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San Diego's Robert Walker is a searching and soulful
piano and keyboard player. He's a composer of memorable
songs in the funk/jazz vein, a band leader heading one
of the hottest touring acts around today and a young,
forward thinking musician with a deep and abiding respect
for jazz's history and the formidable artists who created
it. In 1993 he became founding member of the Greyboy
Allstars. The band, fronted by saxophonist Karl
Denson led the funk charge in the mid-1990s, touring
incessantly throughout the U.S and Europe for five years
before taking a break in 1998. Following the break-up,
Robert Walter founded Robert Walter 20th Congress,
who has released two albums: both are regarded as leading
examples of the "new" sound in the resurgent popularity
of jazz/funk. With the release of his new record, There
Goes The Neighbourhood, Walter steps back and puts
his own spin on the sound at the core of his influence.
Walter says There Goes The Neighbourhood is his
"tribute to the great soul/jazz records of the 1960's".
The albums recording process and song selection were
designed with those records in mind. "Like most of the
records from the 1960s, this album was recorded very
quickly, over two days", says Walter. The choice of
tunes on There Goes The Neighbourhood, both covers
and originals, is also telling. "These songs are more
connected to tradition than the stuff I do with 20th
Congress," says Walter. "I wanted to bring out the blues
element in my playing".
The accompanying musicians on There Goes The Neighbourhood
are said to be the crème de la crème in jazz funk, past
and present. Drummer Harvey Mason, who also composed
a song for this release ('The Tease'), was the drummer
on Herbie Hancock's Headhunters album. Saxophonist
Red Holloway was a key member of the influential Jack
McDuff Group of the mid-sixties that also featured
a young George Benson. Bassist Chuck Rainey, who began
his career with The Crusaders, a leading soul/jazz
group of the 1970s. And the legendary guitarist Phil
Upchurch turned out to be Walter's right hand man in
the studio.
There Goes The Neighbourhood is out now on Premonition
Records
Tour Dates:
2/1/02 - Burrard Ballroom - Century Plaza Vancouver,
BC
2/2/02 - The Boot Pub Whistler, BC
2/5/02 - Elbo Room San Francisco, CA
2/19/02 - The AlleyFlagstaff, AZ
2/20/02 - Nita's Hideaway Tempe, AZ
2/21/02 - Knitting Factory - Hollywood Hollywood, CA
3/14/02 - Mercury LoungeAustin, TX
3/15/02 - Club DadaDallas, TX
3/16/02 - The VibeAustin, TX
3/17/02 - Young Avenue DeliMemphis, TN
3/18/02 - Proud Larry's Oxford, MS
3/19/02 - Cow Haus Tallahassee, FL
3/20/02 - Culture Room Fort Lauderdale, FL
3/21/02 - The Social Orlando, FL
3/22/02 - Side BarGainesville, FL
3/23/02 - Jack Rabbit's Jacksonville, FL
3/24/02 - Stella Blue Asheville, NC
Relevant Sites:
Band
website - http://www.20thcongress.com
Crud Magazine 2002
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