![]() The band’s newest member, Dutch-born bassist Marc van Wageningen, came on board fulltime in 2018 after first touring with Tower of Power in 2002. He has long been hailed for his intense grooves and percussive mastery. Drummer David Garibaldi joined in 1970, left in 1980, and rejoined in 1998. The group’s current lineup boasts two co-founders in Castillo and baritone saxophonist Stephen “Doc” Kupka. ![]() Tower of Power’s sixth and most recent live album is “50 Years of Funk & Soul: Live at the Fox Theater - Oakland, CA - June 2018.” The two-CD set offers a lively career summation of the band, whose newest studio album, “Step Up,” was released in 2020. And we recorded most of our first live album, (1976’s) ‘Live and in Living Color,’ at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.” “After a while, we headlined at the Sacramento State Fair with Santana and Boz Scaggs. “I thought: ‘Man, if we can just get a gig in Sacramento, we’ll have it made!’ “The Spyders were known as the toughest, most soulful band in East Bay and they got a gig in Sacramento,” he said. ( Brian McLaughlin / Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images) A capital ideaĬastillo laughed when he recalled that one of his early musical aspirations was simply to be able to perform 87 miles north of San Francisco. I just loved having a band - a killer band that played soul music - and I’ve been that way since I was 14,” he said. Castillo, 71, is hopeful these two performances will mark the start of a new chapter for the band he co-founded 53 years ago at the age of 18. The reason I wanted that included is that it’s a very big show-stopper type of number, and we need to be make sure we’re thinking of the audience.”Īpart from an upcoming July 20 concert with Lettuce at Red Rocks Amphitheatre outside Denver, San Diego is the only orchestral date currently on Tower of Power’s schedule. “One piece we’ll do is a medley of James Brown songs and you don’t really think of a symphony with James Brown songs. There are some of our songs from the past, like (1974’s) ‘Below Us, All The City Lights,’ that I think lend themselves well to doing with an orchestra. The songs I have chosen are the ones I feel will show off the orchestra and really complement what we do. “So, we’re expecting that and will talk to the orchestra at rehearsal. “We know that orchestral string, brass and wind sections don’t play as tight and as on top of the beat as we do,” Castillo noted. The adjustments, then, will be made by the symphony’s musicians. ![]() But it’s really not going to change what we do.” “There are some new interludes at beginning and in the middle of some tunes - which will just be played by the orchestra - and that will be different for us. ![]() “We know our stuff inside out and we’ll just play what we normally play in each song,” Castillo replied. Will Tower of Power need to adjust or modify its songs to accommodate an orchestra? He’s already done orchestral arrangements for our entire set with the San Diego Symphony.” “Dave Eskridge has done all the arrangements on our albums since the 1990s. “We’re really excited!” Castillo said, speaking last week from his Arizona home in Scottsdale. Both groups, who share the same manager, will perform with the San Diego Symphony and guest conductor Christopher Dragon. That will change when Tower of Power plays here Thursday at The Shell on a double-bill with the jazz- and funk-fueled jam band Lettuce. “We have never played with a symphony orchestra before,” said tenor saxophonist and periodic singer Emilio Castillo, one of the band’s co-founders. Yet, for all its accomplishments, there is at least one thing Tower of Power has never done in its 53 years. (Daniel Knighton / Getty Images) A career first, in San Diego In the intervening years, Tower of Power has created a repertoire that includes such enduring favorites as “You’re Still a Young Man,” “Down to the Nightclub (Bump City),” “So Very Hard To Go,” “Squib Cakes” and “What is Hip?” Fans can expect to hear most of these when the band performs in San Diego Thursday at The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park. That was shortly after legendary concert promoter Bill Graham had signed Tower of Power to his Fillmore Records label, which in 1970 released the band’s debut album, “Easy Bay Grease.” One of the group’s first concerts was as the opening act for Jimi Hendrix at the Berkeley Community Theatre. More than a dozen lead singers have passed through the ranks in that time. Since debuting in 1968 in Oakland, the brassy soul, funk and R&B band has released 29 albums - including six live concert recordings - and performed countless times with at least 49 different lineups of musicians. Tower of Power hasn’t done absolutely everything a band can do in 53 years, but it’s come close.
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