Founding members of The New Mastersounds & The Greyboy Allstars have formed The Rare Sounds featuring Eddie Roberts (The New Mastersounds), Robert Walter (The Greyboy Allstars), Chris Stillwell (The Greyboy Allstars), and Zak Najor (Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, formerly GBA). The group has released their debut single “Yeah, You” ahead of their debut performances at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, CO on October 1st & 2nd. Check out the hard-hitting polished single below that recalls Blue Note era instrumental ornateness.
Walter had workshopped “Yeah, You!” in several projects, but it found its home with The Rare Sounds during the band’s session at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, CA in August 2020. Walter describes “Yeah, You!” as “70s jazz-funk and fusion before the edges and dissonance were smoothed over to make it more commercial.” The modal melodies over a funky beat capture a sense of urgency and psychedelic possibilities to be explored by a new ensemble of trailblazers in the modern funk and soul revival. Although the project is new, all four members have played together in many configurations over the years and have an automatic chemistry and sense of musical shorthand.
The band will be releasing additional tracks from their Hyde Street Studios session in the coming months and plan on booking additional performances in select markets to showcase the material.
