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.
Saturday, January 31, 2004
... And Brit-rock blokes
Fran Healy, lead singer of Scottish quartet Travis, turns out to be a very nice man. Gracious and geuinely engaged in our conversation, Healy practically begged me to go to Scotland -- especially since it's the homeland of the Nixons: "There's no place like Scotland in the world. It's inspired so many poems and songs through history."
Here's the Travis story that ran in the Union-Tribune's Night&Day section Thursday, Jan. 29:
Travis pulls through to create memories
By Chris Nixon
January 29, 2004
After four years of constant touring behind its 2000 breakthrough album, "The Man Who," and 2001's "The Invisible Band," Scottish quartet Travis desperately needed a break.
The band's popularity had steadily grown since the mid '90s, when Travis joined Oasis as part of an influx of retro Brit-pop bands. But the band felt burned out, suffering from the extreme life of a rock 'n' roll band.
Just when you start to take things for granted, life has a way of playing with your expectations.
During a series of European dates in July 2002, Travis drummer Neil Primrose hit his head while relaxing on vacation. The blow to Primrose's cranium knocked the percussionist out cold, cracking his fifth and sixth vertebrae.
His bandmates (vocalist Fran Healy, guitarist Andy Dunlop and bassist Dougie Payne) actually saved Primrose's life, pulling the unconscious drummer from the water. Most doctors were doubtful about Primrose's chances of walking again. But within six months, he was walking and drumming.
"It's a weird thing, but these things happen for a reason," said a wizened Healy during a recent phone conversation from London. "Millions of people die from things like this every year, and Neal was so, so lucky. It was fortunate he had his friends around and he survived. Just walking would be good enough, but he's playing like nothing ever happened."
During Primrose's recovery, the band retreated to their homeland and recorded. The resulting album, 2003's "12 Memories," emerged from the sessions.
Healy said: "There's no place like Scotland in the world. It's inspired so many poems and song through history."
Trying to sidestep clichés, Healy reflected on the accident's impact on the band and "12 Memories."
"We came back into the music business a completely different band," said the eloquent Healy in his Scottish brogue. "We care about how well things do (in sales and popularity), of course. But it's not as important as it once was. It throws light on everything and prioritizes things in a certain order. The priorities of humans are generally (messed) up until nature comes and punches you in the face. Luckily for us, we pulled through."
Travis more than pulled through in 2003 – it rebounded with possibly its best effort with "12 Memories," a shimmering revelation of beautiful Brit-pop. From the swaying glistening balladry of "How Many Hearts" to the gritty distorted rock guitar of "Happy to Hang Around," the four boys from Glasgow construct a coherent album of reflective, dreamy pop singles.
Travis planned on quirky, top-notch producer Tchad Blake (Soul Coughing, Neil Finn, Latin Playboys, Los Lobos, Pearl Jam), but Primrose's quick rehab found the band recording ahead of schedule – and before Blake arrived.
"We went to Scotland with a really rudimentary setup," said Healy, who along with the rest of Travis produced most of the album on their own. "And eventually, we recorded the whole record before we knew it. So we took the whole record to Tchad, and we recorded three new songs with him: 'Peace ... Out,' 'Somewhere Else' and 'Love Will Come Through.'
"When you listen to those, they really are different. They definitely sound a lot more dynamic than the stuff that we produced. You can't run in competition with someone who has been recording for like 20 or 30 years. What he brought to the rest of the stuff was really beautiful definition and hi-fi."
Given the dramatic events leading up to "12 Memories," one might think Healy would be overflowing with song ideas. But even after three albums packed with poignant tunes, the inspiration for Travis's latest disc didn't come easily.
"To be honest, writing songs is still difficult, because you're making something out of nothing," said Healy, who will take the stage with Travis Saturday at downtown's Spreckels Theatre. "But it's like any creative process, like painting a picture or thinking up a story: It starts with absolutely nothing. It starts with this flash, and you have to catch the flash and turn it into something. But those flashes, they're hard to catch."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
Here's the Travis story that ran in the Union-Tribune's Night&Day section Thursday, Jan. 29:
Travis pulls through to create memories
By Chris Nixon
January 29, 2004
After four years of constant touring behind its 2000 breakthrough album, "The Man Who," and 2001's "The Invisible Band," Scottish quartet Travis desperately needed a break.
The band's popularity had steadily grown since the mid '90s, when Travis joined Oasis as part of an influx of retro Brit-pop bands. But the band felt burned out, suffering from the extreme life of a rock 'n' roll band.
Just when you start to take things for granted, life has a way of playing with your expectations.
During a series of European dates in July 2002, Travis drummer Neil Primrose hit his head while relaxing on vacation. The blow to Primrose's cranium knocked the percussionist out cold, cracking his fifth and sixth vertebrae.
His bandmates (vocalist Fran Healy, guitarist Andy Dunlop and bassist Dougie Payne) actually saved Primrose's life, pulling the unconscious drummer from the water. Most doctors were doubtful about Primrose's chances of walking again. But within six months, he was walking and drumming.
"It's a weird thing, but these things happen for a reason," said a wizened Healy during a recent phone conversation from London. "Millions of people die from things like this every year, and Neal was so, so lucky. It was fortunate he had his friends around and he survived. Just walking would be good enough, but he's playing like nothing ever happened."
During Primrose's recovery, the band retreated to their homeland and recorded. The resulting album, 2003's "12 Memories," emerged from the sessions.
Healy said: "There's no place like Scotland in the world. It's inspired so many poems and song through history."
Trying to sidestep clichés, Healy reflected on the accident's impact on the band and "12 Memories."
"We came back into the music business a completely different band," said the eloquent Healy in his Scottish brogue. "We care about how well things do (in sales and popularity), of course. But it's not as important as it once was. It throws light on everything and prioritizes things in a certain order. The priorities of humans are generally (messed) up until nature comes and punches you in the face. Luckily for us, we pulled through."
Travis more than pulled through in 2003 – it rebounded with possibly its best effort with "12 Memories," a shimmering revelation of beautiful Brit-pop. From the swaying glistening balladry of "How Many Hearts" to the gritty distorted rock guitar of "Happy to Hang Around," the four boys from Glasgow construct a coherent album of reflective, dreamy pop singles.
Travis planned on quirky, top-notch producer Tchad Blake (Soul Coughing, Neil Finn, Latin Playboys, Los Lobos, Pearl Jam), but Primrose's quick rehab found the band recording ahead of schedule – and before Blake arrived.
"We went to Scotland with a really rudimentary setup," said Healy, who along with the rest of Travis produced most of the album on their own. "And eventually, we recorded the whole record before we knew it. So we took the whole record to Tchad, and we recorded three new songs with him: 'Peace ... Out,' 'Somewhere Else' and 'Love Will Come Through.'
"When you listen to those, they really are different. They definitely sound a lot more dynamic than the stuff that we produced. You can't run in competition with someone who has been recording for like 20 or 30 years. What he brought to the rest of the stuff was really beautiful definition and hi-fi."
Given the dramatic events leading up to "12 Memories," one might think Healy would be overflowing with song ideas. But even after three albums packed with poignant tunes, the inspiration for Travis's latest disc didn't come easily.
"To be honest, writing songs is still difficult, because you're making something out of nothing," said Healy, who will take the stage with Travis Saturday at downtown's Spreckels Theatre. "But it's like any creative process, like painting a picture or thinking up a story: It starts with absolutely nothing. It starts with this flash, and you have to catch the flash and turn it into something. But those flashes, they're hard to catch."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
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