Fresh off their packed NYC February shows, Recess Monkey wlll return to the city this spring for another mini-tour of high-energy, dance-driven sets! Seattle's celebrated teacher-rockers will bring their special brand of "undeniably hip, yet also kid-accessible" music and humor to two performances heralding the upcoming release of their superhero-themed album FLYING! on Saturday, April 30 at 1:00 p.m. at the Brooklyn Central Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, and Sunday, May 1 at 11:00 a.m. at 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street, NYC.
Recess Monkey will offer sneak previews of songs from FLYING! along with an array of "greatest hits" from the band's previous albums. Kids and their parental units will zoom around the room with Drew, Daron, and Jack on "Flying," join the Monkey Bar conga line (located everywhere), take a soapy ride at the Bubble Factory, and give that loose tooth an extra jiggle with Dr. Wiggle. From flapjacks to jetpacks and everything in-between, families should be ready for more disco dancing, knock-knock jokes and catchy sing-alongs than you can shake a stick at! As always, Recess Monkey's hand puppet band manager Mayor Monkey will be in tow, though he usually doesn't plan what he'll do on stage until it's too late.
Giving a wacky, fantastical edge to the "everyday lives of kids," Recess Monkey weaves puns, jokes stories, and shenanigans into its songs. No play on words is too much of a stretch, and no rhyme schemes are out of bounds for the group's genre-bending set of catchy, singable and dance-able ditties that NPR described as "inventive, brilliant, multilayered." Audiences call it "a great way to spend an hour rocking out!"
Superheroes usually populate a world of make-believe, but most of the songs on FLYING! are firmly grounded in the everyday, real-life experiences of Recess Monkey as teachers, parents, and (former) kids and graced with the knowledge that an ordinary person can, indeed, transform into a superhero. Think Wonder Woman re-imagined as a five-year-old playground dynamo covered in band-aids, Superman as a "Superkid" who bravely tells the truth and stands up for what's right, or a tribute to one of the greatest superheroes of all time: Grandma!
The three members of Recess Monkey, teachers who met while working at the same Seattle school, shared a genuine enthusiasm for a grad school project that morphed into their 2005 debut release Welcome to Recess Monkey Town. This was followed by another popular (and zoologically correct) hit, Aminal House. The teachers - Jack Forman, Daron Henry, and Drew Holloway - made history with their next release, Wonderstuff, the first double CD children's album produced from material generated at a kids' summer camp workshop. Likewise, 2008's Tabby Road, 2009's Field Trip, 2010's The Final Funktier, and this year's FLYING! each came from real life children's experiences.
Time Out NY Kids enthused about Recess Monkey, "The trio's catchy alterna-tunes burst with childlike energy and pop-culture references." According to The Washington Post, "These guys put the ‘fun' in funky. (Just try to keep your feet from moving!)" Kids' music authority Stefan Shepherd (Zooglobble) declared, ""
Dan Zanes may be the godfather; They Might Be Giants, the legitimizer; and Laurie Berkner, Ralph Covert, and Justin Roberts the genre's superstars. But Recess Monkey is the heart of kids' music today."
