

Once we get all the names, we'll put them in a sombrero and Chloe will draw for prize 1 and Kylen for prize 2!

The last entry will be accepted at 11:59 pm on Friday, February 19th! The winners will be announced Saturday, February 20th!

Wait!! There's more!!! Additional entries!!!

If you'd like to stack the odds in your favor and have more chances to win our fabulous prizes, there's a few ways to do that.

Blog, Facebook, or Twitter about our exciting giveaway and show at El Taller and leave a comment with the link on our blog.
Start following us on Twitter or Facebook and let us know by posting a comment on our blog.
Make a comment on our videos on You Tube, or about our CD on Amazon or CD Baby! Leave us a comment with the link on our blog.
Put up a flyer (English or Spanish) for our show at your school or in your neighborhood! Post a comment on our blog!

You'll get one extra name in the hat for each and anything you do!

Best of luck!!! Let's see how it goes!!!

Some blogosphere publicity for show at Vox Pop!

2010-01-31T05:39:00.000-08:00

It's so neat the way the blogosphere works! I sent in some listings to Time Out NY Kids and our Vox Pop show got mentioned which I think led to a listing at Mommy Poppins, Momme Talk, and at the Examiner.

It's great to get some mentions in the virtual world and it's great to find out about these "what to do this weekend" resources that I didn't know about. What's better than finding a great list of free and cheap things to do with kids on the weekend in Brooklyn?

Grupo ñ inaugural storytime

2010-01-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

Our friends Mariana and Jonah, a bilingual family who live in Westfield, New Jersey, decided they wanted to start a story time in Spanish at their local library. The inaugural meet up was this past Saturday and we trekked out from Brooklyn to be a part of it.
The turnout was great! Lots of families with everything from babies to tweens. Everyone listened to Mariana and Jonah read "Buenas noches, Gorila", "Huevos verdes con jamón", and other great stories. We used shakers, sang, and danced and had a great time. After we all clapped enthusiastically when the 45 minutes were over, we got a chance to meet and talk with the families that were there and the kids got a chance to play together and look at books in the amazing library.
It was a really fun day and really inspires us to start our own version of Grupo ñ in Brooklyn!

World Brooklyn Event Great For Adults and Kids

2010-01-15T09:44:00.000-08:00

We had a great time last Sunday at the World Brooklyn: Tips To Raising A Bilingual Child event! We felt kind of funny with our little table decorated with El Baile del Sombrero and Abbasubi gear--coloring sheets, stickers, cards, and of course CDs. We've never presented ourselves like that before but as soon as parents started arriving and we got a chance to talk to them, we had a great time!
Most of the families that came had babies and were trying to figure out how to raise them bilingually. Fati & I were thrust into the role of "experienced parents with bilingual kids" and got into great discussions about that we had done and the situation of the families we were meeting. Oh yeah! And here's this CD we did!
The panel discussion was a lot of fun and there were just the right amount of people so that the Q&A session really allowed everyone to participate. The most important thing I think I got out of the panel was to make and plan and then be consistent. It's not always easy but it helps children to clearly distinguish between languages and have a constant context for when to use a certain language.
The other nice part of the afternoon was that our kids had a great time! They made a number of crowns for Los Reyes which they kept running in to show us. The staff from Lango were really welcoming and great with the kids. There was a crafts room and a playroom that were both buzzing with activity the whole afternoon.
After some great demos by Musica para Mi and El Pequeno Artista, Fati cranked up El Baile del Sombrero while we were all cleaning up and a spontaneous dance party of little ones broke out on the little stage in the meeting room.
It was a fun time for the whole family and we look forward to the next World Brooklyn event!

January Newsletter

2010-01-06T13:49:00.000-08:00

I just churned out the January Newsletter while Kylen is asleep and Chloe is off with Nana. I will pay for this long nap when it's 11:00 PM and Kylen is still bouncing off the walls but it's a give and take right?

Here's a link to the newsletter but you should just join the list and get the newsletter! Click here to sign up.

There's a lot of info on an event we're participating in this Sunday about raising a bilingual child. We'll be there as Abbasubi but we're bringing the kids because I think it will actually be a fun, interesting, informative time for the whole family! I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's the basics from the website.

-------------------

World Brooklyn: Tips for Raising a Bilingual Child
Sunday, January 10
2.30-5.00 PM
The Coop School
87 Irving Place (Clinton Hill)
Cost: $15 per family

Advance registration encouraged as space is limited

http://worldbrooklynkids.eventbrite.com/

Enjoy an afternoon of class demos, a school expo and a Mandarin, Spanish and French children’s book fair.

3-4 PM Bilingual education panel and book fair
4-5 PM Free Mandarin, Spanish and French demos for your kids to enjoy

Panel topics include:
* How do you define bilingualism?
* If I introduce a second language, will my child experience speech delays?
* At what point should a parent introduce a second language - how
much, how often?
* Bilingual, full immersion, once a week programs?
* What are the merits of raising a child bi-lingual if both parents
only speak English?

Meet representatives from:
· Hands on World
· El Pequeno Artista
· International School of Brooklyn
· Lango Foreign Languages for Kids
· Language and Laughter Studio
· Musica Para Mi
· The Laurel Project

Kids welcome!

Free babysitting and cultural art activities provided by Lango from 2.30-4.00 PM during panel and expo.

World Brooklyn is the first of a series of events informing parents about their options in bilingual education. Lango Brooklyn will bring vendors and bilingual experts straight to parents to learn more about Brooklyn resources for raising children bilingually.

-------------

Okay. Time to wake up Kylen!

Redesigned Website is Up!

2009-12-23T08:36:00.001-08:00

It's taken a little while to get it all up but the new and improved Abbasubi website is alive! We decided it was time to make our website a little bit more complete and easy to use.

Here's what's new and different!
- It's prettier. Lots of pretty colors.
- There's video on the home page! You can see us dancing around without having to wait even one second.
- There's a whole new Fun Stuff section with coloring sheets and drawing sheets. We'll add more fun stuff as we find it!
- There's a nice news section on the home page to see the latest that's going on.
- There's a Press section with reviews of the CD and testimonials from people that have seen us. If you'd like to add your comments to the page, please email me at charles@abbasubi.com

Hope you like what you see. Please email me with comments!

Cold but Fun at the Cortelyou Tot Lot

2009-12-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Okay so when we got to the Tot Lot, it was definitely cold. Every time the wind blew, there was an audible groan from the adults. The kids seemed pretty focused on waiting for Santa. In fact, we were basically the warm-up act for Santa and the kids between pretty much every song asked when Santa would arrive.

But as usual, the kids were wonderful in spite of the weather. They danced with us, wore the special Santa hats we gave out for El Baile del Sombrero, and even sang along with our special holiday songs we prepared for the show. We ended with a rousing version of Feliz Navidad just as Santa came in and started giving out presents.

We did most of the show holding Chloe and Kylen, and I think that may prove to be the main advantage of these new headset mics we have. We can now do the show holding our children in our arms. It was really fun to be a part of such a nice holiday tradition right in our backyard.

El Baile del Sombrero Review and Giveaway at Wanna Jugar with Migo?

2009-11-13T16:07:00.000-08:00

We got a really nice write up on El Baile del Sombrero at a great blog called Wanna Jugar with Migo. It's written by Tati and Ginny who have great information and suggestions about teaching Spanish to kids. If you're interested in having your children speak Spanish, it's a blog you should definitely subscribe to.

It's always nice to get positive feedback on our music but Tati's description of the CD and Abbasubi is so spot-on that it feel like she and her family really understand why we made the CD and what we're all about. She really GETS us, man!

Here's a link to the review. If you want to get in the giveaway and get a copy of the CD, post on the blog! And sign up for Wanna Jugar with Migo on the blog and Facebook!

Write up of El Baile at Bilingual Fun

2009-11-09T19:03:00.000-08:00

We got a nice little write-up on El Baile del Sombrero on the blog of a company called Bilingual Fun that teaches Spanish to children using their own DVDs based in Michigan. Jennifer Manriquez started the business with her husband (sounds familiar...) and there's a great little piece on her being interviewed on ABC news on their website.

Here's a link to the review!

Show at Colegio del Prado

2009-11-08T17:15:00.000-08:00

When we lived in Argentina for five months, Chloe had her first school experience at a school called Colegio del Prado. The director and teachers were so welcoming to Chloe that she finally had to admit that she liked going to school. The school inspired Fati to write Mama Me Lleva a la Escuela and we decided to name the girl in Al Zoologico, Pau after Chloe first teacher at Colegio del Prado.

Although we were only going to visit Argentina for three weeks, we sent both kids this time to Colegio del Prado. The staff was so wonderful and accomodating and Chloe and Kylen rather miraculously, adapted really well to the school. "What? We're going to another country, where they speak a different language, and I'm going to go to school with kids I've never seen before for two week? Okay no problem." I think it's really a testament to how much Fati has worked to make sure the kids feel comfortable communicating in Spanish and how much they feel at home in Argentina.

In any case, with all this history, we had to do a show at the school and they had a family day while we were there which was the perfect opportunity to share our music with them.

Getting out the hats for the Baile

We had kids dancing on the jungle gym which was very cool

We got a bunch of kids dancing but best of all, our former next door neighbors came with their son and were all jumping up and down with us during Soy Muy Independiente. Seeing Seba, Gise, and Juampi pogoing with us yelling "Solo! Solo!" is a memory I'll always treasure.

New Videos on You Tube from Negrito Manuel Show

2009-11-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

We decided to hire the same people that videotaped our wedding in Argentina to videotape our first show in Argentina. They did a great job editing and fixing up the sound a bit and we put a bunch of them up on You Tube. Here's a link if you want to check them out!
youtube.com/abbasubi

Fati & Charles are now International!

2009-10-25T06:13:00.000-07:00

We played our first show outside the country at Jardin Negrito Manuel in Lujan, Argentina (where Fati is from). We were part of a wonderful night of performances on a night that was a benefit for the school. There was a table of postres, cakes, and cookies, choripan and panchos on the parilla, all made by parents of the school.

We were welcomed very warmly and the kids at the school even made a welcome banner for us! The parents, teachers and director of the school were all incredibly generous made us feel at home. The kids seemed to really enjoy the show despite some audio problems and we were happy to have participated in supporting the school.

Fati had to do all the talking at the show!

Chloe actually joined us for El Baile del Sombrero

I've now fallen asleep on two continents

One of the best parts of the evening was that a bunch of Fati's friends and family came to the show with their kids who knew all the songs already. They and some of their parents were singing and dancing along with us. One parent actually approached me after the show to express her extreme displeasure that we had not performed Manta which was her family's favorite song!

Cousin Dolores, Kylen, Charles, Fati, and Chloe for the Chau Song!

I think my favorite part of the evening was when the show finished at around 11, everyone pitched in to clean up and put away the chairs. Everyone at the school and the parents had that feeling of community and being accepted into that community without even a second thought was really special.

El Baile del Sombrero is Product of the Month at Nairobi's Knapsack!

2009-10-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

Nairobi's Knapsack, a wonderful toy store on Franklin Avenue in Prospect Heights/Crown Heights, featured El Baile del Sombrero as product of the month! It's actually a real privilege just to be carried at Nairobi's Knapsack because each product is chosen with care. There's no clutter in the store because each toy is given its own space. The quality of the store and the products is obvious and it's easy to shop there because pretty much anything you get, the child you give it to is sure to be happy.

Keep them in mind the next time you've got a birthday coming up!

www.nairobisknapsack.com

Coverage in the Lujan local paper

2009-10-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a little mention of our upcoming show in the local paper in Lujan where Fati is from in Argentina. I actually put an ad in this paper once when we lived there and I was trying to teach English. It's a nice little paper.

Lujan is not tiny I guess but it always kind of feels like it to me. According to Wikipedia, it had 94,000 people in the 2001 census. Here's a link if you want to find out more about Lujan. It's actually very interesting, especially the story about how the Virgin of Lujan ended up being there and thus a gigantic basilica. Here's the story.

Our first CD Review!

2009-10-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across Spanglish Baby, an amazing blog by two mothers who are raising their children bilingual like we are, a month or so ago. We've been following and talking about each post ever since. We sent them a CD of El Baile del Sombrero which they liked and put a review of it on the sister site of Spanglish Baby, Spanglish Baby Finds which has products for bilingual kids.

Check out the review and start following Spanglish Baby! There's a giveaway for our CD and all you have to do is make a comment about El Baile del Sombrero!

The Shape of Things to Come?

2009-10-15T11:41:00.000-07:00

The Mister Family singers descended on Washington DC over the weekend. And we were in a Subaru Forester and not a band bus, and the only groupies we had were under 8 years old but it felt like we were on tour! Well, it actually felt like a vacation which meant we could all kind of do what we pleased, eat and buy what we wanted and have the feeling that we were free to and supposed to have FUN, which we did.

The drive down was really easy. Kylen got a bit fussy but then fell asleep. Chloe was amazingly calm and seemed to enjoy the four hour drive. We stopped once and tried to bat acorns with sticks. I think that helped.

We got into DC and met another family who Fati knows with a 4 year old daughter at the Mall. The Washington Monument and the Capitol did not interest Chloe and Kylen nearly as much as the rocks and dirt along the path of the Mall. Chloe stuffed her socks with rocks and Kylen liked just rubbing his hands in the dirt. We did a 4 year old tour of the Museum of Natural History and the National Art Museum which means we went to eat and then left.

Somewhat exhausted we went to my cousin's house to see my cousin's family, my aunt, and the 5 cats and 2 dogs that are definitely a part of the family. We talked about soccer and Harry Potter over a delicious dinner and then got some rest for the big show the next day.
We started the day with pancakes and got over to Upshur Park just about on time. My friends were already gathering but it really was incredible the variety of people that showed up. A few friends with their families from Lafayette Elementary school, a friend from college, my next door neighbor from our days in Cleveland Park who reminded me as she left that she was there when I came home from the hospital, and my cousin and his family. I haven't been to DC for a long time but it did actually feel like I was home.

Introducing ourselves

Captive audience so far

Fati belting it out

Marching for SOLO SOLO SOLO

Seems we are slightly amusing

The show was fun except the usually happy-go-lucky Kylen I think needed to pee and eat so Fati spent a lot of the show trying to calm him down. But we did have a stacked audience of friends and fun parents and kids who joined in. For some reason when we were singing our goodbye song, the playground had lured away the kids and we were singing just to each other but it was a good show and we had fun.

Kylen did feel better after this

Picking up Fati from "school" and knocking down the mic stand

A really beautiful Fall morning at Upshur Park

All photos by Michael "Sharpshooter"Abate.
He can be hired for events, birthday parties or Redskins games.

After a Mexican lunch, an ice cream at Cold Stone in the Silver Spring Downtown/Mall, and a trip to Borders, we got in the car and headed home. The kids fell asleep immediately and the trip back was a little longer but fine.
As soon as I got home, I called a friend in Providence to try to set up a show/weekend vacation there. Maybe this could become a regular thing!

Our Library Double Header

2009-10-15T03:21:00.000-07:00

As probably all parents, we love the Brooklyn Public Libraries. Chloe and I went religiously to the Ditmas Park branch for storytime when she was little and we always have a good time at any library we go to.

So we were very excited to play at two libraries in one day! We started at the Dyker Heights Library where they have a regular kid activity on Wednesday so a nice group of kids and adults were all gathered. We played right out in the middle of the library so everyone got to enjoy our music. No one seemed to mind though and the kids seemed to have a great time.

Hola!

Now we both fall asleep with the pulgas...

Dancing salsa with Paco

As we drove home for lunch, we dreamed about what life would be like if this was our actual job!

Then we headed to Williamsburg for a show at the Leonard Branch of the library. We were down in a secret room in the basement and although there weren't too many kids there, we had a good time. There were some great little dancers and great big dancers too.

On our way to my mom's to pick up the Chloe and Kylen, Fati and I gave each other a high five on a job well done.

Fall Festival at ISB

2009-10-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

So I admit that the last minute change for the ISB Fall Festival got me kind of worried. As a parent I feel like when I make the effort to get up and out with my kid and then find that something is canceled or full or whatever and we can't go and my kid's looks at me with disappointment and asks "What's wrong Dada?", it just kind of kills me. But I don't think that happened or at least we didn't get any disgruntled emails sent our way.

And in the end, Sunday was a glorious, perfect Fall day and the Festival was an unmitigated success. The sidewalk sale, bake sale, cookie and pumpkin decorating tables were packed and Fati & I had an incredible group of kids and parents who danced with us, laughed at our little jokes, and clapped enthusiastically when we were done. We tried out a bit of a different show with more interaction with the kids and adults and more time to teach the dance steps. It seemed to work out really well.

El Baile went well

Hi Fives for cleaning up!

Leading the kid revolution

SOLO! SOLO! SOLO!

Our mission is to get families dancing together and quite a few parents hit the dance floor to dance to the salsa with their kids. Yeah!

I love the ISB (International School of Brooklyn) community because being bilingual or trilingual isn't really remarkable. It's just a way of life.

We then took the subway to the Atlantic Antic and caught Lloyd Miller from the Deedle Deedle Dees at the Moxie Spot. It was so nice to sit down in a booth and relax for awhile that we ended staying for hours. It was a beautiful Brooklyn day!

On the Road Again..well actually for the second time

2009-09-28T12:57:00.001-07:00

Fati & Charles and Chloe and Kylen are going to hit the road on October 10th. We got this crazy idea to head down to DC to visit family and play a show. And without too much fuss, it's happened as we planned.

It's a pretty short road trip and only the second time we'll be playing outside of the NYC limits but I think we're going to stack the audience with family and friends and it should be a fun time.

My kids have never been to DC where I was born and haven't met some of my family so I'm very excited about that. Our camping trip in Vermont this summer emboldened us to take some more road trips so watch out Eastern seaboard! Here come the Mister Family singers!

The Frolic

2009-09-19T05:12:00.000-07:00

The Flatbush Frolic was a very fun day. We headed over early to see Jen Milich do her Music for Aardvarks preview. Chloe and Kylen did that class when they were little and we've always loved what Jen does in Music for Aardvarks and in Audra Rox.
We headed home for naps and then got back in time to see Lloyd from the Deedle Deedle Dees do a preview for his Deedle Time class which was great! The tot lot was packed and Lloyd had kids stomping around like dinosaurs, and chomping like crocodiles. His song Major Degan or as I call it the Emperor of Traffic got stuck in my head. Very catchy.
We got to use a really great PA system from FDC and had a very fun show. It was great because our audience ended up being mainly Spanish speaking families so Fati took over the MC duties. It was a short and sweet little show and we were really happy to be part of the day.
Alison at Midwood Martial Arts was helpful and positive as always. I don't know how many balloons she filled up but she always did it with a smile.
Yeah Flatbush Frolic!

Underhill Playground

2009-08-28T06:50:00.001-07:00

We had a really wonderful show at the Underhill Playground on Sunday that was set up by a member of the Friends of Underhill Playground who have a monthly get-together for families in the neighborhood.

Maybe because we were actually just invited and because there was a great turn out, it felt more like an actual show and that we were an actual real group performing. Seeing a few people who already had our CD or had been at other shows and liked our music also gave us a little boost.

Yeah! Lots of families out on Sunday morning!

I began the show by saying "I'm Fati and this is Charles." Oops. I was kind of tired. But I think the kid who really got into wearing a hat and ran around showing everyone snapped me out of it and we had a great show afterwards.

Entralled with Teo

Why doesn't that rabbit eat carrots?!!?

We are REALLY trying to sell that it'll just be a little while until Mama will come pick you up at school.

Just kind of like this picture...

We had a great time hanging out for awhile after the show talking to parents and kids. I think the playground show is probably the best for us. The kids play and watch us, there's always lots of families around, and afterwards you can just continue doing what you usually do as a parent. Nice.

We then headed to New Jersey to spend the entire day at the most incredible public pool I've ever been to. It was a full but very nice day.

Bushwick!

2009-08-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

We had our first show in Bushwick at the Maria Hernandez Park at the Greenmarket that's there on Saturdays. I totally outsmarted myself by trying to avoid some construction that my GPS was heading me towards. We were low on gas, we had to let Kylen out to pee, and took forever thanks to my great navigating but we made it!

When we arrived we found that there was already a gathering of families with kids right in the spot where I thought we could do our show. Between their storytelling and songs, we managed to ask if we could be the follow-up act to all the activities they were doing. They thought that was okay so we sat down and enjoyed La Oruga Muy Hambrienta, Tu mama es una llama, and The Wheels on the Bus. Chloe was happy because she got a couple stickers.

When it was our turn to go on, it seemed like everyone joined in for the hat dance, A Guardar, and all the other songs. It's so nice getting feedback from kids and parents. A simple smile always gives me a boost when I'm looking around at the faces of people watching us (or not). And there were a lot of smiles and support from just about everyone there.

What a nice group!

El Baile del Sombrero!

Kids are trying to all fit in our suitcase

I look very serious about doing it SOLO SOLO SOLO

I got Chloe to give out our new El Baile del Sombrero cards to people. She did an amazing job and came back for more and gave all those out. She did a much better job than I would do! She has no fear about going up to people and handing them a card!

I also gave our Soy Muy Independiente stickers but of course didn't really expect there to be so many kids there. I felt pretty bad when we didn't have enough for everybody and it got a little hectic when kids started grabbing for them. Lesson learned.

Although we were a little stressed and tired getting to the show, but both Fati and I get a real charge when we're dancing around and acting silly. When there's kids there, it's always worth it!

Surprise Show in the Park!

2009-08-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

Another Saturday at Coco Roco and another beautiful day. Where were the kids? Apparently they were outside. So we took our show on the road.

After being sufficiently prodded by Fati, we decided that instead of just letting the kids run around at the playground, that we'd actually do our show. We ended up with a very nice audience with many passers-by, young and old, stopping by for at least a few minutes to smile and enjoy the scene.

Stella getting down

SOLO SOLO SOLO!

Everyone sleeping with the fleas.

I guess Kylen is proving he can pull up his pants SOLO SOLO SOLO!

Once again, Kylen proved to be our most stalwart fan. He came up close, did the dances and even went to sleep with me after La Pulga.

We had a great time and then returned to Coco Roco with friends to have a delicious dinner.

New Song in the Show on Saturday!

2009-08-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

We're looking forward to another show at Coco Roco and we're particularly excited because we've added Mama Me Lleva a la Escuela to the show. We worked out some dance steps with Kylen last night. He seemed to approve, especially the big finale where I pick up Fati!

We'll see how it goes over on Saturday.

First Show at Coco Roco!

2009-07-29T16:05:00.000-07:00

Our first show at Coco Roco was truly a family affair. Unfortunately, there were only 2 families in the place! (badum-CHING!)

It was our whole family (grandparents, nephews, brother, sister-in-law, and of course kids) and the family of the person in charge of booking at Coco Roco who essentially saved the day. Everyone was great and enthusiastic but it was a bit of a let down after our show at the Bibliobus.

The most difficult thing was the kids had not napped and Kylen woke up as we started the show so we had two crying kids on our hands as the show started. We did our HOLA with both kids in our arms along with the mics. Fati managed to do all the dance steps anyway. I suppose we started this way at Prospect Park last year too and each week we had a few more families.

Everyone at Coco Roco was very nice and we're looking forward to seeing what happens next week. My family had a delicious lunch while watching us!

Amazing Kids at the Bibliobús in Sunset Park

2009-07-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Despite the fact that kids are supposed to be asleep at two in the afternoon, and that it was supposed to rain, and that we didn't have Kylen to support us, we had a fantastic show in Sunset Park at the Bibliobús!

The kids that assembled for our show seemed like they were trying out to be permanent dancers in our show or something. They were amazing! They had their eyes fixed on us watching and copying every move, singing every chorus when we thrust the microphone at us, and I got so many high fives my hand started hurting a little bit.

Looking for the Esponja

Was it that the kids were older? Were Fati and I just totally awesome that day? I'm not sure what it was that got the kids so engaged but many of them stuck with us throughout the entire show which I feel is a minor miracle. We got our first mention in a blog which was also very exciting! It's on a really neat Sunset Park blog called Best View in Brooklyn. Here's the link.

Explaining the merits of Paco

Kylen, Chloe and my nephew Vincent showed up as the show was winding down and we spent a few hours enjoying Sunset Park. What a nice day!

A Show for Kylen

2009-07-20T11:49:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a difficult morning. When we got up, Chloe was complaining of a pain in her front (forehead) and seemed totally listless and a bit feverish. We had just dealt with a 24 hour fever from Kylen earlier in the week so we felt a bit weak about heading off to play a show in Sunset Park.

But the show must go on!

We dumped Chloe in a stroller, fed her some medicine on the way, and amazing arrived on time at the Sunset Park Greenmarket. Chloe promptly passed out pretty comfortably in the stroller and remained that way for the entire show.

Chloe was down for the count.

The Sunset Park Greenmarket is very nice. It's set up along the playground and track of a school so it's just along the sidewalk. We started our show and at various times we had quite a few kids and parents listening to our show. But if the crowd got too big, no one could walk on the sidewalk so our audience kept shifting and growing and shrinking throughout our songs.

Kylen warming up the crowd.

The one constant, there for every song, dancing and even helping us get out the props was Kylen. He didn't care if he was at times the only kid up there doing the steps. He kept us company and was our audience member. He slapped five, hugged Teo, woke me up after La Pulga, and waved, kicked and shook his butt during our Chau song.

He was awesome. I don't think I'll ever question having the kids with us at another show. Kylen made this show really special for us.

Ossining

2009-07-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

No we didn't play at Sing Sing. We played at the block party of the Cavalry Church where a friend of Fati's is a member. We had our first groupie, my nephew Vincent along with us and the kids.

When it got about time for us to play and there we're many kids around, Fati went off with the kids and managed to round up some families! She's amazing.

The show turned out to be really fun especially because the sound system was incredible. It's fun hearing our music and voices blasted into the world. We got a lot of smiles and hand clapping from the adults sitting and a lot of dancing and high fives from the kids participating.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting face painted and playing catch and hacky sack.

The kids all drifted off on the way home from a really nice day Upstate.

A Break!

2009-07-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

Incredibly, since our first CD Release Party in June, we've been playing shows pretty much every weekend. It's sort of a nice break to not have a show to worry about or prepare for. But we did go to my niece's birthday on July 4th and spent a wonderful day in our beloved Prospect Park eating, playing and flying kites.

Mulberry Library

2009-07-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Each show we've played so far usually has some little special element that makes it memorable and fun for us. Our show at the Mulberry Library was made memorable by the appearance of our friends racing in from Rhode Island and arriving at our show just as we were starting and by me somehow finding parking and walking about 10 blocks with the kids to get to the library.

Susie, the children's librarian, had done a great job of spreading the word about our show and the room was pretty full. There were a lot of little kids and even babies checking out our equipment and checking us out. Chloe and Kylen performed the sound check and we were ready to start.

The parents, caregivers, babies and toddlers all seemed to pay attention and got pretty excited by our music. It seemed a little weird to be dancing and singing so loud in a library but the door was closed I guess and we were having fun.

Having our friends and their 3 kids there with our kids made it a very fun and special show. As I ran to our car to feed the meter and found that I hadn't gotten a ticket, I thought that we were really lucky.

Cortelyou Green Market

2009-06-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

It was SO nice to roll out of our apartment at about quarter of 10 and head over to a very familiar spot at the Cortelyou Green Market. The playground on Cortelyou, the library, and the neighborhood are our home away from home. Chloe and I went to the story times at the library every week and usually played at the playground across the street but lately we've been going to the one where we were going to play quite often.

We already had a captive audience of families at the playground and as we were setting up curious kids came over to look at our hats, shakers, sponges and microphone cables. Then our friends from the neighborhood started showing up. I don't actually think we stacked the audience too much but it was great to see so many friendly faces.

We had actually practiced the show a couple of times during the week and I am now doing more of the MCing so more of the descriptions of the songs are in English. We're still working on making the show fun for everyone even if they don't speak Spanish and I'm still working on being a fun, funny MC.

We're also playing around with the order of songs. We're starting off with El Baile del Sombrero now. Kylen was all over this gigantic hat.

Where did my hat go?

Chloe and Kylen are getting into the singing into the mic thing that I think most kids really like. For our sound check, Chloe sang Manta. The playground was a perfect place to do a show with the kids because there was nowhere really for them to disappear to and we had a lot of friends around. It definitely can be a little complicated to have them there while we're trying to perform but it's also totally valuable that we can share the experience with them.

Being very independent.

There were a lot of kids there and everyone was really into it and super energetic. It was great fun.

Bye Cortelyou playground. We'll hopefully play there sometime again this summer. Thanks to Josephine for snapping the picture and changing the batteries.

Nairobi's Knapsack

2009-06-21T19:32:00.001-07:00

Although we had never heard of it before, we now love Make Music New York. Somehow or other we're going to be a part of it next year.

There's just something nice about playing music out in the streets with people walking by and giving a little smile. It's one of those moments when it feels like music brings everybody together for a brief while.

When we arrived at Nairobi's Knapsack, Tres Leches was just starting. They were really great. They have beautiful voices and their last rocking song about the sounds of the street was perfect for the day.

We were trying out our new "English" show where I do a lot more of the talking. I think it went pretty well at least judging by the little girl who danced with us to every song and made us have a really great time while she was.

Looking for the Esponja.

Washing with the Esponja.

Thanks to Luba for the pictures and childcare.

Chloe and Kylen were with us which actually went pretty well. They behaved well but it's incredibly distracting to try to keep track of them while remembering dance steps and lyrics. We'll see how that develops.

After a little lunch at Bristen's Eatery (very tasty) we went out to find a house dance party going on right on the sidewalk. Actually the dance party was pretty much one man who we found out later was named Xavier and he was dancing up a storm. Without any hesitation, Chloe and Kylen were dancing with him. He was so wonderful with Chloe showing her steps and dancing together.

I think we must have been there for at least half an hour just dancing. Fati got out some tamborines which upped the ante a bit. Finally, Chloe decided it was time to get going just as some rain started falling.

She told us she wanted to go back soon and dance with Xavier. I explained that it was sort of a special event that he was there and she said we should go back when there is a special event again. So we have a date for next year in front of Bristen's to do some more dancing.

Children's Day at the Seaport!

2009-06-14T17:56:00.001-07:00

We had a great time at Children's Day at the South Street Seaport. From the moment we arrived and were whisked backstage with the rest of the "talent", everyone was super helpful and responsive. I was a little surprised that meeting Gordon had such an effect on me. I kept having little Sesame Street flashbacks. Robbert Bobbert brought his whole family and suffered a bit through the rain but did a great show anyway.

And the audience was excellent! The kids were ready to dance at the drop of a hat or the many hats that Laura gave out and the parents were great too giving us smiles and dancing around themselves. After the nervous excitement and buildup to the show, we felt we performed well and got positive feedback from everyone.

It was great that our incredible arranger/producer, Daniel Beltran was able to come up from Mexico to be there and our friend Laura could help us out playing and dancing with the kids in the audience. It was also great to have friends and family there cheering us on. Basically, it was a super fun and I know will be a memorable day.
Okay. So we arrived kind of early. We were excited!
Laura and Dani had never been to the Seaport before so we had to do some tourist shots.
Dani is a wonderful guest.
Let's start the show!

El Baile del Sombrero!

Pogoing in SOY MUY INDEPENDIENTE!
Fati doing some serious marching.
I think I'm refregando.
The happy and slightly out-of-breath duo.

Practice in Prospect Park

2009-06-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

Last night, we went to Prospect Park with my sister Ryan to perform the show for her. Ryan is a theater director and author of countless plays that are performed at her amazing theater company for young people, Downtown Art. So we wanted to get her input to prepare for a show on a big stage instead of in our living room or on grass.

After some really great advice and confidence building, we did the show. We cranked up the music pretty loud but we didn't have the same feeling of self-consciousness or dread that the police would come shut us down. We were just another of the many things going on in Prospect Park that day.

And the Park did respond a bit. One interested guy came and sat near Ryan as our only other audience member for the show and before he left put a dollar into our bag of hats! We also had some passersby gyrating to Paco and then one of them performed an impromptu serenade on your microphone.

Ryan thought we were in good shape but had some great notes for us. We're looking forward to trying out the show in a totally different space.

International School of Brooklyn Show

2009-06-09T03:29:00.000-07:00

Our second show and this time the audience was not filled with ringers. The event was held in a narrow courtyard space between two buildings and it was packed with fun things for kids to do. Chloe did cookie decorating with lots of extra icing, made a necklace, painted a frame for Nana, and a flowerpot for Granddaddy.
Kylen enjoyed going upstairs to the bathroom a lot and eating his cupcake.

Anyway, the show went well. We had a couple new fans that stuck with us for all the songs. We got smiles and head bopping from kids and parents.

We stuck around to see Nicky Haimo and the Blue Strawberries, a really fun band that had the joint jumping.

All in all, we've been really happy that our little show seems to get a few laughs and keep everyone in a good mood. On to the Seaport!

CD Release/38th Birthday Party!

2009-06-06T16:16:00.000-07:00

It happened! We had our first real show as Fati & Charles singing El Baile del Sombrero.
The day started off a little iffy but every weather report I had been checking for the past week seemed certain that it was going to be a beautiful day. We had the park to ourselves.

We got a special delivery from Nina Frenkel, our amazing illustrator and now puppet maker. It was El Conejito Teo!
At 11:00 am we were still waiting for our audience to arrive. But soon parents, family and friends started gathering.
Then it was show time!

The kids were wonderful, the parents too, and we had a fun time singing and jumping around.

Kylen helped out with the sound.
And then had to run to the bathroom...
Looks like a nice party!
My 38th Birthday looked more like a birthday for a 4 year old, but the cake was delicious and it was great to have some special friends with us, especially our friend who was here all the way from Ireland.

Looking around at all our friends, I realized what an amazing year it has been. We've made so many great friends since we arrived back from Argentina. The CD and this new phase in our lives wouldn't have happened without that trip even though at the time it didn't seem like it was going to have such a big impact on us.

Practice at home

2009-05-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

We've been working hard practicing our show after Fati gets home from work but it's rather complicated. Kylen has chewed up a bunch of the sponges, the hats usually end up strewn around the apartment, and Chloe took Paco to school today for show and tell.

But it's fun too. Chloe is excited about the show so much that now she's doing her own show. Last night we took our seats as Chloe performed selections from The Wizard of Oz. Kylen was a special guest for Somewhere Over the Rainbow but he got a little shy and just stood looking at us. Our show was cut a short because Chloe and Kylen got upset for different reasons but lay on the rug crying.

Despite all this, we have fun each time we dance around, do our silly routines, and most of all see that our little audience of 2 seems to approve.

Two very, very unofficial shows in Prospect Park

2009-05-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

We have had incredibly beautiful weather this weekend and we've been enjoying it by spending hours and hours in our beloved Prospect Park. Friday we were on the hill for hours flying kites, throwing frisbees and making new friends, Saturday we were at the 3rd Street playground getting wet and knocking balls out of trees, today Fati and I took our new Roland Street Cube and mics to try out our show.

We were hidden behind trees performing to a few ducks that were swimming around in the lake but we did the show and felt pretty good about it. Later, we had a picnic on the peninsula with our group of friends with kids and we were goaded into playing a couple songs (of course we had all the equipment with us).

We were helped by the fact that pretty much all of our friends already have the CD they and their kids already know the songs. When we had some technical difficulties (i.e. I stepped on a mic chord and kind of broke the amp) one of our friends belted out the lyrics and got us back on track.

Anyway, the kids seemed to enjoy the songs, laughed a lot at us and each other, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Hopefully our CD Release party will be just like today (friends, weather, food) except for a few more songs, a few more people, and a birthday cake for me.

MySpace Page

2009-05-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

Yes. We are now officially a band. We have our MySpace page!

It's at myspace.com/faticharles It's nice because I don't think there is a band in the world yet called Fati & Charles so we don't have any problem getting exactly the page name we want.

We put up 3 songs for your listening pleasure. Leave comments!

El Baile del Sombrero in Argentina

2009-05-22T10:07:00.000-07:00

Fati just heard from friend in Lujan (the town Fati's from in Argentina) that for a holiday presentation of some kind, her son's class actually did El Baile del Sombrero! Apparently they used the dance steps from the song with their own interpretation.

Very exciting and funny. We think that pictures and maybe even video will be forthcoming.

Gear

2009-05-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

I just bought gear for the band. I got this what seems like an amazing, magical battery powered amp called the Street Cube which when I played it in the store was loud, sounded great and is lightweight and really cool. We can put in 2 mics and use an IPod to playing the background tracks for the music. The amazing thing is that it runs on 6 AA batteries which also defies logic.

This means ideally that we'll be able to play anywhere, anytime really easily! I'm excited to go to the park and try it out!

Photo shoot

2009-05-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our friend, the wonderful photographer Flynn Larsen (http://flynnlarsen.com) took some pictures of us in our old stomping grounds in Prospect Park. The last time we took pictures like that was our wedding photos so it actually felt sort of romantic.

We think they came out really nice! Thanks Flynn!

Children's Day at the Seaport!

2009-05-19T09:30:00.001-07:00

We have been invited to play at Children's Day at the South Street Seaport on Saturday June 13th! There's music from 12-5 and lots and lots to do! We don't know exactly what time we're playing yet but we'll put it on the website when we know. But you should just come for the whole day and for the fireworks! http://www.childrensdaynyc.com/

We're on ITunes!

2009-05-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

The nice people at CD Baby have been sending out our CD to all kinds of digital music places most notably for me is ITunes since that's pretty much the only thing I use.

It's exciting being able to search Fati and Charles and find us on ITunes. It's like we're a real band or something. Here's a link:

We're also on Lala, Amazon, and I think Didiom. In awhile, we should be up on most digital music sites. Here's a list from CD Baby about their distribution.

Abbasubi website is alive!

2009-05-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

The Abbasubi website is done--at least the first draft of it. www.abbasubi.com Please leave comments about the site--good, bad, grammatical, conceptual whatever, here or email them to us.

Our CD, El Baile del Sombrero is up on CD Baby www.cdbaby.com/cd/faticharles and I've done a big email/Facebook mailing.

Plus, we're going to have a CD release party where it all started in Prospect Park on June 6th at 11:00 am which will also be a birthday party for me. Actually I remember we were trying to get the CD done by Fati's birthday in January, then we were shooting for our anniversary, then Kylen's birthday but I guess it ended up being my birthday.

We're really excited and it's fun to actually announce to the world that we exist. It is strange though now that I realize how grass-roots, small time we are. I don't mind that. I actually think it's kind of neat but I do wonder what it would be like to have someone else doing this work of publicity and distribution.

We've worked with such a great and supportive team of people who have as much to do with us finishing this project as we did so we're passing along all the positive comments we've gotten from people to them too.

Some Feedback

2009-04-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

We've gotten some very positive feedback on the CD which is great. Chloe's teacher really likes it, particularly the song Chloe sings. The child of one friend actually sang La Esponja while taking a bath! David's girls have put El Baile on heavy rotation (they want to hear Charles sing), and amazingly the daugther of one of our friends, sat quietly and listened to the whole CD straight through.

It's exciting to hear what people think. Once CD Baby sets it up on their site, we'll really start doing publicity!

The CDs are here! The CDs are here!

2009-04-18T07:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Fati, Male, and the kids waited patiently at home for our CDs to arrive from Discmakers and at about 12:30 pm, the fateful buzz sounded. "Llegaron los CDs!" yelled Fati.

After Fati let in the UPS guy who hauled up 8 boxes of OUR CD(!), she discovered he was Dominican and had a 4 year old son, so of course he left with one of our CDs.

A whole new set of projects awaits but we now have completed the "making a CD" project which we are really thrilled about.

Yeah!

Easter Party and Fati & Charles Practice

2009-04-13T09:37:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, we had a wonderful Easter Egg Decorating and Search party at our friend's house in Ditmas Park. Fati and I took the opportunity to start getting in shape by playing some songs from the CD. Along with scones, empanadas, OJ, and fruit salad, we brought sponges, rag dolls, brand new lyric sheets, and lots and lots of hats.

How do we do this again?

Everyone put on hats for El Baile del Sombrero!

We had a great time.

Mastering and a Playing a Show???

2009-03-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty big day. Our CD got mastered by Roman Vail at Joe Lambert Mastering. I stopped by the studio and actually heard the difference between mastered and unmastered. So now we just have to listen and make sure it sounds good and send it off to Discmakers! Wow. We're close.

We also totally out of the blue played a couple songs at a birthday party. Fati's mom brought in a new shipment of hats and we prepared sponges and props for a few songs. It was nice to practice our songs and dance around a bit. It will be fun to play our new songs!

Chloe in the Studio

2009-03-10T03:37:00.000-07:00

The kids know all our songs and Chloe knows most of the lyrics and sings them really well. We wanted her to get in the studio and sing the lullaby Estrella that Fati sings to Kylen almost every night.

Chloe got comfortable pretty quickly in the studio.

David and I tried a bunch of different things. First the normal headphones and mic stand.

Then a hand held mic. David actually got on the floor and pretended to be put to sleep which was the best take.

But Chloe was only marginally interested in singing Estrella so many times. What she really was fascinated by and liked doing was rocking on drums.

In the Studio

2008-12-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

Over Christmas, Fati had some time off work so we arranged with David to do some recording. It was Fati's first experience in the studio and she did great!

I did some recording too.

We found that recording takes a lot longer than we had hoped. But we've started!

The Next Thing...A CD!

2008-12-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

The summer ended and along with it our fun sing-a-longs in the Park. Although we were unsure how our newly found musical adventures were going to continue, the answer became pretty obvious because Fati started coming home day after day with the lyrics for songs she had written.

Soon, I was writing music on my guitar and before we knew it we had a bunch of songs written. We played around with the idea of recording the songs with just guitar and voices but decided we wanted a to go a little further. Through a friend we found the incredible Dani Beltran, a bass player/piano player/arranger/engineer based in Mexico who agreed to create arrangements for our songs. Each arrangement he sent us was better than the last. Dani had taken rough ideas and fleshed them out into wonderful, danceable songs.

After Dani finished his arrangements, we needed to find a recording studio so that Fati and I could record our vocals and guitar. For this, we talked to my friend David Gould who has a recording studio called One Plug Studios.

At the same time, we started work on the CD art working with a great illustrator Nina Frenkel who I've known for years through my friend Blue and Mariana Canale, an amazing designer who actually attended our first Sing-a-Long in the park.

With the team together, we were ready to make a CD!

A Fun Show on a Beautiful Day

2008-08-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

Since our first sing-along where we hid in the tunnel because it rained, we've had incredibly gorgeous weather each Sunday morning. It actually feels like we take a bit of a back seat to just the pleasure of sitting out in Park on such a lovely day.

We had a really fun time this week with a lot of new families. Despite Kylen and Chloe being under the weather and Fati and I getting little sleep, we kept everything together and had a good time. The parents were great helping us sing the songs and play instruments and even dance around.

Another really great thing is that with such nice weather, our sing-along has become a sing-along and hang-out. We get a chance to meet other families from the area and have some adult conversations while our kids run around and play.

Two more Sundays to go and then what? I think we'll have to figure that out soon.

Come sing Spanish songs and learn Spanish for free!

2008-08-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

You Are: A parent, a child (optimal age: 1 to 4 years old), ready to dance, move, laugh, play instruments, and sing easy to learn Spanish songs.

We Are: Fati, a “mamá“, from Argentina, and Charles, a “dada”, from the U.S. Our children, Chloe (2) and Kylen (1),

The Drill: We magically transport you to a park in Argentina, with a printed sheet of song lyrics. Fati will lead the songs and teach you dance steps. Charles will play guitar, sing some harmonies, and pretend to be a wolf.

Our Goal: Our children have allowed us to rediscover the fun and excitement of music and dance. And we want to share it with you!

Where and When: Every Sunday in August, from 11:00 to 11:45 am in Prospect Park.

RSVP so we have a head count: Email: abbasubi@gmail.com

Meet us: Enter the Park at Grand Army Plaza and walk across the track, down the little hill to the grass. That’s the Long Meadow. Look for the red balloons!

Spanish Music Class Preview Very Fun

2008-07-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

We demoed our class for friends and family on Sunday. Despite some ominous thunder and a few raindrops, we discovered that we have a great rain or shine spot. We set up right at the edge of the Long Meadow and maybe because of the stormy weather, we had the Park to ourselves.

After a huge clap of thunder and some giant raindrops, we re-setup inside the tunnel leading to the Meadow. We spread out our blankets in the tunnel and had a great time singing, dancing, and playing all kinds of instruments.

Everyone was very enthusiastic and energetic and the class was really a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone for coming through the rain and thunder to join us.

I think we're ready for next Sunday!