This spring, PBS Kids is introducing preschool children to jazz music concepts and important life skills through the new series of music videos Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams.
Based on bestselling author Kwame Alexander’s children’s book, Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, the collection features three-minute shorts that are unspooling on PBS Kids digital platforms and as interstitials on broadcast channels. The series is produced by GBH Kids in Boston with support from CPB and the GBH Kids Catalyst Fund.
The first two shorts give kiddos and parents a vibe of more to come: A one-hour special and PBS Kids game launching May 1, followed by weekly release of the remaining 18 video shorts, starting May 9.
“There is no show in the preschool space that looks or sounds like Acoustic Rooster,” said Julius Harper, series EP for GBH Kids. “From the jump, our goal was to introduce kids to the wide world of jazz music, and we do that both from an audio and visual perspective.”
The forthcoming special will feature animated performances of original songs and a jazz standard, Harper said. The game, “Groovin’ with Acoustic Rooster,” allows kids to play along with songs from the special and shorts. They can follow the beat, see how call and response works, and get creative with their own improvisations.
“Our show is bright and colorful,” he adds. “It takes place in a barnyard world that looks like no other, but I think the big differentiator is really the music.”
Harper has over 15 years of children’s media and entertainment experience, including digital content director roles at Disney and working as senior director of development and production at Nickelodeon. He was EP of Nickelodeon’s short-form music video series Rhymes Through Times.
Jazzy take on ‘Old McDonald’
As music videos, the Acoustic Rooster shorts aim to get kids movin’ and groovin’ while setting up storylines that familiarize children with the world of jazz — its greatest artists, standard compositions and language.
The first short, released Feb. 24, riffs on a familiar tune from the preschool repertoire, “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” Rooster introduces the musical talents of the BeBop Barnyard, each inspired by jazz legends: horn-playing Mules Davis, drummer Lil’ Herdin, singer Ella Finchgerald and pianist Duck Ellington. A trio of chicks, the youngsters of the barnyard, set the scene and the story.
“We wanted to lead with that old McDonald version because that was the most easy and obvious way to kind of get kids’ attention, if we started with something that was very familiar and known,” Harper said. “What’s more known to little preschoolers than nursery rhymes like ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm?’”
The short video format works especially well for today’s kids “who are used to consuming content on digital platforms where they just really want to get to the good stuff,” Harper said. “Acoustic Rooster shorts serve that mission very well.”
Alexander’s book, published in 2011, features a similar cast of characters: Rooster, a young and talented musician who is determined to win a talent show, and a stellar lineup of barnyard musicians whose names and talents are drawn from the golden age of jazz. The story emphasized the importance of collaboration and teamwork, a theme that’s integrated into the PBS Kids show.
“Jazz music is American music and the history of jazz in a lot of ways is tied up in the history of America,” Harper said. “Jazz is also the inspiration for so many other genres of music and kids just don’t have an understanding of that because you’re not born, obviously, with a discography of where all the music came from.”
As an art form that rose to popularity in the early 20th century, jazz doesn’t have as many touch points with today’s children, Harper said. That made music direction one of the production team’s biggest challenges.
Juno Award-winning jazz musician Mark McLean composed 24 original tracks for the series, arranging songs to resonate with children, Harper said. “Mark brought both the expertise and the energy that we were looking for because we wanted to make sure that we were giving kids real jazz, but at the same time, something that they could listen to from the jump … and want to move their feet to and want to dance to.”
‘Creativity, collaboration and family’
Characters from Alexander’s book also come to life through humor and its adoption of the special lingo of jazz, said Adriano Schmid, PBS Kids VP of content. The dialogue often plays with slang phrases like “You dig?”
The farm setting of the Bebop Barnyard also makes the series unique, Schmid added. “We love the ability to then showcase something more rural for kids,” he said.
PBS Kids jumped at the opportunity to adapt Alexander’s book because it explores music in a fun and inventive way, Schmid said.
“We think that it’s always a great moment for kids and families to connect on a story that comes from a particular book and then later go back to the book or read the book together and just create a sort of sense of family time,” Schmid said.
The special and shorts cover three main themes — “creativity, collaboration, and family,” Harper said.
The stories and characters model “how do I work together with others in order to create something awesome and fun?” Harper said. “There’s an element of self-expression, but there’s also knowing how to do things like take cues … improvise and work together with others.”
Viewers also will learn about the performing arts and music concepts, such as the difference between wind and string instruments.
“Performing arts and music — and learning how music is made — is a great way to model … ideas of creative self-expression and collaborating with others, which are great life skills for kids to have as well,” he said.
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