NEW YORK -- The morning after a blistering three-hour concert to celebrate the release of their new album, members of the Dave Matthews Band were still jazzed -- about the songs no one heard.

Long before fans streamed into the Roseland Ballroom or cameras began taping, Matthews and the band were just noodling around during sound check when they improvised what he called ''two smoking tunes.''

''They just came out of the blue,'' Matthews says. ''The room was empty. First came the bass or the drums, and then everyone came in. It just happened."

''It was too much fun,'' says bassist Stefan Lessard, smiling at the memory.

''But we've never gone into the studio and done that. Ever,'' Matthews says. ''We do that at sound check and all of a sudden you see the guys setting the chairs up in the auditorium and they're grooving.''

To capture that special, fleeting sound, the Dave Matthews Band has reunited, hired a new producer and emerged with the summertime CD ''Stand Up,'' their first studio album since 2002's ''Busted Stuff.''

''This was like a new day dawning in a way,'' Matthews says before he and Lessard start a day doing radio spots to promote the CD. Matthews still smells vaguely of post-concert Jagermeister as he chugs coffee fortified with four espresso shots.

The band -- which also includes drummer Carter Beauford, violinist Boyd Tinsley and saxophonist LeRoi Moore -- is basking in the CD's favorable reviews, and it sold 465,000 copies in its first week to debut at No. 1 on the album charts.

Some fans had worried the band might be losing its way after selling more than 25 million albums since 1991. Purists were unhappy with 2001's ''Everyday'' and two members -- Matthews and Tinsley -- did solo albums.

Change of plans

Regrouping again last year, the band originally planned to work with multiple producers until they sat down in Los Angeles with Mark Batson, whose hip-hop-heavy resume includes collaborations with Eminem and 50 Cent, plus artists like Seal and India.Arie.
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