A Fixing of Hot Peas ‘n’ Butter

Those of us who are parents of a certain age remember Raffi: some with fondness, some without. More than one of us wanted to shake more than our "sillies out," and as the song goes "Everything Grows," and so does our taste in music. When it comes to music for children, my favorite artists are those who can entertain kids without driving their parents up the wall. Hot Peas 'n' Butter do just that. By viewing their audience as small in stature but not in their appreciation of good tunes, they offer a world of music to delight even the most jaded adult.

Danny Lapidus, co-founder of the group, has been entertaining kids since he was a kid himself. "My father's best friend had been doing children's music for like 40 years and I used to, I'm a sax player, I used to follow him around and learn his whole repertoire, which he ended up just kind of giving to me and letting me start from there. I started getting jobs in various preschools with that repertoire."

But kid-friendly music was not all he was interested in. Danny was exposed to the full spectrum of music in the High School of Music and Art (LaGuardia) in Manhattan. This musical schooling expanded on a full musical home life. "I grew up listening to everything from … jazz to bluegrass, and I think I grew up thinking of Pete Seeger as a hero."

As a musician, Danny has performed with a number of artists, and formed his own rock band, Daruma Shakes. But the lure of entertaining children was always there; so in 2000, he turned to high school friend and fellow pea in the pod Francisco (Frank) Cotto. Frank had been performing for kids through the Children's Aide Society; so, teaming up with Danny in a children's musical group was a good fit.

CD number three "Mo hotta, mo butta," follows the same formula as numbers one and two: a mix of original tunes and folk songs with a world beat to keep you moving. "We always try to have some Spanish, some other language." Danny explained. "I mean we have Korean, Hebrew, Spanish [and] French. Spanish tends to be a little bit more than the others, but our main thing has been that, to keep it multicultural. Other than that, I think it's what we're naturally seeing the kids respond to."

Their audience also brings new music to the band. I recognized the tune of "Yonaton" as a piano piece I learned called "Lightly Row." When I mentioned this to Danny he replied, "That tune was interesting … A Korean parent came up to me and taught me a song about butterflies in Korean, … I learned it, and that's actually on another CD we have. And an Israeli parent heard me singing it and said that's the same tune we use for this song, 'Yonatan.'"

Although both Danny and Frank maintain their own bands, Hot Peas is their day job, literally. "There's no late night concert, and groupies are 4 year olds, so it's a different thing." Danny laughed. "The time slots are much better. They all end by noon."

Danny plays saxophone on the CDs, but when he's onstage, he's the frontman. "I'm the focal point, visually, of the group. Like I'm interacting with the kids." But a Hot Peas gig isn't just about watching and listening, it's about dancing too.

"We brought out a 9-year-old traditional Puerto Rican dancer, and she came out in beautiful costume … the 9 year olds were really enthralled and wanted to climb on stage and dance afterwards," Danny explains.

f you've seen their videos on NOGGIN'S "Jack's Big Music Show" or NICKELODEON'S "Move to the Music," you know it's not just the peas that are hot.

Hot Peas are working up a national tour as well as a live concert video. Along with this, Danny also conducts children's music workshops at some local preschools, still plays out with his band, and runs his own music studio.

For more information, please visit HotPeasNButter.com/