Saxophonist Joshua Redman, keyboardist Sam Yahel, and drummer Brian Blade had crossed paths frequently before they joined together to form Yaya3. Each musician has recorded as a leader, and Blade had appeared as a sideman on Yahel's albums Trio and In the Blink of an Eye, and on Redman's Freedom in the Groove. But the real crossroads for the three was Small's, a club in New York, where Yahel was playing twice a week. One night, when Yahel was scheduled and already had Blade in the band, guitarist Peter Bernstein was unable to make the gig, so Yahel called Redman to substitute. The results were so positive that the trio scheduled a regular date at Small's, then booked a tour in the winter of 2002. Warner Bros. Records, Redman's label, became interested and signed the group, which adopted the name Yaya3 after a nickname of Yahel's.
Their self-titled debut album, released in June 2002, marked Warner's resuscitation of the Loma Records imprint.
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