José-Luis Orozco’s Smithsonian Folkways Debut, ‘¡Come Bien! Eat Right!’

A timely collection of songs about healthy eating in both English and Spanish, from a trail-blazing educator-musician.

Perfect for Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15)

My daughter, who is in kindergarten, recently came home singing, “Chocolate! Chocolate! Bate! Bate! Chocolate!”  Bate means ‘to stir’ in Spanish.  I love how she is learning Spanish in school this early.  I started learning a second language WAY too late in school (middle school) and it was difficult for me to retain.  Teaching languages in early childhood education is essential for language development, in my opinion, so I love having CDs that we can listen to at home to help with her learning.

Musician, composer, and educator José-Luis Orozco has an impeccable pedigree in bilingual music education. José began performing music for children over four decades ago, releasing fifteen children’s albums along the way. His sixteenth, and first through Smithsonian Folkways, ¡Come Bien! Eat Right!, is a delightful and engaging bilingual album that offers a fun-filled approach to healthy eating as well as eating other foods in MODERATION.  Right on!

Who is José-Luis Orozco?

Orozco moved from Mexico to the United States at age nineteen, eventually studied sociology at UC Berkeley, receiving a Master’s degree in Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. He then committed himself to a new project: playing music for children. He employed his education and experience in cross-cultural communication, to begin a colorful catalog of adolescent-centered learning materials. For these, he won multiple awards such as the 2011 Latino Spirit Award, a Notable Award from the American Library Association, as well as the 1990 Leadership Award from the California Association for Bilingual Education. He was featured performer at the National Association for Education of Young Children conference last fall.

On ¡Come Bien! Eat Right! Orozco has teamed up with a friend and Mexican-American music icon, the GRAMMY-winning Quetzal Flores. Flores, who produced the record, rose to prominence in the early 1990s as the guitar player and namesake of Quetzal, the East Los Angeles-based “Chicano rock” pioneers. In 2013, the group won the Best Latin Rock Album GRAMMY for Imaginaries, released through Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.  Through records such as ¡Come Bien! Eat Right!, José-Luis has continued the journey he began as an eight-year-old singer for the Mexico City Boy’s Choir: “I’ve been able to combine music and education, and that’s what I do all over the country.”

Orozco commented, “Every single year, I travel about 125,000 miles; it’s like going around the world five times every year, reaching hundreds of thousands of kids, and families, and teachers.”

Track Listing:

1. Damos gracias

2. Manos limpias

3. La comida en mi plato

4. Come bien

5. Sabrosos colores

6. Conga de las frutas

7. Verduras

8. Ensalada fresca

9. La gallina de Juanito

10. Vamos a la mar

11. Compadre, cómpreme un coco

12. El baile de las legumbres

13. Leche

14. Chocolate

15. Avena

16. Pan integral

17. Tortilla

18. Botana

19. Agua

20. Thanksgiving

21. Clean Hands

22. The Food on My Plate

23. Eat Right

24. Tasty Colors

25. The Fruit Conga

26. Veggies

27. Fresh Salad

28. Juanito’s Chicken

29. Let’s Go to the Sea

30. Compadre, Buy Me a Coconut

31. The Legumes Dance

32. Milk

33. Chocolate

34. Oatmeal

35. Whole Grain Bread

36. Tortilla

37. Snack

38. Water

José-Luis Orozco’s Smithsonian Folkways Debut, ‘¡Come Bien! Eat Right!’

www.folkways.si.edu