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Tower Of Power At 40: Still Strokin', And Infused With New Blood
Live at the Canyon Club, Agoura Hills California USA, January 19th 2008

The group that's always touted individual prowess and ensemble tightness, while knocking out classic songs made one of it's final U.S. stops in the Los Angeles area before heading out for a whirlwind European tour in February.

Still proudly sharing "heritage" members and legends David Garibaldi on drums, Francis "Rocco" Prestia on bass, Stephen "Doc" Kupka on baritone sax, and band and legend creator Emilio Castillo on vocals and 2nd tenor sax. Up to the challenge in the "filling big shoes" roles are Tom Politzer on lead tenor sax, and Roger Smith on keyboards, both walking the wide paths carved by T.O.P. Rev 1 faves Lenny Pickett (whom in case you've been living under a rock, has been opening and ending Saturday Night Live since '85), and organist Chester Thompson (whom in case your rock is HUGE, has been in Santana's band since '83). Politzer and Smith hold down their own in their own right, regardless of whom they follow.

Rounding out the famous horn section are Adolfo Acosta and "Iron" Mike Bogart on trumpets, flugel horns, and Bogart even plays trombone from time to time. The newest member is guitarist Mark Harper. He beamed as we shook hands and he said "three months now".

Your tour guide and party host for the evening is lead vocalist Larry Braggs, a Chicago native who understands that the role of the lead vocalist in Tower Of Power, is to bring the fans into the T.O.P. band experience. This band never has "backed up" it's vocalist, the vocalist is another instrument in the Tower Of Power equation, and he just happens to be the one that uses the english language.

The Canyon Club was full.....EARLY! It was an age demographic that you could tell had a decades long relationship with this band. Only the youngsters rambled up and down the aisles and in and out the front door. The 40 and 50 somethings didn't budge, not wanting to squander a moment of time with "their old friends". T.O.P. Let loose with the expected classic hits "What Is Hip?", "Knock Yourself Out", "Soul Vaccination" and "You're Still A Young Man", as well as some of the great cuts from the last ten years "Diggin' On James Brown", "So I Got To Groove" and "Soul With A Capital 'S'". Digging DEEP down into the bag of tricks, they lifted up and threw down "Back On The Streets Again", "Clean Slate", and the disco era hit I thought I'd never hear again, "You Ought Tb Be Havin' Fun".

While being overwhelmed by a great band, made up of a great rhythm section and a great horn section, which in turn, is made up of great individual players, one mustn't overlook the fact that for four decades, Castillo and Kupka (the most unassuming rock stars since Fagan and Becker) have been writing classic funk and soul songs, that have set the bar for soul classics.

The power of Tower Of Power is in their timeless sound and staying power. We're blessed to still hear those horn arrangements, blessed to still have Rocco and Garibaldi playing together, blessed that rooms can still be filled based on playing power and classic material. There's a reason Berklee School Of Music has a "Tower Of Power Ensemble". Thank you Emilio.

---- Buster

:::"What Is Hip? The Tower Of Power Anthology" available here:::