Tiffany Hansen (2:01)

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Tiffany Hansen in for Alison Stewart. By the way, Alison will be live with us on Monday. Appointment listening folks. As for right now, school is almost out. Today's the last day of school in the New York City public school system. So for our final hour of the show today, we're going to be celebrating with some music and some books made for families to enjoy together. Later this hour, we'll hear from two children's book authors who have written news stories set in New York. But first, we're going to hear a live performance from a local Grammy Award winning musician, Lucy Colentari. Kalantari and her band, the Jazz Cast have released their first album in six years, their first album written entirely in Spanish. Colentari's family comes from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The new album is called Crescendo. It's out now. Lucy Colentari joins us in studio at the piano. Hi, Lucy.

McDonald's Employee (2:57)

Hi.

Tiffany Hansen (2:58)

She's also brought her son Darius, who has a cello in front of him. Hi, Darius. Welcome to wnyc. I.

Lucy Kalantari (3:07)

You know what?

Tiffany Hansen (3:08)

Let's just get started with some music. Tell us what the title of this is, though, Lucy.

Lucy Kalantari (3:12)

This song is called Toulouse.

Tiffany Hansen (3:14)

Okay.

McDonald's Employee (3:57)

La.

Tiffany Hansen (5:30)

Thank you for that, Lucy. I don't speak Spanish. Tell me. Thank you. Tell me first. The title means what in English?

Lucy Kalantari (5:42)

Yes, it means your light.

Tiffany Hansen (5:45)

Oh, I like that. Okay. I mean, now that I know that I can hear that in your. In. In your words, in your intonation, in your inflection. So tell us a little bit about the spirit of the song. Now, we don't need a, you know, word by word translation, but just like I can kind of guess from the way the music kind of lifts me along.

Lucy Kalantari (6:05)

I'm so pleased to hear that, you know, because that's the thing. That's the power of music, right? That it transcends all language. And it's funny, just the moment I said toulouse and that it means your light. I saw your light in your eyes. You're like, oh, it all makes sense. And that's the thing. It's. We have this inner light, and sometimes we need to be reminded that it's there. And so it's just sort of a. Hey, it's there. Take care of it, share it, Take care of it and let it shine. Let it keep shining.

Tiffany Hansen (6:37)

You know, you mentioned that music really transcends language. I think that's especially true for kids if I'm speaking from my own lived experience as a kid hearing songs in other languages that I didn't understand and loved them anyway. Maybe I can remember hearing the Gypsy Kings, for example.

Lucy Kalantari (7:01)

Oh, how fun. Right?

Tiffany Hansen (7:02)

And just making up my own story about what it was about. I love that based on, you know, the way the music sounded. And I'm wondering if you think about that when you're writing these songs, Just that the spirit, the intent of that is often just enough for kids.

Lucy Kalantari (7:24)

Yeah. You know, it's funny, one of the tunes on the new album on Crescendo is called Alivina, which means guess, guess the emotion. And it's like, it's really focusing a lot on that, on translating some of the emotion in song. So it's a game where we play something and they're supposed to guess what emotion we're conveying with the song, with the music, and we got to play it live. It was very exciting. One of the kids during something that was like, supposed to be super serene, right? It's like really serene. And so I went around the audience and I asked each child, it went through all the emotions. They got sadness, they got happiness. They got all the things. When it came to serene, what was it that the child said?

Darius Kalantari (8:13)

Disappointment.

Lucy Kalantari (8:14)

Disappointment.

McDonald's Employee (8:15)

Oh.

Tiffany Hansen (8:15)

Oh.

Lucy Kalantari (8:17)

And it was funny. We played it again. She said disappointment. There was something in her. And, you know, that's the thing. There is no right or wrong. Right. It's like that was the thing that was stirred in her in that particular moment. Such a great word, isn't that? And this child, she was like, what, 11, maybe?

Darius Kalantari (8:34)

No, she was like seven.

Lucy Kalantari (8:34)

She was seven.

Tiffany Hansen (8:36)

Well, you know, it makes me think of. Do you remember the Tale of Despereau? Did you ever read that or see that movie? It's Kate DiCamillo book. Anyway, the mother. Have you read that, Darius? Okay. Do you remember the mother always says, such a disappointment. Maybe she read that book. Right. Darius, I have a question for you.

Lucy Kalantari (8:57)

Yeah.

Tiffany Hansen (8:57)

What's it like when you see your mom playing a song like that? What's that feel like? Are you proud of her?

Darius Kalantari (9:03)

Yeah, totally. I mean, we both have been doing this for, like, a long time, and I feel like we've, like, kind of connected over the music a little bit, and it just feels like. Just like normal life. I don't know.

Tiffany Hansen (9:21)

Yeah, it's a pretty great normal life, I think, having a mom who can play like that.

Darius Kalantari (9:26)

Yeah. I mean, like, music has become part of my life, so.

Tiffany Hansen (9:30)

Well, of course. How did you start playing cello?

Darius Kalantari (9:34)

So there's this band. It's made up of two cellists. They were classically trained. The names are Luka Solick and Stepan Hauser. And they make a band called Two Cellos. And when I was like two or one, I would go, I would watch the videos, I would watch the music videos, and I would play along with this little ukulele I got when I was like, one and a half or something, and this little blue drumstick. And I would just make the motion of playing the cello. And I would always ask my mom, can I have a real cello? And then she said, when you're three, you can have a real cello. And then, because I was three, like two and a half, two and three quarters, like, right before I turned three, I was. Everywhere I went, I was telling everybody, when I'm three, I'm gonna get a real cello. And so I did, and I started taking lessons. And, yeah, that's how I discovered it.

Tiffany Hansen (10:38)

For the first time as a cellist, I can confer and concur with you that the cello is the best choice.

Darius Kalantari (10:43)

Yes.

Tiffany Hansen (10:44)

Let's be clear about that. So, Lucy, when Did you start playing music when you were growing up?

Lucy Kalantari (10:51)

I did not see videos of cellists. I have to say, you know, Darius is so cool. Like, hearing that story from his perspective is really fun. Is that. It's totally true. That's exactly how it happened for me. I mean, I always had just melodies and songs in my head. And that's something I've seen in Darius since he was really small. Just sort of humming, always humming. While he's doing Legos, there's humming songs and songs and music. But I think I tried to do as much, you know, noodling. Whenever I saw that there was a house we went to that had a keyboard. But it wasn't until I was in Dominican Republic. I was living there with my mom. I was about 10 years old. And this man would come over who had a crush on my sister. And so he came with his keyboard and would give me the keyboard.

Tiffany Hansen (11:43)

He went all out.

Lucy Kalantari (11:44)

He went all out so I could play with the keyboard. And then, you know, he could hang out with my sister and I'd noodle on the keyboard. And that's how. That's what really. Ever since then, I haven't stopped.

Tiffany Hansen (11:55)

I wonder if you felt like. I think once we start to kind of clue in as kids to the fact that music is all around us, you know, especially, let's say, here in New York. What was that like as a kid? What kind of music did you hear around you as a kid?

Lucy Kalantari (12:19)

I feel really blessed that I got to grow up both in America and in Dominican Republic because I was surrounded by music in Spanish, music in English. I got so many different styles around me. So everything from merengue, salsa, bachata, to my neighbors in Dominican Republic, really liked Air Supply. Just.

Tiffany Hansen (12:44)

All right, that's not what I. I didn't have that on my bingo card. Okay.

Lucy Kalantari (12:48)

Isn't that bizarre? But, yeah. So I got to listen to everything. The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, I got. And then, of course, cartoons. That was probably a big influence there. That's where I got a lot of the jazz inspiration and education, actually, from cartoons, Tom and Jerry, you know, Bugs Bunny, everything from all the classical music.

Tiffany Hansen (13:11)

Bugs Bunny, you know, the conductor. Come on.

Lucy Kalantari (13:14)

So it's just when that's the thing that you associate your childhood with, it becomes this other joyful space. So for me, when I started our band, Lucy Calantari and the Jazz Cats, I started making jazz for kids. And it's just because I associated that with my childhood and my joy, and so it just all kind of made sense to me. So. And it's. This is everything. Everything I've grown up with.

Tiffany Hansen (13:45)

So much of what we like musically as kids is influenced by what our parents like. Right. If our parents are listening to classical, we kind of grow up with an appreciation of that. Did you sense that when you were growing up?

Lucy Kalantari (14:01)

I am the sixth of six kids, so I actually had a. All the big brothers and sisters, everything that they were listening to. You know, I got Prince, I got Menudo. What else were the. Were the hot. The big hotness in that time, you know, like, so even in Dominican Republic, Sergio Vargas. So it's just such a big mix. And like, in terms of my mom, probably mariachi, and my dad played guitar just a little bit, and. But his. His brothers, I found out, like, they're all musicians and they're fantastic. They like, every. Every time there's any kind of family reunion, they bring out their guitars and do all their church music and. And just have a wonderful time.

Tiffany Hansen (14:50)

Darius, has your mom introduced you to music that you actually like?

Lucy Kalantari (14:53)

Are you like.

Tiffany Hansen (14:54)

Oh, yeah. Okay, that's not so bad.

Darius Kalantari (14:57)

Yeah, for sure. I like a lot of the stuff she plays.

Tiffany Hansen (15:00)

Oh, good.

Darius Kalantari (15:02)

Yeah, she's like a lot of the. Like, she just started introducing me like, like a couple years ago to more like Spanish kind of music. Like, more like modern. Like, we're big fans of a band called Bombastadio, and she likes Camilo and Carlos Satin.

Lucy Kalantari (15:24)

We're gonna.

Tiffany Hansen (15:24)

We're gonna out mom here. Yeah.

Lucy Kalantari (15:28)

Pleasure. Yeah.

Darius Kalantari (15:30)

And like, we listen. We blast bone by Stadio while going random places in the car and. Yeah, I mean, I like to like, sometimes, like, my. My mom gives me like, this peculiary, peculiar, like, really cool, like, kind of music that is just. I don't know, I feel like I have like a sort of like a connection with it.

Lucy Kalantari (16:01)

I don't know.

Darius Kalantari (16:03)

Like, my dad has like, a big range between like. Like modern pop and rock from, like, old. Like, old music and stuff.

Tiffany Hansen (16:12)

Okay. We're not gonna talk about what old means, but yes.

Darius Kalantari (16:17)

Like, 80s.

Tiffany Hansen (16:18)

Yeah, I gotcha.

Lucy Kalantari (16:21)

Old, really.

Tiffany Hansen (16:23)

We're digging back. We're digging back, Mom. I just gotta say, like, as a mom, you know, hearing that, if I were hearing that, I'd just be in a little puddle.

Lucy Kalantari (16:35)

Yeah. I'm really trying not to cry, like, just from the very start.

Tiffany Hansen (16:40)

Let's get to some music then. The track of the. Or the album is called Crescendo. It's also the title track. I confessed I don't speak Spanish, but I am a musician. I imagine Crescendo as crescendo as getting louder or bolder or making yourself heard. That's pretty close.

Lucy Kalantari (17:04)

Okay. Yeah. So crescendo means growing. Growing up. So in this case, it's growing up. So it's about kids growing up.

Tiffany Hansen (17:10)

All right, let's hear it.

Lucy Kalantari (17:11)

All right. When I wrote this song, I wanted to do an anthem for kids growing up.

Darius Kalantari (17:21)

This is definitely an anthem.

Tiffany Hansen (17:23)

Let's do it.

Lucy Kalantari (17:29)

Crescendo.

McDonald's Employee (17:35)

Crescendo. Tango. No. El tiempo Aprendiendo. Mimento, presto, siempresto.

Lucy Kalantari (19:37)

Crescendo.

Tiffany Hansen (19:41)

As if we couldn't tell the title of that song is crescendo. You mentioned you were wanting an anthem. I mean, definitely able to, like, chant along with that. But I'm curious a little bit if we can just back up into the process. It can't just be like, I want to write an anthem. The crescendo might have come to you, or how did that all happen?

Lucy Kalantari (20:03)

You know, it's really funny. I spend a lot of time thinking about what our children need as they grow up. You know, the tools they need, but also what parents need as they grow up.

McDonald's Employee (20:17)

And the thing is, our kids are.

Lucy Kalantari (20:19)

So hungry to learn, like, just naturally, everything about their environment, everything about the world. And it's a really wonderful and magical thing. And our job as their parents, as their teachers, and as people just in their environment is to, well, feed them. Feed that part. And so this is kind of that part of that. It's just like praising. It's just like letting the kid have that voice or say, I am growing up. Feed me. I want to feed my mind. I want to do these things. I want to move around. I want this. And in this group part, the first thing that I thought about was the. Was the chorus.

McDonald's Employee (21:03)

The Esquivir tibojar con suir flores.

Lucy Kalantari (21:10)

So we're just Esquir. This is something we talk about a lot, right? Where it's you write, you draw, it's what you do with your hands, right? Because that's like, the main tool. As you're growing up, you start learning those motor skills with your fingers and your hands. And so you start learning how to manipulate things, how to move things. You could start with the pincer grip. So then suddenly, when you can hold that pencil, and then you start scribbling, it's just like, well, wait, I can actually write words, I can write ideas, I can draw pictures. So escribir di bujar. Write, draw. And aprender nun cadejo de crecer I never stop growing. And the wonderful thing about that is that as adults, neither do we. And that is the most incredible thing because our brains just keep going. And that's what kids bring, that kind of inspiration, I think, to adults too, where it's just like, well, I want to learn stuff too. And it just keeps going. It's just a cycle. So as long as we don't shut it off. Exactly. As long as our mind. Keep your mind open and keep learning. Keep growing and the rest will follow.

Tiffany Hansen (22:24)

We're talking with Lucy Calantari about her new album, the first one in six years written entirely in Spanish. The album called Crescendo. We're also talking with Darius on cello, Lucy's son Lucy. I mentioned it's written in Spanish, the first full length album written in Spanish. So talk about why that was important to you.

Lucy Kalantari (22:50)

So I'm Dominican and Puerto Rican. I grew up in Dominican Republic and I've done bilingual songs and. But I really wanted to connect more with the Latin families, Latino families all around the world. And, you know, especially being of Dominican, Puerto Rican descent, I wanted to see my mom and dad finally hear music that their daughter's making in Spanish as well. And it was just so wonderful. My mom has dementia and so I was able to share a lot of the writing experience with her. And because music is just so powerful and transcendental, she learned the songs. She can't remember things from five minutes ago, but she can learn a brand new song and sing it with me. Her favorite one.

Darius Kalantari (23:43)

Her favorite one called Mekai. It means I fell, but then I got back up.

Lucy Kalantari (23:49)

Yeah, that's right.

Darius Kalantari (23:50)

She sings it every single time. Even actually, if you don't play that song and you just start playing the album. Start singing that one.

Lucy Kalantari (23:58)

Yeah, yeah, that one.

Tiffany Hansen (23:59)

Great.

Lucy Kalantari (24:00)

It's a wonderful thing. Music is just incredible.

Tiffany Hansen (24:04)

For people who are familiar with the music of the Dominican Republic, will they hear some of that on this album?

Lucy Kalantari (24:12)

Yes, absolutely. Actually, I've been doing a bunch of interviews with the radio stations and TV out in Dominican Republic. Wonderful technology that we can do all these interviews from afar. Right. And it's been just so, so wonderful and so cool to connect in this new way.

Tiffany Hansen (24:31)

So let's talk about this last song. It's called Firefly. I can imagine why fireflies are inspiring, the way they kind of attract other fireflies with their glow. Again, I'm projecting my own, my own sort of of pre interpretation on this magic. Talk to us about your interpretation of it.

Lucy Kalantari (24:54)

Sure, sure. So in this I Wanted to do a song. This one I co wrote with my friend Roger Montejano, who's based in Spain. And we wanted to do something interesting with audio. Just sort of a bedtime story for kids. And I came up with this idea of just like, kind of chasing your dreams. I had originally thought actually a butterfly. And he's like, well, if it's a bedtime story, how a firefly. I'm like, ooh, magical. And it's that it's chasing your dreams as the sun is setting. So it's a story. The sun is setting, starting to get a little darker. So the fireflies are coming out. And you're chasing this firefly and you're going past all these beautiful things outside, and you're wondering what all these animals are doing to go to bed. What do the birds do? What do bees do at night? What are they up to?

Tiffany Hansen (25:49)

I have no idea.

Lucy Kalantari (25:51)

And that's kind of the. It's sort of this wondrous sort of, sort of, you know, story, but always moving, always going, until you finally the. The firefly guides you home to bed. And so that you can dream the dreams.

Tiffany Hansen (26:06)

Let's hear it.

Lucy Kalantari (26:11)

So imagine that you're in that backyard or forest and the sun's coming down.

McDonald's Employee (26:19)

And passing a river that's peacefully flowing While a whisper of a gentle breeze could blow Whispers of dreams Hearing the sounds of vowels sing A magical night is ringing with wonders unseen and all the birds where do they go? Oh, are they nestled together in their homes? While I chasing after little firefly O Following its burning light so bright O I keep on running as day turns into night I keep on running I won't be left behind Watch me go Seeing families of squirrels getting ready Ready to rest their heads gently.

Lucy Kalantari (28:10)

Listen to.

McDonald's Employee (28:11)

Their melody and all the bees tell me do they sleep Dreaming of honey oh, so sweet While I.

Lucy Kalantari (28:29)

Chasing after.

McDonald's Employee (28:29)

Little firefly Ooh, following its burning light so bright Ooh I keep on running as day turns into night.

Lucy Kalantari (28:47)

I keep.

McDonald's Employee (28:49)

On running I won't be left behind Watch me go, go I'll always keep on going Passing.

Lucy Kalantari (29:22)

Landing on the river.

McDonald's Employee (29:24)

That'S home Firefly sits on my doorstep Its twinkling lights tell me there's so much more in my dream Time to.

Lucy Kalantari (29:49)

Dream.

McDonald's Employee (29:54)

Time to dream Time to dream.

Tiffany Hansen (30:12)

Lucy Calantari the album is Crescendo Lucy. Thank you.

Lucy Kalantari (30:17)

Thank you so much. That song is the last song on the album in Spanish, and I just played the English version, since it's a story that'll be out in one month from today.

Tiffany Hansen (30:26)

Appreciate that. Thank you. And if you're wondering who that maestro was on the cello, that was Darius. Darius, thank you for joining us as well.

Darius Kalantari (30:34)

Of course.

Lucy Kalantari (30:35)

Thank you so much for having us.

Michaels Store Announcer (30:38)

Attention, party people. You're officially invited to the party shop at Michael's where you'll find hundreds of new Items starting at 99 cents with an expanded selection of party wear, balloons with helium included on select styles, decorations and more. Michaels is your one stop shop for celebrating everything from birthdays to bachelorette parties and baby showers to golden anniversaries. Visit Michaels store or michaels.com today to supply your next party.

Nephew (31:06)

I'mma put you on nephew.

Darius Kalantari (31:07)

All right, unc.

McDonald's Employee (31:08)

Welcome to McDonald's.

Lucy Kalantari (31:09)

Can I take your order, miss?

Nephew (31:10)

I've been hitting up McDonald's for years. Now it's back. We need snack racks. What's a snack wrap? It's the return of something great. Snack wrap is back.