Hibby dibby to the hip jazz funk hop and ya don't stop

San Diego producer DJ Greyboy (Andreas Stevens) is too talented to remain so low key. Back in the early 90s hip hop loving Greyboy, unsatisfied with the MCs at his disposal, turned his attention to acid jazz. For his debut album "Freestylin" Greyboy teamed up with renown sax player Karl Denson. Word of mouth made the album a cult hit, particularly in Europe. What began as Denson and Stevens collaborating on weekly shows at the Green Circle Bar in SD spearheaded the Greyboy Allstars, a 6 member funk, boogaloo, acid and soul jazz band. The Greyboy Allstars are largely credited with the rebirth of the acid jazz movement in the mid 90s.



Writing this post recalls my introduction to the Greyboy Allstars. Back in 2004, my friend Chis and I were chilling and pre-gaming in our boatel in Prague (an absolute architectural marvel of a city), taking turns sharing music we enjoyed and he popped on the Greyboy Allstars' "A Town Called Earth." I've been digging the sound since. This past July I was in Cali and my friend Ben and I spontaneously headed to The Pike on a Monday night after one of his hockey buds recommended it. As it turns out, Greyboy was doing a show with his turntable band Warchurch. Alright now that I shared my personal take back to the evolution of the music....



As interest in acid jazz faded at the tail end of the 90s Greyboy shifted back to his first love, hip hop. In "Mastered the Art" he spikes Italian producer, Nicola Conte's bossanova classic, with a hip hop edge.



"Dealing With the Archives" is a melodic underground hip hop gem that comes to live with a flute loop, excellent scratching and Main Flow's on point verses. Bottom line, Greyboy's musical diversity and chillness are unmatched.