Brooklyn-based Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats, a group that delivers Jazz Age-style, family-friendly tunes in both English and Spanish, just won a Grammy for their album "All The Sounds."
Kalantari formed the children's jazz group in 2014 after giving birth to her son Darius. While staying home with her newborn, she participated in a song-a-week project and fell in love with children's music. Now, four albums and six years later, Darius even features with his small edition cello on the award-winning album.
Obviously, the young artist was present to accept the coveted Grammy with his mother. Having Darius on stage with her holding the award felt like going full circle, Kalantari said.
"It was really beautiful. He's really excited and proud," she said. "I always remind him, when he practices, that this is how we get better, we do the work. So this stop on the way is the work we've put in, and we're being rewarded for it."
Kalantari, who is half Puerto-Rican and half Dominican, has been speaking and singing with Darius in Spanish since he was two weeks old. When she noticed other families were interested in having their kids immersed in another language, she decided to perform bilingual singalongs.
You can catch Lucy Kalantari performing every Monday at Flatbush's Lark Cafe. For more about Kalantari and her music, go here.
