Artist: Lucy Kalantari
Album: Pockets Full of Joy
Released: May 2014

Imagine you were sitting in a dimly lit cafe at a small round table with a single frosted votive flickering. The stage is but a shadow awaiting its wake up call.

Suddenly, a spotlight’s wide owl eye shines in the center of the curtain, the music strikes up, and out comes the brightest smile you’ve ever seen. Your heart is warmed and you feel your own smile widen as the lovely lady in front of you begins to sing.

Meet Lucy Kalantari, a New York-based singer-songwriter who has a dazzling voice reminiscent of notables like Bessie Smith, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.

Kalantari’s debut children’s EP, Pockets full of Joy, captures the spirit of the Roaring Twenties with 6 ukulele ditties that express the elation and humor found in parenting. Each song reflects an observation or emotion, both from the point of view of a parent and of a child, though the songs could easily stand on their own and be enjoyed with a loved one of any age.

Pockets Full of Joy opens with the title track, which expresses the enchantment you feel when you are around that special someone who melts (or swells) your heart with a smile or warm embrace.

“The Only Thing” enlivens the ecstatic effects of true love with heartfelt lyrics:

Celebrating life with you 
Grateful for the things you do 
Falling in your loving arms 
Greeted by your graceful charm 
I can’t imagine this life without your magic 
And I’m the one you chose to woo

In “Wait and See” Kalantari balances out her feelings of adoration with a more contemplative song that daydreams into the future, pondering what the little person in her life will grow up to be. I find myself often wondering the same thing about my daughter, while wanting to stop time and just stay suspended in our special moments together.

Once you become a parent, you are given a fresh sense of the world. So much of what you see is viewed through new lenses. Suddenly the canvas in front of you changes, a new painting appears, vivid and complex. The unexplainable love that one feels is not easily communicated, but Kalantari so beautifully channels what this new identity, new role, feels like. This expression is what I enjoy so much about the album.

Pockets Full of Joy is a wonderful keepsake for new parents, one that can be passed to child(ren) later on, and also be a treasure for you as you revisit those special moments every step of the way.

Check out Lucy Kalantari’s official site where you can download the album, sample songs and sing along with the lyrics. Or, visit her Joy Store where you can purchase a physical signed copy of the album.