Children's entertainer releases CD

Children’s entertainer Alex MahĂ© is about to release his fizzy new album RĂ©veillons les bonnes chansons!

Browsing through it, you realize it’s one of those CDs awash with glee-filled homespun truths sparked by energy and openness.

“When I sing the material, it wakes up my spunk, and like most of my songs, it gets the kids involved clapping their hands or calling out,” MahĂ© says.

The bilingual St. Albert singer-songwriter’s last recording, Wakin’ Up the Sunshine, hit the stores in 2006. For parents on the prowl for stimulating material, the much-anticipated RĂ©veillons les bonnes chansons! is a goldmine of francophone tunes.

As a full-length album, the 13-track receives its official release on Sunday, April 6 at St. Albert Community Hall.

“The French community has been asking for a second French album for a long time, and it was time I reincorporated new material into the shows. It was time to bring out a new energy,” says MahĂ©.

Blending traditional and contemporary original numbers, the skilful arrangements complement adult voices with a children’s choir chirping on the back tracks.

And the album teems with musicians from different disciplines giving the songs a lush sound – artists such as Declan Murphy (harmonica, flute), Braden Gates (violin), Graham Guest (keyboard), Chad Melchert (drums) and David Fraser (piano).

No two songs are alike. There is Alouette, a traditional nonsensical song about ruffling the plumage of a lark. Instead La ferme Ă  grandpère is a tune that rides a similar wavelength as Old MacDonald’s Farm.

“I’ve spiffed it up with animal sounds – horse, sheep, cow and a pig,” chuckles MahĂ©.

And on the traditional French Canadian tune, Ah, si mon moine voulait danser, a song about a dancing monk, Mahé displays his dexterity with a spoon and washboard.

Les oiseaux du ciel is a song inspired and dedicated to MahĂ©’s son Jean-Paul, now a spoon player on the album.

“When Jean-Paul was four years old, we were watching geese fly south for the winter. He said, ‘Why don’t we call them over and let them stay at our house for the winter.’ And that’s where this song comes from.”

Interestingly, it was MahĂ©’s delight in working with young children that provided a springboard for a career in entertainment.

A 1981 graduate of the early childhood development program run at MacEwan College, Mahé would often take his guitar into pre-school classes.

Blending music, puppetry and storytelling, MahĂ© later co-hosted and produced a pre-school bilingual TV Show. Alex MahĂ©’s Goodtime Train, with the singer costumed as a railroad engineer, which ran for a couple of seasons on QCTV (now Videotron).

His accolades have been consistent: the 1992 bilingual release Railroad Rendez-vous received a Children’s Music Web Award; the 2001 MaÄ‚Ĺ»s SoufflĂ© was nominated for a Prairie Music Award, and Wakin’ Up the Sunshine received a nod for the Canadian Folk Music Awards.

Later in 2008, the now rebranded MacEwan University presented MahĂ© with a Distinguished Alumni Award, and two years later was selected to represent the French community at St. Albert’s 150th anniversary.

It’s been a long haul since his sandlot days growing up outside St. Paul on a farm. What hasn’t changed is MahĂ©’s desire to be all-inclusive and keep his music alive for the entire family.

“Come. Be involved and watch your children’s faces light up as they listen to the music in a family gathering. We’ll chat it up, have a sing-song and a good time on Alex MahĂ©’s good-time train.”