Tower of Power Still Funky
After Four Decades and Counting
L. Paul Mann
Tower of Power brought their funky live dance beat back to the Chumash Casino Resort on Thursday, January 17th. By the time the band grooved into their fourth number, personifying all that was best from the early 70's dance club era, fans had swarmed to the front of the stage and spent the rest of the evening in a disco era dance craze. The band is composed of four original members including drummer David Garibaldi (Yes spelled just like the famous orange fish native to the California coast), second tenor and baritone sax players respectively, Emilio Castillo, and Stephen Kupka, and Frances Prestia, the original bass player. The band is rounded out by six new members including lead Tenor Sax, Tom Politzer, Santa Barbara trumpeter, Adolfo Acosta, Sal Cracchiolo, also on trumpet, Jerry Cortez, on a blazing lead guitar, Roger Smith on keyboards, and amazing lead vocals by Larry Braggs. The Oakland, California based band played a cross section of songs from the two dozen studio and live albums that they have released over the last four decades. The band is reminiscent of the more commercially successful Chicago, in the early days of that bands more heady material. Jerry Cortez's piercing guitar solos in particular harkened back to Chicago's first and most complex album. Lead singer, Larry Braggs punctuated the funky horn and rhythm section with soulful belts, mixed with crooning love songs. Various members of the ten man group bantered throughout the night in conversations with the audience that endeared them to the crowd. After a spirited performance which included a double encore, the entire band stayed late into the evening to sign autographs for appreciative fans.
The Chumash Casino Resort features an ongoing line up of diverse musical talent. For the current events calendar visit their website:http://www.chumashcasino.com
Setlist
I Like Your Style
Only So Much Oil in the Ground
Can’t You See (You Doin’ Me Wrong)
You Strike My Main Nerve
Just Enough and Too Much
You Got to Funkifize
Willing to Learn
Souled Out
Get Yo’ Feet Back on the Ground
This Time It’s Real
So I Got to Groove
Time Will Tell
Diggin’ on James Brown
So Very Hard to Go
What Is Hip? / Soul Power / What Is Hip?
Encore
You’re Still a Young Man
Soul With A Capital “S”
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