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| Tower Of Power To Play at BB Kings Tower of Power will be performing at B.B. Kings, 237 W. 42nd Street on April 22. With 39 years of recording and touring experience behind them, Tower of Power still garners reviews calling them a "very contemporary sounding band." Melding jazz, funk, rock and soul in a way no group ever has, the ten-piece outfit is, according to the Hollywood Reporter, "tighter than a clenched fist." Well known in the '70s for tunes such as "What is Hip?" and "You're Still a Young Man", Tower of Power toured with Sly Stone and Credence Clearwater Revival, creating traffic jams when they started to headline their own shows. They performed on records with Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, and Dionne Warwick, and influenced a generation of musicians (including Sting, who has told Emilio Castillo, founder of the group, that he once had a "Tower of Power clone band" before he formed The Police). In the 1980s, they backed Huey Lewis and the News for his world tours. They continued to play their own music in between Lewis' gigs. Tower of Power is experiencing a renaissance, touring most of every year and packing venues in the United States, the Pacific Rim, and all over Europe with its audience of new and old fans. Joined by a new singer, Larry Braggs, who Emilio Castillo described as "the best singer we've had since the '70s", the group released their album Oakland Zone on Or Music in 2003, and have started work on a new album which will be covers of classic soul hits. On June 6, 2004 The California Music Association inducted Tower of Power with a Lifetime Achievement Award and cited their 2003 Sony Legacy anthology Havin' Fun as soul/R&B album of the year, beating our releases by En Vougue and Raphael Saadaq. In 2006, original guitarist Bruce Conte returned to the group, making half the lineup featuring original band members, who are also: David Garibaldi, Emilio, Doc Kupka, Rocco Prestia. Prestia took a break last summer for heart surgery, but he has returned to the band. It has been a long, hard road, but lately things keep getting better and better. When asked to describe the band's music, the group members give a variety of responses. Says Emilio, "What Tower plays is soul music." Former Tower saxophonist Lenny Pickett, now musical director for the Saturday Night Live band says, "TOP is the world's best rhythm and blues band." In reality, TOP's horn-driven, in-your- face sound is all its own. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |