When John Medeski, Chris Wood and Billy Martin go into the studio to record any new album, they're never sure what will emerge. It was no different when the trio gathered in an upstate New York studio with a few concepts, a few musical ideas and a few friends, to create Let's Go Everywhere, the first recording designed to please their youngest fans.
The group settled on the idea of a journey, of travel both literal and figurative. It proved to be a motivating concept. But we didn't have much going in, says Wood. It was a thread we followed as we improvised, composed and working through each piece on the spot. We call it spontaneous composition. Martin agrees that we really had very little figured out. Maybe a few ideas about a beat or a nursery rhyme we liked, but we went into the studio not knowing what would happen.
Then the fun part began. Wood and Martin enlisted vocals from their children Nissa and Dakota. In the perfect party song, the band gets into a funky groove that stops suddenly, prompting enthusiastic young voices to shout, ''Where's the Music''? and the music to start up again. We got that idea from our kids love of musical chairs, explains Wood. As the party continued, the trio brought in other friends to add to the musical journey, including brother Oliver, John Lurie (Lounge Lizards), and inspired newcomer Tim ''Big Time'' Ingham. From the hard-core Meters-esque celebration Where's The Music to the Latin and Asian-tinged jazz of Hickory Dickory Dock and Far East Sweets, MMW and their friends will have your child moving their bodies, expanding their musical experience and sharing the joy of this very special group of musicians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medeski_Martin_%26_Wood
1. Waking Up
2. Let's Go Everywhere
3. Cat Creeps
4. The Train Song
5. Where's the Music
6. Pat a Cake
7. Pirates Don't Take Baths
8. Far East Sweets
9. On an Airplane
10. The Squalb
11. Let's Go
12. Old Paint
13. Hickory Dickory Dock
14. All Around the Kitchen
15. We're All Connected