RAFFI COME HOME

If you chart Raffi's musical growth like that of your own children, like so many notches on the kitchen wall, you'll find that his first three albums form a trilogy based around the theme of simple tunes easy for young throats and minds to grasp. For his fourth release, Raffi took a giant step into the future with Baby Beluga, the Rubber Soul of his catalogue. It relies less on traditional children's fare and interweaves more mature, modern themes about the natural world and our relation to it.

"I look back and hear the progression from album to album," says Raffi, without a trace of self-aggrandizing. "The key to artistic longevity is growth and renewal. In a way, Bananaphone is my Baby Beluga of the Nineties."

With plans afoot for another two albums this year, including a spoken-word bedtime release, it looks as if Raffi the children's performer is here for the long haul. As for Raffi the businessman, as long as he sticks to the credo "satisfy the customer," those children he delighted when they couldn't even walk will come back to Raffi with children of their own. Talk about working the eternal circle.