Into Goblyn Wood

Noel Mewton-Wood’s (1922-53) journey from underestimated virtuoso to present-day icon is cause for both celebration and irony. Glowing testimonials to his ‘genius’ (Sir Malcolm Sargent) from Myra Hess, Beecham, Schnabel, Bliss, Hindemith and Britten were countered by indifference from the major record labels and concert managements, a situation that doubtless contributed to his suicide at the age of 31. Behind an ebullient surface, Mewton-Wood was a romantic idealist, susceptible to depression and mood-swings. So it is hardly surprising to find the dichotomy reflected in performances which alternate a luminous poetic delicacy with a rare energy and bravura. [[i]Bryce Morrison, Gramophone, November 2003]

Let's Go Everywhere is the kind of record that kids-music insiders get all wound up about, and for a reason that can be summed up in two tidy little words: it's awesome. Yes, when classifications must be made, Medeski Martin & Wood are sometimes thrown into the jazz genre. And yes, as musicians go, they're a pretty sophisticated outfit. But that hasn't prevented them from maintaining a direct line with their pirate- and pat-a-cake-loving sides. Everywhere rules because it's un-self-consciously funky ("Cat Creep"), uncondescendingly cool ("Where's The Music"), and unspookily moody ("Far East Sweets"). It's so obviously the product of three guys who know how to grow grooves, but also know how to grow bonds with 4-year-olds, that it makes other kids albums seem audaciously contrived, not to mention intolerably boring. Retentive types won't flinch from filing it alongside classics such as Schoolhouse Rock, Really Rosie, and the Sesame Street compilations. And four out of five preschoolers - maybe more like 499 out of 500 - won't disagree: Medeski Martin & Wood merit the inclusion.