Tower of Power

Their last LP for Columbia, 1979's Back on the Streets, found Tower of Power once again a disappointment to their fans. After two albums of desultory balladeering, the band still refused to return to their blistering funk roots, choosing instead what they hoped would be a more commercially viable wade into the oceans of disco. It didn't work. With a slick production that's so predictable it's horizontally boring, Tower of Power limped into the R&B charts with the mini-hit "Rock Baby" in August. And it really doesn't get any better from there. Across a batch of mediocre and uneven disco numbers, replete with strings and "sexy" backing vocalists, the band wandered across the absolutely MOR ballad "Heaven Must Have Made You" and the "Chuck E.'s in Love"-esque "And You Know It."

Tower of Power have had their ups and downs as a recording act during a career that's still rolling over 45 years on, but very rarely has anyone disputed their strength as a live band, and those who doubt the power of Oakland's perennial funk machine will get schooled in a big way with this archival release. On May 14, 1974, Tower of Power rolled into Long Island's Ultrasonic Studios to cut a live set for broadcast on Hempstead's WLIR-FM, and nearly four decades later this performance has finally been given an authorized release as Hipper Than Hip: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow (Live - On the Air & In the Studio 1974). That title sure is clumsy, but Tower of Power weren't the night the tapes rolled for this show.

With a history 50+ years in the making, Tower of Power has been a funk institution since 1968, knocking out hits like “What is Hip,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “This Time It’s Real” and “You’re Still a Young Man" while lending their soulful sound to collaborations with Santana, the Grateful Dead, Elton, Huey Lewis, Justin Timberlake and everyone in-between. "50 Years of Funk & Soul - Live at the Fox Theater" captures their storied career with no-holds-barred victory lap concerts in Oakland, CA, performing their full spectrum of life-affirming funk and soul hits to sold out audiences in 2018. Available as a 3-LP set, 2-CD/1-DVD package, standalone DVD and digital audio configuration, these historic performances include alumni special guests Chester Thompson, Lenny Pickett, Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia, Bruce Conte and Ray Greene.

Fusion jazz is a genre I would normally not expect to come from arctic Finland. Guitarist Tuppu Orrenmaa must have decided to hit it really big on his third album with his Orrenmaa Band, hiring a genuine who-is-who of the international jazz scene. All drums on Make My Day were played by the legendary Billy Cobham, who should be known even to novices for his collaborations with artists like Miles Davis and Mahavishnu Orchestra. The horns section of Tower Of Power, another American collective of artists with cult status, can be heard on six songs. This is also the first time they can be heard together with Billy Cobham on a record.

With Step Up, Tower of Power forges on into the next decade of the 21st century, while keeping to its continuous hardcore tour schedule and ongoing reinvigoration with the continual addition of new talent, most notably the phenomenal young lead vocalist, Marcus Scott, among many others. Marcus replaced TOP’s longtime lead singer, Ray Greene, who makes his final appearance with the band on Step Up. Also taking his bows on the new album is 30-year TOP veteran bassist Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia, who is stepping back from life on the road and whose driving fingerstyle funk is ably replaced on tour by Marc Van Wageningen.