![\"Issue39-Tower-of-Power\"](\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Issue39-Tower-of-Power.jpg\")
<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nAsk Emilio Castillo\u2014who co-founded Tower of Power in 1968\u2014how his band has survived, and he offers a simple answer. \u201cIt\u2019s because we make the music exactly the way we want it to sound,\u201d he says. \u201cWe noticed years ago that if we try to deviate from what we do, it doesn\u2019t work\u2014we still sound like us, only a bastardized version. So we\u2019re going to make sure we sound like the best us we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castillo, who plays saxophone with the iconic Oakland, California-based horn-driven soul-funk collective, is one of four original members still on board, alongside baritone saxophonist Stephen \u201cDoc\u201d Kupka, drummer David Garibaldi and bassist Francis \u201cRocco\u201d Prestia, who recently underwent successful kidney transplant surgery.<\/p>\n
Castillo is quick to point out that Tower of Power has always been greater than the sum of its parts. Since the band\u2019s inception, its lineup has changed many times. Some, like Lenny Williams, have gone on to successful solo careers, and others have faded into obscurity. Multi-instrumentalist Lenny Pickett\u2014a member of the heralded Tower of Power horn section from 1972 to 1981\u2014has served as musical director of Saturday Night Live<\/i>\u2019s house band for two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single facet of the band has changed several times over,\u201d says Castillo. \u201cIt\u2019s a conceptual sound, and that concept resides with Doc, Dave, Rocco and myself. But even if one of us were to leave, the new guys, once we give them Tower of Power 101, they know what our thing is. They\u2019re giving their input and their ideas because they know what it takes to make this thing. We\u2019re all in this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castillo is especially psyched about vocalist Ray Greene, who joined the band in 2013. \u201cI can\u2019t even tell you how comfortable and wonderful this guy is,\u201d Castillo says. But he\u2019s also excited about Hipper Than Hip<\/i>, a recently released two-CD set that captures a classic live radio broadcast from 1974\u2014after they\u2019d just recorded Back to Oakland<\/i>, one of the jewels of the group\u2019s discography. \u201cWe were definitely firing on all 10 cylinders that night,\u201d says Castillo.<\/p>\n
Though the band is closing in on a half-century of classic funk, Castillo is looking toward the future. Tower of Power recently recorded enough new material for two studio albums. Going in, Castillo says, \u201cI told the others, \u2018We\u2019ve made a lot of great records, but now we need to make a major-league statement to the best of our ability.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really all I know and all I\u2019m good at,\u201d he adds. \u201cSoul music, running a band and writing songs\u2014I know that stuff because I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013Jeff Tamarkin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TOWER OF POWER Hip for nearly 50 years, the soul vets prove you just can\u2019t stop the funk Ask Emilio Castillo\u2014who co-founded Tower of Power in 1968\u2014how his band has survived, and he offers a simple answer. \u201cIt\u2019s because we make the music exactly the way we want it to sound,\u201d he says. \u201cWe noticed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[7623,7673],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14748,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14746\/revisions\/14748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}