Country : United States Label : Knowledge Room Genres and styles : Boogaloo / Funk / Soul Jazz Year : 2020

Como De Allstars

· by Rupert Bottenberg

It’s been over a quarter-century since The Greyboy Allstars released their first album, heralding their musical intentions clearly with the title West Coast Boogaloo. Digging into the mash-up of mambo and R&B that originated back east in NYC in the ’60s, they set at it with a certain soul-jazz savoir-faire, setting a standard of quality early on. They’d assembled as a house band – first at a weekly club night, then in the studio – for San Diego’s DJ Greyboy, a kingpin in California’s corner of the ’90s rare-groove revival, and kept at it since then – slowly but surely.

Maybe it’s that they’ve been pacing themselves, spacing their albums out a half-decade apart (this is their sixth), but The GBAS hit the ground running, with energy and inspiration to spare. The basic-model boogaloo jams like the lively “Catalina” are certainly satisfying. “Executive Party” is a suave little shuffle, while “Complete Breakfast” is a heavier excursion, lifting off into cosmic territory as it concludes. The C&W/psych-pop detour “Warm Brass”, though, is even stranger in its own way.

Band leader (and powerhouse session man – what a resumé!) Karl Denson’s sax, and sometimes flute, generally lead the march here, though Robert Walter’s organ steps up at key moments (no pun, I swear!), owning the show on the punchy closer “Rebounder”. Indefatigable to the end.

Latest 360 Content

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Éli Doyon et la Tempête – Attraper le ciel avant qu’il tombe

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Barbara Hannigan; Katia et Marielle Labèque – Electric Fields

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Fire, Fungi, and Family Fun: The ShazamFest XX Experience

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Festival de Lanaudière | Kent Nagano: The eternal, and always welcome, return

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Off Piknic with Gorgon City, Dennis Ferrer, Riordan, and Linska

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Jeff Bridges – Slow Magic, 1977-1978

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Piknic Electronik | DJ Fuckoff Turns Up The Heat for Pep Rally

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Orford 2025 | Collectif9: folk that innovates and grooves

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | The next global star of Tuareg blues is born, and it is in Montreal

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Ruby Creek – Forget Me Not

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Ross Lee Finney : Landscapes Remembered

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Lanaudière Festival | The Sparkle of Strauss, Schumann, and Brahms in Joliette

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Wet Leg – moisturizer

Sister Ray – Believer

Sister Ray – Believer

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Festival de Lanaudière | Franco Fagioli and the voice of bel canto

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | Manamba Kanté, An Undeniable Diva

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nuits d’Afrique | El Gato Negro, A Feline Like No Other

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nights of Africa 2025 | A gnawa fusion reactor named Saïd Mesnaoui

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique 2025 | Sousou and Maher Cissoko: benevolence and complicity

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Nuits d’Afrique | Las Karamba And Their Militant Salsa

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Women shine at the Quebec City Opera Festival

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Festival de Lanaudière | A Successful Choral Evening for Akamus

Subscribe to our newsletter