Influential West Coast Boogaloo revivalists, The Greyboy Allstars have announced their eighth studio album, Grab Bag: 2007-2023. For this latest offering, the quintet featuring saxophonist Karl Denson, keyboardist Robert Walter, guitarist Elgin Park aka Michael Andrews, bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Aaron Redfield, gather nine previously unreleased recordings from over the past decade and a half of the quintet’s illustrious 30-year history. While these stellar cuts 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. Due November 22 on the band's own Knowledge Room Recordings, today they share the collection's first two singles: the silky dreamscape "Suadela" (listen/share) and the raucous, party starter, "Slip The Grip (listen/share)."
"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."
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-digging discoveries. Flash forward thirty years later 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 that 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, as well as the jazz-based KD3 trio, while handling saxophone duties on tour with no less 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, and Charli XCX.
In December of 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’d take 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 had still gone onto 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 obligation with The Rolling Stones," says Park. "We knew we had these tunes in the vault that we loved and have 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."
"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 these 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."
While Grab Bag: 2007-2023 could suggest a random assortment of miscellaneous tracks, taken in its totality 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
GRAB BAG: 2007-2023
Track Listing:
1. Slip The Grip
2. Watch Out Gail
3. Speed Freak
4. Boxes
5. San Diegogo
6. LLL
7. Suadela
8. The Way You Make Me Feel
9. Pixie Stick
THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS
Tour Dates
11/8 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre
11/9 - Boulder, CO - Boulder Theater
11/21 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe's Alley
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
