The Geyboy Allstars made a triumphant return to San Diego this Friday, Jan. 30, packing 4th & B with a cramped but happy crowd. They played pretty much all of my favs: "Happy Friends," "Tenor Man," etc. It's was good to see Karl Denson onstage twice in one week. Just last week he made a cameo at Maceo Parker's Belly Up Tavern show. I had a chance to talk with Robert Walter last week, covering the past and the future of S.D.'s favorite jazz funksters.
Here's the story that ran in the San Diego Union-Tribune's Night&Day section on Thursday, Jan. 29:
The Greyboy Allstars return, refreshed
By Chris Nixon
January 29, 2004
'I guess I'm going to have to get a job, there ain't one thing on the streets no more," croons Greyboy Allstars singer and sax player Karl Denson, swinging soulfully on "Get a Job" from 1999's "Live."
Packed with jams, the album runs through 10 extended tunes anchored by the rock solid grooves of bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Zak Najor. Keyboardist Robert Walter imparts melodic tones from his organ and electric piano and Elgin Park (aka Mike Andrews) adds the "ka-chunk-chunk" funk guitar and a few sweet jazzy solos.
"Live" marked the height of the band's powers, showcasing its musical and improvisational prowess. Ironically, the disc also marked the last recorded output from the band, sending the members out into the world to find new jobs.
The Greyboy Allstars went on indefinite hiatus in 1999, a code word for "breakup" in musician speak. In a recent interview, San Diego native Walter simply said: "Everybody got burned (out)."
"We did it for so long and we did it so much: we were playing on the road constantly," continued Walter. "Then, whenever we came to San Diego from the road, we would play locally constantly for five years. I think everyone felt a little trapped in it after a while, because your entire life is all about this one thing. We're all interested in a lot of different styles of music."
The band's five members went their separate ways: Denson and Walter formed their own bands, while Najor and Stillwell jammed with their former bandmates. Elgin Park produced other bands (Metric, Brendon Benson, Jason Mraz) and performed with friend Gary Jules on the Tears for Fears cover "Mad World" for the "Donnie Darko" soundtrack (the single reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in 2003).
Then a curious thing happened: All the members were hanging out at the Belly Up listening to Karl Denson's Tiny Universe in late 2002, and they decided to play a few tunes together. It had been three years since the band had performed together, but the chemistry still felt right. Walter said: "Everybody was in town, so we all got up and tried to remember what we were doing."
Since that fateful show in Solana Beach, the year 2003 found the Greyboy Allstars reuniting for a few small tours. Now, there is talk of a new album in 2004: "There are a couple of things we've been discussing: One is work on some new tunes. The other is to take the old records and remix/remaster them with some bonus stuff and some enhanced CD stuff."
According to Walter, the band members needed to re-establish their identities away from the group to make the Allstars work.
"It's great to do the projects outside of the group and come back to it," said Walter. "I don't think the Greyboy Allstars would satisfy any of us as the only thing we did. One of the great things about the group is we were all into different styles, but we came together in mutual love for this one type of music. We need to still be coming from different places, or else it's not very interesting."
For Walter personally, the work with his own band, the 20th Congress, has given him musical perspective and a deeper understanding of group dynamics.
"From having to run my own band and really having to think about how I want my own music to sound, it's given me a well-rounded understanding of music," said Walter, who along with the Allstars will take the stage at 4th & B tomorrow.
"Greyboy Allstars in a way is like a safety zone. You can always hide behind the skills of the other players. Doing my own thing and being alone out front taught me a lot. Plus, just playing constantly for all of those years, hopefully you're always learning."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
