Tower Of Power

<a class="spreaker-player" href="https://www.spreaker.com/episode/16454927" data-resource="episode_id=16454927" data-width="100%" data-height="350px" data-theme="dark" data-playlist="show" data-playlist-continuous="true" data-autoplay="false" data-live-autoplay="false" data-chapters-image="true" data-episode-image-position="right" data-hide-logo="true" data-hide-likes="false" data-hide-comments="false" data-hide-sharing="false" >Listen to "Emilio Castillo and Stephen Doc Kupka From Tower Of Power" on Spreaker.</a><script async src="https://widget.spreaker.com/widgets.js"></script>


Oakland, California music legends Tower of Power – the most dynamic and distinctive band of
survivors in Soul Music – is roaring into its unprecedented 50 th anniversary with a dynamic new disc of
all new material that finds them as energized and inspired as ever. A labor of love, definitively titled
Soul Side of Town, this package is charged with 14 filler-free songs. In the spirit of their enduring
theme song “Oakland Stroke” – the bookending intro and outro “East Bay” shine a light onelemental
instrumental ingredients within the band’s signature sound. This astounding and historical release
(available June 1, 2018 in digital, vinyl, streaming &amp; CD configurations) inaugurates Tower of Power’s
fresh affiliation with Mack Avenue Records/Artistry Music, a Detroit-based company renowned for its
award-winning dedication to top-tier Jazz that is now extending its support to Soul and Funk giants,
Tower of Power: a band so one-of-a-kind, it’s an institution.
As always, the songs on Tower of Power’s Soul Side of Town were primarily composed by the
hitmaking team of founding members Emilio Castillo (Detroit-born on 2 nd tenor sax) and Stephen
“Doc” Kupka (Los Angeles-born on baritone sax) who also hold down the world famous 5-man Tower
of Power Horns. For the special occasion of Tower of Power’s 50 th anniversary, leader Emilio Castillo
brought in a most-astute choice in co-producer, Joe Vannelli: an all-around
production/engineering/keyboard master best known for the jazz-tinged Soul-Rock Grammy®-winning
work he performed behind the scenes with his international superstar brother, Gino Vannelli. Also
insuring that the sound blasts powerful and clear from your speakers is the presence of mastering
engineer Bernie Grundman in the mix. Along with the legendary rhythm section drums and bass lock
of David Garibaldi and Francis Rocco Prestia, respectively, these decorated veterans have custom-
crafted a hair-raising audio experience that longtime fans, music connoisseurs and a new generation of
listeners will groove to for years to come.
In keeping with Tower of Power’s golden canon of classics, the new material picks up the torch in all of
the time-tested styles fans respect and love. In line with hiply intricate, cranial-crushing funk classics
such as “Down to the Nightclub” and “Soul Vaccination” are new jams “Do You Like That?” and “On the
Soul Side of Town.” In the tradition of heart-stopping balladry like their biggest chart hits “You’re Still a
Young Man” and “So Very Hard to Go” are new love songs like “Let it Go” (Bruno Mars will want to
cover this one) and “Can’t Stop Thinking About You.” Along the firing-on-all-cylinders line of
instrumental anomalies such as “Squib Cakes,” “Walking Up Hip Street” and “Ebony Jam” are burnin’
offerings “Butter Fried” and “After Hours.” Following up positivity primers such as “Knock Yourself Out,”
“You’ve Got to Funkifize” and “Credit” are new spirit lifters “Selah,” “Love Must Be Patient and Kind”
and “Do It With Soul,” along with T.O.P.’s singular approach to Pop-Rock on “When Love Takes
Control.”
Along with veteran members Castillo, Kupka, Garibaldi and Prestia, T.O.P. consists of guitarist Jerry
Cortez, Hammond B3 organist/keyboardist Roger Smith, 1 st tenor saxophonist Tom Politzer, and
trumpeters Adolfo Acosta and Sal Cracchiolo. Soul Side of Town is also blessed with not one but
two lead singers: outgoing Ray Greene (now in Santana) and incoming Marcus Scott (boldly
introduced on several selections, including “Hangin’ With My Baby”). The 10-piece Tower of Power
band is prepared to throw down next year with a celebratory tour that will include sweet spots around
the globe.