ROBERT
WALTER - Hammond Organ, Piano, Fender
Rhodes
HARVEY MASON - Drums
PHIL UPCHURCH - Guitar
CHUCK RAINEY - Electric Bass
RED HOLLOWAY - Tenor Saxophone
CHUCK PRADA - Congas, Bongos, Percussion
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San Diego°s Robert
Walter is a searching and soulful piano and keyboard
player, a composer of memorable songs in the funk/jazz
vein, a bandleader heading one of the hottest touring
acts today and a young, forward-thinking musician with
a deep and abiding respect for jazz°s history and the
formidable artists who created it. With his band, Robert
Walter°s 20th Congress, he 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 There Goes The Neighborhood (Premonition
Records), Walter steps back and puts his own spin
on that sound at the core of his influence.
There Goes
The Neighborhood manifested quite naturally. Approached
by producer Brian Brinkerhoff with the idea
of recording an album featuring leading "studio"
musicians, Walter quickly realized it was a project
he couldn°t pass up. "I°ve always thought about
doing a record with session players and these are the
kind of guys I°ve always wanted to work with,"
says Walter. "I probably would have made another
20th Congress record after Money Shot [the band°s
current release], but when this opportunity came up,
I felt I needed to do it."
Walter says There
Goes The Neighborhood is his "tribute to the
great soul/jazz records of the 1960°s." The album°s
recording process and song selection were designed with
those recordings in mind. "Like most of the records
from the 1960s, this album was recorded very quickly,
over two days," says Walter. "It was conceived
as a "date" with all the players learning
the material quickly in the studio and recording live
with a limited number of takes. Rehearsals can allow
you to put a lot of detail in the music and makes it
possible to do more challenging material. On the other
hand, doing things quickly keeps an innocence and freshness
in the music. I like both ways of working for different
reasons." The choice of tunes on There Goes
the Neighborhood, 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 Neighborhood are
the crÏme de la crÏme 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, the most
successful jazz/funk record of all time. According to
Walter, "Mason°s beats have influenced countless
drummers and have become standards of the genre. I love
the subtlety and discipline he brings to his instrument."
Saxophonist Red Holloway was a key member in
the influential Jack McDuff Group of the mid
sixties that also featured a young George Benson.
"Red has a beautiful tone and plays in the tradition
like no one I have heard from the younger generation.
I could listen to him all day," says Walter. Bassist
Chuck Rainey, who began his career with The
Crusaders, a leading soul/jazz group of the 1970s,
is according to Walter, "one of the funkiest bass
players ever." "I became a fan of Chuck°s
through his amazing work with Aretha Franklin.
He has played on literally hundreds of records,"
says Walter. And the legendary guitarist Phil Upchurch
turned out to be Walter°s right hand man in the
studio. According to Walter, Upchurch helped him with
the charts and was self-directing when it came to guitar
parts. "I didn°t have to direct Phil at all on
his parts, everything he came up with was spot on. He°s
always been one of my favorite guitar players beginning
with his early work with Ramsey Lewis and Curtis
Mayfield, through his recent solo records for Blue
Thumb," says Walter.
When asked where
the title There Goes The Neighborhood comes from,
Walter says, "The title is kind of a joke on the
idea that I am a younger player moving into recording
with all these established artists." However, Walter
himself came to the session with solid credentials.
He grew up in San Diego surrounded by music. His stepfather
was a pro drummer and he turned Walter on to blues and
jazz as a young child. He took piano lessons and played
a number of instruments as a youth before finally settling
on piano because, as he says, "it was easy to compose
on." He went to the School of Creative and
Performing Arts in San Diego from 4th to 12th Grade
where he studied harmony and composition.
Shortly thereafter,
Walter got the break he needed when in 1993 he became
a founding member of the Greyboy Allstars. The
band, which was 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
breaking up in 1998. The Allstars really helped Walter
find his musical direction, and turned him into a professional.
"After that band was over," say Walter, "I
decided I wanted to continue performing and touring,
so I started my own band to showcase my writing."
Through touring and recording, Walter has continued
to garner more and more notoriety.
Highlights of There
Goes The Neighborhood include the title track, a
Walter original brimming with energy and soul, Mason°s
"The Tease" (one of the most slammin° funk
grooves ever put on record), and Walter°s cover of the
Little Walter hit, "My Babe," which
is a staple of the 20th Congress book. "Both of
the covers on this record are very old tunes: a traditional
tune - ´Wade in the Water°, and ´My Babe,° which is
based on the gospel song, ´This Train,° says Walter.
"I chose these songs because I wanted to make a
connection between what I am doing and the tradition
of American music in general." Walter°s favorite
moment from the session was the recording of "Bakery
Blues." "This song just happened on
the spur of the moment at the end of another take,"
says Walter. "It happened early on the first day
so it was just a way of jamming a little to break the
ice. Everyone was yelling things and egging each other
on. I was very nervous going into the session and this
was the first moment that I really relaxed and began
to enjoy myself."
When asked what he
thinks of the scene to which he brings There Goes
The Neighborhood, Walter replies with his usual
humility and positive-ness. "Now is a vital time
for this kind of music; even though it°s not on the
radio. I feel lucky and very excited to be part of a
community of artists who I think will be remembered
as innovators of the genre." Certainly, the world
is lucky to have Robert Walter. |
