The Greyboy Allstars will release a new studio album, Flair, on February 19. Along with the LP’s announcement, they have also dropped the record’s title-track and confirmed a run of winter dates.
“Flair” has been described as “controlled chaos: a clamorous funk workout boasting a polyrhythmic pulse and brash horns pitched somewhere between Fela Kuti’s Expensive Shit and Miles Davis’ On The Corner.” The new music follows 2020’s Como De Allstars and 2022’s Get A Job: Music From The Original Broadcast Series Soul Dream, a collection of 10 previously unreleased covers recorded live in the studio during the band’s Soul Dream livestream series. In 2024, the ensemble also issued compilation of rarities and outtakes, Grab Bag: 2007-2023.
With Flair, The Greyboy Allstars—Karl Denson (saxophone/flute), Michael Andrews AKA Elgin Park (guitar, bass), Robert Walter (piano, synth, organ), Chris Stillwell (bass, guitar), and Aaron Redfield (drums)—have embraced a blend of sounds they have described as “aqueous electronic textures, the grain of vintage beat tapes, knotty free jazz harmonies and labyrinthine yet freewheeling song-structures.”
“In the past, we were often paying tribute to albums we love,” Walter said in a statement. “Even then, we were always trying to avoid cliches. But with Flair, we were thinking more about getting away from that, being more honest and less imitative.”
Flair was partially built off material brought by Park and Walter to Park’s Los Angeles studio and also partially comprised of resculpted improvisatory sessions. The resulting set offers a mix of space-age synth funk (“First Breath”), earthy soul romance (“What Color Is Love?” featuring The Bird And The Bee’s Inara George), bossa nova noir (“Brisa Pacifica”) and kaleidoscopic ambience intended to feel like The Orb sampling ’80s ECM (“Pelican Formation”).
“It all came down to what made us laugh, dance and have fun in the studio,” Park said in a statement. “It’s as simple as that really.”
Following their previously announced November 27 hometown Thanksgiving Boogaloo concert at San Diego’s The Observatory North Park, The Greyboy Allstars will hit the road again in January for a run of Flair album release shows, including stops at New York’s NYC Winter JazzFest (1/5), Ventura, CA’s Ventura Music Hall (1/21), Pioneer Town, CA’s Pappy & Harriet’s (1/22) and Los Angeles’ Lodge Room (1/23).
Here’s a look at the new album’s tracks
Flair
First Breath
Coordinates
Pelican Formation
What Color Is Love? (ft. Inara George)
Hoops
Brisa Pacifica
The Mountains Of You
Crystal Cottage
Victory Lap
Memory Lost
Here’s a look at Greyboy Allstars’ upcoming dates
November 27 San Diego, CA, The Observatory North Park
January 15 New York, NY, NYC Winter JazzFest
January 21 Ventura, CA, Ventura Music Hall
January 22 Pioneer Town, CA, Pappy & Harriet’s
January 23 Los Angeles, CA, Lodge Room
