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), his second solo effort, 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 of 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 crème de la crème 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 of 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.” And certainly, the world is lucky to have Robert Walter.