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| Toto March 2007 UK Tour The legendary and highly influential Californian pop rock band Toto have just announced three UK concerts, kicking off at Bristol Colston Hall on Monday March 12th 2007, taking in Newcastle City Hall on Tuesday March 13th and ending at Manchester Carling Apollo on Wednesday March 14th. Originally hailing from Los Angeles in 1977, Toto, stormed the British charts in 1982, with the album TOTO IV, which spawned two eighties classic hits in 'Africa' and 'Rosanna'. The tour follows hot on the heels of Toto's critically acclaimed 12th studio album 'Falling In Between', released by Frontiers Records earlier this year. Formed in 1977 by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, Toto was the synthesis of six of the finest and most respected musicians in Los Angeles. Along with Lukather, Kimball, bassist David Hungate and keyboardist Steve Porcaro, the group took the music community by storm, releasing the eponymous debut album, "Toto", in 1977 and earning a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Yielding the smash singles "Hold the Line", "Georgy Porgy", and "I'll Supply the Love", Toto began their illustrious career immediately at the top of the charts. In 1982, the Toto released the multi-platinum classic, "Toto IV", winning several Grammy awards, including Producer of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year for "Rosanna." The band immediately rocketed to international stardom. Including the incredibly popular "Africa" as well as ballad "I Won't Hold You Back", Toto IV kept the band at the top of the charts for most of the year, and Toto's incredible talent and ingenuity garnered great international acclaim. Shortly thereafter, Bobby Kimball left the band and was replaced with Le Roux's Fergie Frederiksen, and Mike Porcaro replaced David Hungate on bass. The band only released one album with Frederiksen on lead vocals, afterwhich he was replaced by Joseph Williams, son of film composer John Williams. During Williams' tenure as lead vocalist, Steve Porcaro left the band to pursue a career in film and television scoring. In 1988, Toto released "The Seventh One" which returned them to the top of the international charts with hits such as "Pamela", "Stop Loving You", and "Home of the Brave." Despite the album's success, however, Williams left the band and was replaced for a short time by Jean-Michel Byron, who participated on the band's "Past to Present" release in 1990 and then left. The task of lead vocals then fell to Steve Lukather. In 1992, tragedy struck when Jeff Porcaro died suddenly of a heart attack. While deeply mourning his passing, Toto went forward with the "Kingdom of Desire" Tour, where Simon Phillips filled in on drums. At the close of the tour, Phillips was invited to permanently join the band. Several years later, the band reunited with vocalists Kimball and Williams for a 20th Anniversary Tour, after which Kimball rejoined the band permanently as lead vocalist. A few years later, Greg Phillinganes joined the band on tour, filling in for the semi-retired David Paich and eventually becoming a permanent member in 2005. In 2006, Toto released "Falling In Between", the 18th official release of their long and varied career. It is a true representation of years of musical and life experiences unmatched by most of their colleagues and contemporaries in the music world but what sets them apart is their steadfast adherence to their own unique musical vision. They approach each project with an equal dose of seriousness and humor. The title of the new record is a sort of tongue in cheek, somewhat self-deprecating view of their fate as a band that appears to never quite fit into your typical mold, falling in between genres of music, in between the cracks of conglomerate label mergers and takeovers, restrictive radio formats and in between the notice of many music critics who misunderstand what and who they are. Who they are depends on who you ask. Most people are aware of Toto's impressive historybut many stateside critics panned their success chalking it up to their good musical genes, vast body of session work, and griped about their several changes in personnel over the years. Although the spotlight in the US may have faded, what remained strong was a very loyal fan base that continued to grow far beyond US soil, has lasted for nearly three decades and crossed generations as the children of their original fans continue to discover them. In true rock 'n' roll spirit, Toto has continued to defy the trends and make the music they want to make. Touring around the world on the strength of their live performances year after year, insiders know they will get their monies worth seeing them in concert. Setting new standards in tour production with their Mindfields tour in 1999, Toto have built a strong touring presence year after year in just about every corner of the world. The band demonstrates a sincere love and respect for multiple styles and genres of music enabling them to deftly cross over and play just about anything. This is what makes fans across the world as well as just about every musician worth his/her salt find Toto fascinating and why the band has outlasted many of their fellow artists. Despite many set backs and obstacles they have persevered, welcoming many other musicians to participate, collaborate, and fill in when it was needed or wanted over the years. Ironically, the band's moniker Toto, a Latin word meaning everyone, in total or all encompassing epitomizes this philosophy, a fact that has escaped most of the presumptuous critics who wrongly attributed the name to Dorothy's dog in the Wizard of Oz. The nucleus of the band reunified 6 years ago coming full circle with the return of original lead singer, Bobby Kimball back into the fold with guitarist/vocalist, Steve Lukather, keyboardist/vocalist David Paich, bassist Mike Porcaro and drummer Simon Phillips. Never shying away from a great addition to the team in favor of ego, the band welcomed additional keyboardist/vocalist, Greg Phillinganes (Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton) into the band. "From its inception Falling In Between has been a labor of love and a team effort", says Steve Lukather. Produced and recorded by the band over a period of about nine months at Phantom Studios in Los Angeles. Lukather notes, "The new album is fresh, heavier, at times more progressive and of course still with some great songs and melodies embodying the classic Toto imprint!" Fans will find more than a few surprises on the record such as former member Steve Porcaro, former singer Joseph Williams' cameo on a duet with Steve Lukather and guests such as Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), the Chicago horn section and Jason Scheff, L. Shenkar (Peter Gabriel), legendary percussionist Lenny Castro, legendary saxophone player Tom Scott, Roy Hargrove and others. The band brought their personal bests into this project and invited many friends to drop by the party and participate. The result is a record that was very much a team effort and a joy to make. "If this is the last record we make (and I hope it wont be)", concludes Lukather, "we can walk away knowing we threw down the best we got. We hope people will enjoy and appreciate the love, fun, and passion that went into making Falling In Between". write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |