Today, legendary West Coast boogaloo revivalists The Greyboy Allstars release their eighth studio album, Grab Bag: 2007-2023. Issued via the band's own Knowledge Room Recordings, the quintet—featuring saxophonist Karl Denson, keyboardist Robert Walter, guitarist Elgin Park (aka Michael Andrews), bassist Chris Stillwell, and drummer Aaron Redfield—gathered nine previously unreleased recordings from the past decade and a half of their illustrious 30-year history. While these stellar tracks were initially deemed stylistic and sonic outcasts, resulting in their exclusion from previous albums, here they seamlessly come together to highlight the more experimental side of the band's ever-evolving sound and vision.
"We are always trying to move outside of the basic parameters of the initial soul-jazz construct that we based the group on when we first started 30 years ago. We know those basic ingredients will be the staples, and what we pepper in there will break through the boundaries, however subtle," explains Park. "Be it synths, or slowing down, relaxing the grooves, opposing genres, mixing folk and funk or ’60s boogaloo and new wave. We embrace that we are in the modern world and have access to everything that has come before us. The point is to have fun creating music that makes us laugh and dance."
"It made sense to go back into our archive and put out some of our favorites from the past several years," continues Walter. "A lot of the songs on Grab Bag are more experimental and representative of the edges of what we would normally do stylistically. I think it shows our range in a great way."
Born in San Diego as the “Allstars” of DJ Greyboy’s underground label Greyboy Records, the five musicians offered living, breathing interpretations of his rare-groove, crate-digger discoveries. Flash forward thirty years, and GBA have grown into legitimate "Allstars" in modern music. Away from GBA, Michael Andrews is a notable composer of scores for film and television, ranging from Donnie Darko to Freaks & Geeks to his most recent work on the upcoming animated documentary Piece by Piece, which tells the life story of singer and producer Pharrell Williams through LEGO pieces. Robert Walter has been jumping between tours with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Phish’s Mike Gordon, among others, while leading his own 20th Congress. Karl Denson divides time between his touring juggernaut Tiny Universe and the jazz-based KD3 trio, while handling saxophone duties on tour with none other than The Rolling Stones. And then there’s the liquid cool of GBA’s rhythm section: bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Aaron Redfield, a formidable first-call rhythm section on pop and hip-hop sessions, including credits on recordings by Sia, Elton John, CeeLo Green, and Charli XCX.
In December 2023, when GBA’s recording sessions focused on new material ran out of time as various members were called back to their other "Allstar" jobs, they took advantage of the pause to dig into a generous back catalog of songs that hadn’t been previously issued. Many of the tunes were too experimental or didn’t quite fit within the context of the albums for which they were originally recorded, yet they had still gone on to become staples of their live shows.
"We were deep into recording a set of brand-new music, but we had to pause because Robert had to leave for a tour with Roger Waters and Karl had limited time due to his obligations with The Rolling Stones," says Park. "We knew we had these tunes in the vault that we loved and had always wanted to release, and this seemed to be the perfect time. We also wound up including two tracks, 'Suadela' and 'Pixie Stick,' from those latest recording sessions, so it’s actually representative up to the present."
While its title, Grab Bag: 2007-2023, might suggest a random assortment of miscellaneous tracks, this latest collection instead redraws the boundaries and redefines the terms of The Greyboy Allstars’ iconic and influential brand of West Coast boogaloo.
THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS
Tour Dates
11/22 - Oakland, CA - The New Parish
11/23 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
11/29 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
11/30 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
2/7 - Los Angeles, CA - Lodge Room
