For months I have been hearing about the Baby Loves Music series. A friend of mine had mentioned it to me some time ago and I have been meaning to attend one of their events with my kids, but could never find the time.

When looking at their calendar on their website, I found an awesome selection of genres that appeal to me personally. Such as Baby Loves Hip Hop, Baby Loves Jazz, and best of all Baby Loves Salsa.

Baby Loves Salsa is headed by lyricist, composer, and vocalist Jose Conde. Conde has an amazing voice, the kind that flows smoothly, inducing childhood snapshots of my life from La Perla, Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, New York….even though he himself is Cuban. The funky, feet-tapping inspiring, jazz, funk, and Latin compositions and renditions are very familiar to me.  I first heard of him when I came across Ola Fresca, the band he founded in 2000.  The sounds of his music are those we Latino New Yorkers grew up listening to as our abuelas, tias, and mamas were busy in the kitchen preparing one meal or another…not that his music reminds me of food, exactly…just something good and happy.

But it’s not just Latinos who can appreciate his eclectic style because it’s music that appeals to all.

I had the opportunity to sit with Mr. Conde before his latest Baby Loves Salsa concert at the wonderful Highline Ballroom in Chelsea to talk about his music and projects.

His upcoming self titled album, Jose Conde, expected to come out this Fall 2010, will be a compilation of rock, funk, and blues in Spanish. “An ambitious project”, Conde considers the songs of his upcoming album the best he has ever written. If you have ever heard Conde’s music either under Ola Fresca, or even with Baby Loves Salsa, than you know that it is definitely an album to keep an eye and ear out for.

Andy Hurowitz and Heather Murphy, partners in Baby Loves Music, recognized the talent of this wonderful artist and invited him into the Baby Loves series for Baby Loves Salsa. And though Conde admits he was a bit skeptical at first at being able to do it, he now admits to finding it all to be “really cool and fun”. But Conde has also succeeded in remaining true to himself and really bringing the style I enjoy as an adult to the younger generations in our lives.

This has lead him to work with other favorites such as Putumayo Music in albums like Café Cubano, as well as in their kids’ album, Picnic Playground, both currently available for purchase. Jazz Playground, a kids’ album also under the Putumayo label, is expected to be released in March and will feature Conde’s remake of Cumbamba, an original by one of my favorite Puerto Rican jazz musicians of all time, Ray Barretto.

Under Baby Loves Salsa, you can hear more of Conde’s work in the Salsa for Kittens and Puppies/Salsa Para Gatitos y Perritos CD and book recently release under the Baby Loves Salsa label. Conde wrote some original work for the album as well as featured some old favorites such as Old MacDonald to the beats of Salsa, and Wheels on The Bus to the beats of Guaguancó.

The family and I got to listen to some of these at the Highline Ballroom this past Saturday and it was truly wonderful. Kids and adults alike really got into it. By the middle of the concert (which is more or less an hour long) my 3 year old had grabbed hold of a couple of utensils and was beating them together trying to imitate Conde’s rythmic beats with the claves on stage.

I asked Conde what he appreicated the most in watching the kids from the stage, many of them being exposed to the Latin sounds for the first time.

“Well, kids don’t ask me if I dance on one or on two. They just take it in and they dig it.”

And after watching the many adults also present at the concert that day, it seemed that they were all digging it too.

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NEW GIVEAWAY! Enter for a chance to win a copy of the Baby Loves Salsa Salsa for Kittens and Puppies/Salsa Para Gatitos y Perritos CD & Book, PLUS 3 tickets to a Baby Loves Music concert of your choice!