Joe Ross and Friends --- The Crazy Zoo: an Animal Songfest (Zephyr-0428)
Playing time: 58:32
Review by Kathy Boyd, Ground ZeroPromotions, kathyboyd@sprynet.com

The very first thing you notice about Joe Ross and friends newest release "The Crazy Zoo: an Animal Songfest" is the extremely professional and attention grabbing packaging of thisproduct. Vibrantly colored with neon graphics and zany artwork, you'll want to pick this CD up off the shelf just to see what it's all about! Inside the CD booklet you'll find all sorts of useful information about each and every song recorded, including the author, the arranger, the players, the singers, length of each song, and the lyrics.  Take the CD out of the jewel case and you'll discover an entire zoo of out-of-this-world creatures drawn in glorious detail and described in Joe's original title tune, "The Crazy Zoo".

The fun continues when you place "The Crazy Zoo" in your CD player and turn it on. Feeling that this was a family album, I listened to it the first time in the company of a family with members of all ages. Within mere seconds we were all snapping our fingers to "The Cat Came Back" and doing a sort of jazz improve dance around the kitchen. The title track "The Crazy Zoo" was quite interesting and great fun, especially when we followed along with the pictures I've already mentioned. The younger set sang along quite enthusiastically to "Six Little Ducks", followed by every adult in the house bellowing along to "The Unicorn"! And so on throughout the CD. "Crazy Zoo" is full of songs from everyone's childhood, past and present. Children will delight in recognizing tunes such as "Goober Peas" and "Baby Beluga" and being able to sing along. Adults will thrill to the trip down memory lane with songs such as "The Unicorn", "Puff the Magic Dragon", and "Joy to the World". This CD truly is "for families from 3 to 93"!

Musically very clean, every word of every song is clearly understandable on "Crazy Zoo". Chock full of some of the most talented "guest artists" in the business, they've all kept their additions to the mix simple and again, very clean. Along with Joe Ross on guitar, upright bass, and synthesizer, you'll hear Bryan Bowers on autoharp and mandocello, Bob Evoniuk on resonator guitar, Dan Mazer on banjo, Peter Ostroushko on mandolin, Linda Danielson on fiddle, Dean Magraw on guitar, Janet Naylor on Celtic harp, and Radim Zenkl on mandolin, bouzouki, and the low whistle.

Perhaps because of the nature of the songs on this recording, it does not seem to fall into any one musical genre. It's a little folk, a little bluegrass, a little old schoolhouse, and a lot of fun. Perfect as a substitute for Saturday morning cartoons, on a long car trip, in the classroom, or as a family bonding experience, you cannot help but enjoy yourself while in the presence of Joe Ross and friends and their "Crazy Zoo, an Animal Songfest".

Some proceeds from "The Crazy Zoo: an Animal Songfest" will assist The Humane Society of the United States. The album (Zephyr-0428) is available as a compact disc or cassette tape and has received worldwide distribution by Valley Media. If is also available through many Internet sites (at amazon.com, through Derek Silver at cdbaby.com, and at oregonmusic.net to name a few), at many Oregon retail outlets, or by contacting Joe Ross, c/o Zephyr Records, 1030 W. Harvard Ave., PMB 5094, Roseburg, Oregon 97470. e-mail rossjoe@hotmail.com.

FROM BILL GAMBLE, President and CEO, Goamericana.com: Okay, we admit, this one's a bit different! It's folksygrass. The Crazy Zoo: An Animal Songfest offers a number of songs featuring bluegrass, folk, campfire songs, Celtic, children's music and some original music thrown in. It began as a project designed for kids but evolved into something more -- fun music for all ages with frolicking, fun-filled family songs that willhave you singing, smiling and tapping your toes right from the beginning. There are songs about cats, bears, unicorns, dragons, ducks, horses, dogs, whales, crawdads, turkeys, foxes and even some made-up animals. Listen to some of the sounds contained on thisalbum -- "The Unicorn", "Puff the Magic Dragon", Old Rattler" and "The Tale of the Bear" and see if you don't join in the spirit. On top of the fun, some of the proceeds from the sale of this album have been pledged to the Humane Society of the United States.