Robert Walter

acid jazz · jazz · jazz fusion

Robert Walter is an American organist, pianist and synthesizer player, born May 3, 1970 in San Diego, California, whose primary instrument is the Hammond B-3 organ. He started on piano before settling into the organ and its place in American soul-jazz and funk. He is a founding member of The Greyboy Allstars, which formed in San Diego in 1993 as a backing band for the DJ and rare-groove producer Greyboy and became a fixture of the 1990s acid jazz revival through residencies in San Diego and at San Francisco's Elbo Room. His first record under his own name, Spirit of '70, appeared on Greyboy Records in 1996 with saxophonist Gary Bartz. In 1999 he formed Robert Walter's 20th Congress, an instrumental project whose lineups have included alto saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum, bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Stanton Moore; its albums include Money Shot (2000), There Goes the Neighborhood (2001), Giving Up the Ghost (2003), Super Heavy Organ (2005), Cure All (2008), Get Thy Bearings (2013), Spacesuit (2018) and Better Feathers (2022), the last written and recorded alone at home during 2020 and 2021. Walter relocated to New Orleans in 2003 and cut Super Heavy Organ there with local players before settling in Los Angeles. He has recorded and performed with Fred Wesley, Gary Bartz, Bernard Purdie, George Porter Jr. and Susan Tedeschi among others, has played in Mike Gordon's band since 2015, and in 2022 joined Roger Waters' touring band as the Hammond B-3 player on the This Is Not a Drill tour across North America, Europe and South America. Since 1998 he has also done extensive soundtrack session work in Los Angeles, largely for composer Michael Andrews, on films including Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, The Big Sick and The King of Staten Island, plus HBO's Togetherness. He currently divides his time between the Greyboy Allstars, his own bands the 20th Congress and The Breaks, and studio work.

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