A team of Aussie musicians, including Megan Washington, Pete Murray and members of Kingswood, have lent their talents to a new children’s album and book titled Alexander the Elephant in Zanzibar — a project of Grinspoon guitarist Pat Davern and his dad James Davern.
Alexander the Elephant’s adventures are being soundtracked by a string of tracks which were written and recorded by Pat Davern, with appearances from other musos like Sneaky Sound System’s Connie Mitchell, singer-songwriter Alex Lloyd and, for some reason, Tom Williams (not me — we’re talking the Channel 7 TV personality).
Megan Washington sits atop the list of Alexander the Elephant’s first-ever musical collaborators, appearing on seven tracks of his album. Lloyd features on six, with Pete Murray featuring on Alexander’s Theme, which you can hear a snippet of below.
Fergus Linacre and Alex Laska from Melbourne rockers Kingswood appear on the track We Are The Loggers, which suggests they might even be voicing the mean loggers who threaten The Great Tree of Zanzibar in Alexander’s story of courage.
As Pat Davern explains, “The main characters in this book came from childhood stories that Dad would make up and tell my daughter Francesca and the other grandkids. I realised these stories needed to be shared so I took the characters, put pen to paper and got to writing the book and the music.”
Alexander The Elephant in Zanzibar is suitable for four-to-six year olds, and will be released both in book and album form on 6th November. Catch the album’s full tracklist alongside a quick preview featuring Pete Murray, below.
Watch: Alexander The Elephant in Zanzibar Trailer (Feat. Pete Murray)
Alexander The Elephant in Zanzibar Album Tracklist
1. Alexander’s Theme – Feat. Pete Murray
2. Narration Pt.1
3. Red Ant Sandwiches – Feat. Alex Lloyd
4. Narration Pt.2
5. Pedro The Parrot – Feat. Connie Mitchell
6. Narration Pt.3
7. Zanzibar – Feat. Megan Washington
8. Narration Pt.4
9. What’s Going On In The Forest – Feat. Alex Lloyd/Megan Washington
10. Narration Pt.5
11. We Are The Loggers – Feat. Fergus Linacre/Alex Laska (Kingswood)
12. Narration Pt.6
13. Quick As A Flash – Feat. Connie Mitchell
14. Narration Pt.7
15. Alexander Can Run – Feat. Megan Washington
16. Narration Pt.8
17. On The Count Of Three – Feat. Alex Lloyd/Megan Washington
18. Narration Pt.9
19. Clever Uncle Gerald – Feat. Tom Williams
20. Narration Pt.10
21. A Plan Is Hatched – Feat. Alex Lloyd/Megan Washington
22. Narration Pt.11
23. The Truck Is Beginning To Roll – Feat. Alex Lloyd/Megan Washington
24. Narration Pt.12
25. We saved The Forest – Feat. Alex Lloyd/Megan Washington/ Connie Mitchell/ Tom Williams
26. Narration Pt.13
27. Alexander’s Theme (Reprise) – Feat. Pete Murray