Playing For the Kids

Get ready to clap your hands and move your feet. It’s time for Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band to make its annual appearance at the Princeton Shopping Center.

The children’s music group has been a regular at the Summer Courtyard Concert Series at the Shopping Center and will play its brand of children’s music once again on July 7.

“I think it’s kind of a highlight of the summer for a lot of Princeton families who go, because I think we’re the only show focused specifically on kids,” says Alex Mitnick, who sings, plays guitar and co-writes the group’s songs. “And people who know us know to expect that we really engage the children. We have everybody dancing and running around and moving and singing and clapping along and participating in the music. It’s more than just sort of laying around and listening.”

Mitnick says the ideal age range for his music is newborns to around 10 years old.

“Babies absorb everything and toddlers love it, and we have enough movement and physical activity that the older elementary kids can really get involved,” he says.

Another part of the appeal, he says, is that many of the songs are told from a child’s perspective, making it easier for youngsters to connect with them. Topics of his songs include animals and nature (such as “Kangaroo,” which won a 2008 Independent Music Award for Best Song for Children) and songs about family with titles like “My Dad,” “Mother” and “The Family Song.”

“I think one part of what makes our music really successful, especially live, is that it’s very upbeat,” Mitnick says. “There’s a very strong rhythm, very catchy melodies that are easy to sing, and I think what sets us apart is that our lyrics and the song contents (aren’t) pedantic lessons about life or morality lessons. And it’s not sentimental music about childhood in general, it’s just really fun music that puts the child in the center of the song.”

The band got its start when Mitnick began teaching at Princeton Montessori School. He had graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia in 1999, and played in various bands, playing jazz, world music, rock. But chasing gigs wasn’t for him and he started focusing more on teaching.

In 2004, the school asked him and his friend Alan Bell to write a musical for the school’s first and second graders.

“It was really successful and we did another one, and another one, and before you knew it, we had 10 musicals for kids and hundreds of songs,” Mitnick says. “And I had a recording studio and I decided to combine my worlds of teaching and my musical, artistic life.” Bell continues to write the lyrics for Mitnick’s tunes.

The band’s lineup features Keith Snyder on bass, Tony Flagiello on drums, John Stenger on keyboards and Najwa Parkins and Samantha Rise on vocals. Playing music for kids suits Mitnick for several reasons. Creatively, it allows him to write and play songs in various styles, though world music is at the center of much of his music. It’s also offered him the chance to “do good in the world,” he says.

Mitnick doesn’t have children of his own, but he continues to teach at Princeton Montessori and plays his songs for his students to get feedback on them from the younger set.

“One of the advantages of teaching is having, basically, a kind of workshop environment for me to try out stuff,” he says.

With CD releases and regular gigs, Mitnick’s band is making an impact. And he hopes to build on the success he’s achieved so far. One way he does that is by keeping his concerts upbeat, even on days when he’s not in the best of moods.

“You definitely have to emit joy, which is actually pretty easy with music itself and the nature of our music is upbeat and lively.”

The Summer Courtyard Series, presented by the Princeton Arts Council, continues Thursdays through July with the following concerts: The Soul Gospel Extravaganza on July 14, Ray Rodriguez y Swing Sabroso on July 21 and Jerry Rife’s Rhythm Kings on July 28.

Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band will perform at the Princeton Shopping Center located at 301 N. Harrison St. on July 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m. The concert is free and will take place in the Courtyard. Bring a lawn chair or blankets for comfortable viewing. Call 609-921-6234 or go to www.princetonshoppingcenter.com for more information.