Robert Walter’s 20th Congress – Brooklyn, NY, 12/8/12
-written and photographed by Arya Jha
Robert Walter’s 20th Congress jammed their way through the Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday night, playing two diverse sets full of various musical styling. The show started off with a very danceable tune beginning with a bass line complemented by the bongos, which got everyone at the Brooklyn Bowl moving. Walter’s organ playing really complemented the bass, carrying the tune as if it was a lead guitar. The set list ranged from soulful deep rhythms, as showcased by “Get Thy Bearings”, jazz tunes such as “”Who Took The Happiness Out?”, and funky features everywhere between.
Watching Robert Walter’s 20th Congress was just as fun as listening to them. Each band member jammed out with each other, and Robert Walter’s facial expressions are not to be missed. He is so joyful on the organ, and even happier to watch his fellow musicians break it down. On several occasions the various musicians stopped what they were doing and simply stood up, watched and enjoyed their band mates jam. Cochemea Gastelum was a highlight, as he wailed saxophone solos and alternated with the Tambourine. After the show, Walter’s joked with me that he needs the tambourine, due to the fact that saxophone players have nothing to do in between their solos. The bass lines provided by Reed Mathis nicely complemented these solos from Gastelum. Will Bernard’s guitar playing was never an evident solo, rather, he used an instrument, which usually stands out, to create a connecting factor between the other instruments. He jammed on, and even as Walter stopped playing his B3 Hammond organ or Fender Rhodes, the guitar provided a fluid string instrument to keep the song going.
Simon Lott stood out behind the drums more than anyone, perhaps due to his neon suspenders, but more likely due to his phenomenal drumming. He did not miss a beat, jamming the entirety of the show on what sounded like (but was not) a full drum set. Elizabeth Pupo-Walker added an upbeat vibe to everything with her shakers and bongos. During the second half of the second set, Brooklyn local Alecia Chakour, a soulful singer who is a member of the Warren Haynes Band and has been featured countless times by the Royal Family, joined RW20. Chakour was the perfect vocalist for the 20th Congress, and she absolutely nailed it, as the band covered Stevie Wonder’s “Love Having You Around” and John Lennon’s “Instant Karma”. These covers were incredibly choices by the 20th Congress. Stevie Wonder is a known legend at the B3 Hammond Organ and Robert Walter’s matched his style and quality perfectly, while adding his own fun twist to the organ solo he played. Furthermore, the band encored with “Instant Karma” as a tribute to the anniversary of John Lennon’s death.
Robert Walter’s 20th Congress has an upcoming album, “Get Thy Bearings” which is sure to be just as successful as their Brooklyn Bowl show was. Many of the songs from the Brooklyn Bowl set are from the upcoming unreleased album, and each was amazing live. At this point, I have heard a recording of “Hunk” featuring Karl Denson, which is a funky tune, but slow and soulful at the same time. The track holds ones attention as a recording, and live it kept everyone dancing. “Dog Party” was a jazzy tune, which was also played live, and the recording of it on the album actually sounds nearly identical. To be released in mid 2013, “Get Thy Bearings” is bound to be an incredible album by an already incredibly group of musicians. It is chock full of funk, soul and jazz, as well as countless guest artists.
Prior to the show, L4LM had a chance to chat With Robert Walter about his career, the album, and the future among other things…
L4LM: We’ve heard you’ve been working out of Los Angeles between tours, creating scores for film and television. How does your work in the studio as a soundtrack artist influenced your work as a recording and touring artist?
RW: It is not directly related, but it is all influenced by each other. You learn little skills along the way that are applicable to everything. Scores are scheduled, less free based. When I’m working with the 20th Congress, touring or recording, we like the spontaneity of what we play…. that concept can be brought to the studio for recording albums or soundtracks.
L4LM: It’s been over a decade since Robert Walter’s 20th Congress has released a record. How do the influences behind your previous albums compare to your influences for the upcoming album “Get Thy Bearings”?
RW: I’ve made a bunch of records in the meantime, and the 20th Congress thing is heavily influenced by who I play with. Will Bernard and I have been playing together and in the past couple of years we’ve been talking about doing something, so we decided on recording it……You do music when you’re truly inspired to.
L4LM: You’ve become a legend at the Hammond B3 organ, and the Fender Rhodes, just as Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock are. You always have so many projects going on, so do you prefer playing one or the other in relation to who you are playing with?
RW: It all depends on the setting. In film I do what is needed, I am very rarely playing organs….I am playing lots of acoustic, synths, random parts. We write the music and will send it out to real string players. It’s great to be on tour and play what I want to play. My love is still the classical piano.
L4LM: You moved to New Orleans a few years after the last 20th Congress album came out. How has your time in NOLA influenced your current work?
RW: A couple people do tell me that they can hear the influence in my music. There is an influence. But I feel like the music I play now is more influenced the music I grew up with on the west coast. In New Orleans people grow up listening to music they learned from their grandparents, while I went thrifting for records in California, looking for that rarest thing I could find. Our drummer (Simon Lott) which you’ll see at the Brooklyn Bowl is from New Orleans, and we definitely can play old NOLA tunes.
L4LM: How did the reoccurring jam-cruise all star band Walter Roberts and Deitch form?
RW: We formed the band on Jam Cruise a few years ago, I’ve known Eddie (Roberts) since the 90’s, and we’ve always been fans of each other. We were getting a few drinks in on Jam Cruise, got excited about our similar tastes in music, and decided to play together, and both of us were fans of Adam (Deitch) so we brought him along…..We found that we were all really into 60’s blues records.
L4LM: Do you have a favorite crowd to play for? What are your upcoming projects besides the Brooklyn Bowl show, and “Get Thy Bearings” album with the 20th Congress?
RW: The crowd….most of the time is not that different from one band to the next. Late May/June release for the 20th Congress album….Greyboy [Allstars] album to be coming in April, we will be touring for sure. Normally we play major cities, but we are going to tour for real on both coasts. The new 20th Congress album (“Get They Bearings”) is one of the happiest I have been with anything I’ve made thus far.
Upon speaking to Robert Walter’s after the show, he told us that it is rare for the 20th congress members to play together, and they had an incredibly amazing time reuniting at a venue which is familiar to them. However, he did confirm three upcoming live shows out West with the 20th Congress. The dates are as follows:
January 24th – Aggie Theatre – Fort Collins, CO
January 25th – Cervantes Otherside – Denver, CO
January 26th – awaiting venue information
Set list:
Set 1: Hunk, Corry’s Snail and Slug Death, Get Thy Bearings, Twitchie Feet, Dog Party, Don’t Chin The Dog, Dry Spell, Who Took The Happiness Out?
Set 2: Sweetie Pie, Maple Plank, Snakes And Spiders, Rivers Of Babylon, Love Having You Around *, Don’t Hate Congratulate, What I Say ->Honky Tonk
Encore: Instant Karma *
*Featuring Alecia Chakour
Download the show here.
Check out photos by Arya Jha here.
Eddie Robert’s West Coast Sounds featuring members of Trey Anastasio Band, Levon Helm Band, Mofro, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Sex Mob, and Break Science