Robert Walter

Episode 23 of The JamBase Podcast contains chats with keyboardist Robert Walter and guitarist Ryley Walker. Both interviews follow “The Rundown” opening segment featuring a discussion of recent news stories. 

Walter talked “Musical Mentors” with JamBase’s Scott Bernstein in Williamsburg, where he had performed multiple times the previous day as part of this year’s Brooklyn Comes Alive. The California native takes Scotty through his musical evolution and the many influences that helped inform the music on his new Robert Walter’s 20th Congress‘ album Spacesuit. Robert also chatted about his favorite keyboardists, lessons learned during his first tours with The Greyboy Allstars, his time living in New Orleans and scoring films with Mike Andrews (Elgin Park). Additionally, Walter shared insights into working with Mike Gordon and dove into a variety of other topics. 

JamBase’s Andy Kahn sat with Ryley Walker for a “Tour Stories” segment before his recent show at 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. Ryley and AK start by discussing the former’s upcoming album of Dave Matthews Band covers, The Lillywhite Sessions. Walker reminisces about seeing DMB on tour and explains how his love for the band led to the upcoming record. Ryley then tells a couple of wild tales from the road, first detailing a run-in with the authorities during a stop in Asheville, North Carolina and then getting into the painful result of trying to score cocaine while on tour in Italy. The chat ends with talk about the guitarist’s day-to-day experiences on tour, finding crash space from town to town for himself and his band mates and more. 

ScottyB and AK begin the episode with “The Rundown.” The pair recap and share their takes on Phish‘s first two shows of the fall, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Albany. On a more somber note, the pair discuss the passing of Railroad Earth’s Andy Goessling and the many tributes that came in the days that followed. 

Stream Episode 23 below and be sure to subscribe to The JamBase Podcast via iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify and/or Google Play:

Robert Walter's 20th Congress will join Umphrey's McGee for a few dates on their "Wax on, Wax Off" tour in 2019. 

1/31 College Street Music Hall, New Haven, CT 
2/01 Palace Theatre, Albany, NY 
2/02 State Theatre, Portland, Maine 

Details at umphreys.com/tour

Robert returns with a new dubbed out, synth-heavy Aquarium Drunkard Lagniappe Session, covering Roxy Music’s "Avalon", Burt Bacharach, Gary Numan, Grateful Dead & Paul McCartney's enigmatic "Temporary Secretary." 

His 2013 Lagniappe Session remains a favorite in the series, and here he follows it up with another genre-bending set of covers. Read about his influences and why he picked each. 

Listen To Robert's Five Tracks Now 

New music! Nerva And Dumbo from my upcoming album Spacesuit is available now on Spotify, Apple Music ect. Follow this Link for more info! 

Thanks to your support, Spacesuit has been fully funded !! Backers will receive project shipping details shortly !!

Listen to Current Futures on Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/current-futures-single/1399789264 or

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/5fxGg6B2PiTrUxKWGypbSr

Robert Walter Announces Tourdates And Album Launch !

In support of their new studio album 'Spacesuit' (in stores September 21 via Royal Potato Family), Robert Walter's 20th Congress has announced a handful of dates in the south in October and into next year in the Pacific Northwest.  Tourdates and ticketing details are below. Robert will also perform outside of the 20th Congress mantle at this year's Brooklyn Comes Alive, a one day event hosted at five different venues in Brooklyn, NY. 

The current iteration of 20th Congress includes a crew of brilliant improvisers and genre-bending virtuosos. Drummer Simon Lott (Kool Keith, Charlie Hunter) is a longtime collaborator who brings a refreshing unpredictability anchored in deep-rooted New Orleans rhythms. Bassist Victor Little (Billy Preston, Charlie Musselwhite) started sitting in with the band on a series of West Coast gigs and gradually became essential to the evolving sound. Guitarist Chris Alford (Cassandra Wilson, Mike Dillon) has worked extensively with Lott in New Orleans, bringing a baked-in chemistry that has mutated into the infectious sound of this incarnation of the 20th Congress. 

Their new album was recorded last year and features nine new tracks composed by Walter. Whereas previous 20th Congress albums found Robert delving deep into the wellspring of his most formative influences: hip-shaking vintage soul, window-rattling '60s-'70s funk, and the sounds of classic organ jazz, Walter switched his source of inspiration for this latest effort from digging through the crates to gazing speculatively skyward, imagining new worlds rather than emulating classic records.  

The results lose none of the explosive funk and soul grooves that Walter has become known for, but it takes those sounds into outer space, blending inspiration from science fiction movies, comic books and art with wide-ranging influences encompassing everything from Dub Reggae to Krautrock to early jazz-rock fusion. A Kickstarter campaign for the release of 'Spacesuit' is also underway with various pre-order bundles at kck.st/2sOpvsz 

Tickets are on sale now. For complete ticketing information, please visit robertwalter.com. 

Robert Walter's 20th Congress Tourdates 

September  

9/28 Meeting of the Minds, Schuylkill Haven, PA 

October 

10/18 dba, New Orleans, LA 

10/19 Last Concert Cafe, Houston, TX 

10/20 Antone's, Austin, TX 

January 

1/10 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR  

1/11 Nectar Lounge, Seattle, WA  

1/12 The Independent, San Francisco, CA 

Nerva And Dumbo from Spacesuit, the new studio album. We need your help to get it done via Kickstarter. 17 days left! Donate if you can. Share with anyone who might be interested:kck.st/2sOpvsz

Thank you for all the support, but we still have a ways to go!  Please help us spread the word and  help back this album! kck.st/2sOpvsz #kickstarter 

While growing up in the 80’s my imagination was captured both by records of all kinds and the fantastic worlds portrayed in Science Fiction films and underground comic books. 
I tried to recapture those early feelings of imagination and wonder. 

My inspirations for this recording are early Fusion, Krautrock, Dub Reggae, the films of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Stanley Kubrick, and the images of Chris Foss, Moebius and H.R. Giger. 

The musicians were shown images by the aforementioned artists as well as sheet music to prepare for recording. Drawing from non-musical sources helped infuse the album with a unique palette of sonic colors. Along with my usual vintage keyboard instruments (Hammond organ, acoustic and electric pianos, Clavinet), there is an increased use of synthesizers and electronic effects.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/192787035/spacesuit-by-robert-walter-new-studio-album# 

Hello everyone. I'm just finishing up work on a new album called Spacesuit. It was recorded in New Orleans with Simon Lott, Victor Little, Chris Alford and special guest Mike Dillon. The music was influenced by 70's science fiction, krautrock, dub and early fusion along with my usual jazz and funk. It's my favorite thing I have made and I'm very excited to let people hear it. This is truly a labor of love, but I need your help to get it done. I've started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Check out the link for more information about the project. Please donate if you can (there are some cool rewards, too), and share if you know anyone who might be interested in this music. Thanks.