Big Jeff I

"The fans... wave their arms in unison and scream [Big Jeff's] lyrics back to him as though it's 1964 and he's Paul McCartney. But McCartney never held an audience like this, at least not while singing about lightning bugs and Legos up his nose." -Daily Record, April 2, 2001 Big Jeff's music is all about imagining, learning, moving, thinking, doing, playing and singing! There's a surprise around every corner, from the joyful, inspired silliness of "The Orange Song" to the heavy metal/lounge jazz of "Shower of Power" to the thumping funk of "Boogie with the Boogieman." At six-and-a-half feet tall, with a musical background in everything from avant-rock to Dixieland jazz, Big Jeff started writing songs for children when he worked as a bus driver for a special needs daycare. One of the first of these songs was "Big Pterodactyl in the Sky," a country tune inspired by his then two-year-old daughter. It turned out that many other kids loved flapping their arms, flying around the room and "squarking" as much as she did! Oh, that critter sure does make awful squark, Singing just as happy as a lark! Partly bird and partly shark, Reject from Jurassic Park, You must have stowed away on Noah's Ark! You're just a Big Pterodactyl in the Sky... Big Jeff developed three CDs worth of original songs this way, as part of an ongoing dialog with his two children, and with the kids, parents and teachers at all the many centers he visits. He's been on the road ever since, performing solo at scores of children's centers, and also playing larger concerts with his super-lively backup outfit, Big Jeff and his Middle-Sized Band! So give a few of these tunes a listen. At any given moment you might hear something that'll remind you of Tom Chapin, the Talking Heads, Dr. Seuss, the Beatles, Walt Disney, Lou Reed, Sesame Street, The Grateful Dead, or Shel Silverstein, just to name a few. It's all part of the unique sound and energy that thrills youngsters from all over!