Jazzy Ash CD Debut

Just had a wonderful time celebrating Jazzy Ash's CD release party! Ashli and the Leaping Lizards put on a fantastic show with hornists, dancers, a fiddler, an accordian, a standup bassplayer and even an accordian/drummer! And I have to say, I had one of the best times on stage as "the Mista" in the Mardi Gras Themed song, "Throw Me Something Mista"!

 

Above are all the performers of the evening. Lincoln, Jazzy's son on the left, sang the blues and stole the show!

Calling all Mista Cookie Jar & The Chocolate Chips fans...! We will be releasing our 10th official music video on March 12, 2014 for the Mista Cookie Jar theme song, "Call Me Mista Cookie Jar." The fam & I have been animating this stop motion video frame by frame for nearly a year now and its almost ready to be unveiled. 100% D.I.Y. from the ground up. We made paper from scratch, illustrated our own characters, cut out every piece of cardboard and photograph -- I even made my own Buster Keaton hat. I know its still a ways away, but stay tuned...we're hopeful you'll find it worth the wait!

Throw Me Something Mista!

It's Mardi Gras season...laissez les bons temps rouler! Here's the brand spanking new Jazzy Ash video, Throw Me Something Mista, featuring myself as the Mista. It was a BLAST working on this video/track over the past few months and excited to share it with you all. Mardi Gras was a big part of my childhood growing up in Mobile, AL--the first city in the US to annually celebrate Mardi Gras believe it or not. So as you can imagine, I'm thrilled to be part of this record! (Shout out to my Mobile peeps on FB!) 

Ash's new New Orleans themed album, Home, just drops today too. It's awesome and lush with musical styles. She's got SO much to offer the family music scene. Check it yall and enjoy 

They're young, they're Canadian, and they're ÜBERtalented. No, they're not Justin Bieber circa 2007...they're The Zing Zangs!! Seriously, the hardest working 13 year olds in the game. They've just released an album called, Blast Off!, featuring Todd McHatton, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo, Groovy David, Sugar Free Allstars and a handful of other Kindie superstars. Here's their debut music video, Super Speed. This week, it premiered on TV'sCool Rockin' Daddy Video Show and, wouldn't ya know, it features some kooky Pilipino-American hippie hipster named,Mista Cookie Jar. Share with your youngins and enjoy 

Update: I interview here with the Zing Zangs on Kids Can Groove!

"My first spot as a guest blogger on Kids Can Groove and who better to interview than the 13-year old kindie entrepreneur, GooberKids Trevor of the Zing Zangs!" 

-MCJ on Facebook

MAD October Shows in LA!

Mad Mista Cookie Jar & The Chocolate Chips October shows in Los Angeles!

October 6 - Serial Time for Tiny Humans! (Storytelling show)- Books and Cookies - 11 am (Free)

"The LA Storytelling Festival's kidcentric event, Serial Time for Tiny Humans, features Heidi Swedberg, Jayne Entwistle, Donald Ian Black, Jackie Jones, Mista Cookie Jar and your hostess, Astrid Strudelman, the Unicorn Whisperer (whose likeness to The UkuLady is uncanny). Show starts at 11am at Santa Monica'sBooks and Cookies LA -- each storyteller has 10 -12 minutes! Don't miss it the magicmeep!"

Tickets and info: http://lastoryworks.org/la-storytelling-festival/

http://lastoryworks.org/serial-time-for-tiny-humans/

LINEUP:
Heidi Swedberg
Bunny Don Black
Astrid Strudelman
Jackie Jones
Jayne Entwistle
Mista Cookie Jar
October 12 - Mista Cookie Jar SHOW! - Books and Cookies - 10 am (Free)
October 20 - Castle Heights Fall Festival - Morning to Afternoon (Free)
October 26 - Halloween Spooktacular with Groovy David - Groovy Lounge - 10 am to 12 pm

Todd and Cookie

My good friend, Todd McHatton (the brilliant fella who wrote I Think I'm a Bunny), and I have just released our debut project, Todd and Cookie.

Here's our official writeup: 

Kindie Rock Superstars Todd McHatton and Mista Cookie Jar have joined forces to create The Great Adventures of Todd and Cookie; a mystical, magical, rock and roll cartoon adventure for the whole family! "A World of Rock" is the premiere episode of the series, Todd and Cookie's Catapult of Destiny. Their premiere mini album, "Epic 3 Song Starter Pack," is also available for purchase online. 

Following this initial release Todd and Cookie will issue a brand new mini album to coincide with the premiere of each new cartoon. An ongoing web comic will also be chronicling their adventures as they seek out The Catapult of Destiny.

Todd and Cookie is already being hailed as the kid friendly Cheech & Chong for the 21st century.

For more info go to 

http://ToddAndCookie.com

http://twitter.com/ToddAndCookie

http://facebook.com/ToddAndCookie

http://toddandcookie.bandcamp.com/

Tuesday Night Project 2013

This past Tuesday Ava Flava and I performed for the 4th year in a row at Tuesday Night Project in Little Tokyo. As a matter of fact, it was 4 years ago this month we had our first show ever as the Chocolate Chips! (Truth be told, we debuted as "Mista Cookie Jar and Tha Big Seeds"...that night we changed it to "Chocolate Chips"!!)

In the picture above, Ava had just turned 8! This was the show that kick started it all. One of our favorite shows EVER!  And 4 years later, this past show, we debuted an unreleased song, "My My My" (a nostalgic look back at the kids growing up), as well as the KPL mash up Dean Jones original, "Just Another Finger." As a performer, there's nothing like playing fresh material. Always mad love at the TNP!

My, my, my how we've grown!

Here's a pic of the whole fam on our way to Little Tokyo.