Put an extra fish taco on the barbie for him
The 30th incarnation of the P.B. Block Party should be a nice homecoming for Robert Walter
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
May 12, 2005
As a founding member of the San Diego-based Greyboy Allstars, Robert Walter helped establish the acid-jazz mainstay as one of the best jam bands in the country. Now, with his 20th Congress, Walter returns to San Diego from his new home in New Orleans for a performance at this year's P.B. Block Party.Say you have to move away from San Diego. Housing prices are high. You can't find enough work to get by. What's the one thing you'll miss the most? The beach? The sun? The Mexican food?
"I miss the Mexican food for sure," says former San Diegan and jazz-funk organist Robert Walter from his new home in New Orleans. "There's nothing even close here, although there is a lot of great food. I was raised on taco shop food and Mexican restaurants in San Diego."
This Saturday, Pacific Beach will offer its typical charms – the beach, the sun and the Mexican food – at the 30th annual Block Party. But P.B. also will present Robert Walter's 20th Congress and more than 40 other bands – both local and nationally recognized acts – for free. So you can enjoy the beach, the sun, a great plate of tacos and great music.
The line of musicians who developed their style here before moving on to other locales and greater notoriety is long and illustrious: Jewel, Jason Mraz, jazz pianist Bill Mays and DJ Greyboy. Walter hopes to add his name to the list.
Before migrating with his family to NOLA last July, Walter had co-founded the Greyboy Allstars with Karl Denson, then headed out on his own with Robert Walter's 20th Congress. As Walter describes it, the relative seclusion of San Diego allowed the Greyboy Allstars and other musicians to develop their own sound.
"It's never been a real thriving scene to the point where everyone is looking over their shoulder and trying to compete," Walter says about his days in the local music scene. "It's a good place to develop your own ideas and your own identity because you're in your own world. We developed our own little scene with the Greyboy Allstars and everything coming out of the Casbah, Black Heart Procession and all that stuff. The music gets to develop in its own world and be different."
The Greyboy Allstars, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe and Robert Walter's 20th Congress forged their own version of jazzy funk sounds. Inspired by James Brown's Horny Horns and 1960s and '70s improvisational funk, these San Diego bands updated the sound to create dance-floor jazz.
But without steady work at home, Walter and his cohorts felt they had to go out on the road to spread the good word.
"The blessing of San Diego for me was it forced me to get out on the road and create a national presence to get my career going. I had to leave to make a living," says Walter. "Had I been in a city with more local music, I might have never left. I might have been playing in bar bands for the rest of my life. If you really want to have longevity in your career as a musician, you need to get out there and tour."
With the move to New Orleans, Walter continually creates new music with new collaborators. He's currently touring with Frequinox, consisting of members from Galactic, the Headhunters and T.J. Kirk. The organist will release a new album in late summer titled "Super Heavy Organ" with the help of New Orleans funk pioneers past and present.
For the upcoming 30th annual Pacific Beach Block Party, Walter will take the stage with longtime 20th Congress collaborator Cochemea Gastelum on sax and Greyboy Allstars drummer Zak Najor.
One of the knocks on the local music scene is the "fair-weather fan" syndrome: "It's beautiful out all day and everyone goes to the beach during the day and goes home at night. So it's a difficult town as far as getting a real nightlife scene going. It's always had creative people. It's difficult to get people to come out."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
BEST BETS *
BENEVENTO-RUSSO DUO (Karl Strauss Stage, 1:45-2:25 p.m.): Drummer Joe Russo and organist Marco Benevento manage to create a joyful cacophony. Embraced by the jam-band crowd, this duo combines elements of jazz and funk in a prog-rock package.
TRUCKEE BROTHERS (Mojo Sounds Acoustic Stage, 2:10-2:50 p.m.): Self-dubbed as "evil Everly Brothers," Peat Truckee (Patrick Dennis) and Cady Truckee (Christopher Hoffee) have taken the local scene by storm since their six-song 2004 EP "Wall to Wall." The band's 2005 release, "It Came From the Speakers," ranges from dirty rock 'n' roll ("Billy Club") to loungy 1960s pop (title track).
HOLIDAY & THE ADVENTURE POP COLLECTIVE (Mojo Sounds Acoustic Stage, 12:05-12:35 p.m.): Strumming guitars, singing strings and twangy pedal steel fill the music of Derric Oliver (vocals, violin, strings) and Louis Caverly (acoustic guitar, trumpet, tuba), aka Holiday & the Adventure Pop Collective. The Encinitas-based band recorded their excellent debut "Become" at Big Fish Studios in 2004.
STEVE RILEY & THE MAMOU PLAYBOYS (Sycuan Mardi Gras Stage, 2-3:30 p.m.): It's not Mardi Gras and we're not on the bayou, but Steve Riley will serenade P.B. with the sweet sounds of Cajun music. Hailing from Mamou, La., in Evangeline Parish, Riley and his band play old-timey Cajun music like it should be played.
YOUNG DUBLINERS (San Diego CityBeat Stage, 4:20-5:30): Grounded in both Irish traditions and mellow contemporary rock, the Young Dubs have grown a devout audience here in San Diego. This Los Angeles quintet is less punk than Flogging Molly and not quite as traditional as the Chieftains.
– CHRIS NIXON
