Tower of Power Rocks On

With a career spanning 39 years and 21 albums, the Bay-area soul-funk band Tower of Power is a true musical institution.

In fact, founding member Emilio Castillo who plays tenor sax and sings background and lead vocals, compares the group to an institution of higher learning.

The ten-man group includes original members Castillo, and baritone saxophonist Stephen “Doc” Kupka. Notable alumni include saxophonist Richard Elliot, trumpeter Lee Thornburg, Saturday Night Live musical director Lenny Pickett, and saxophonist Steven Eugene Grove (Euge Groove).

“It's kind of like a college – people come in and they're really good players and they leave even greater, and along the way we help each other out,” he said last week in a recent telephone interview. “Afterwards, it's always a source of pride to say [they] played with us.”

It's also a source of pride to Castillo to name some of the artists that he and Kupka, as the Tower of Power horns, have toured and recorded with. The list includes the Monkees, Santana, Elton John, John Lee Hooker, Rod Stewart, Jefferson Starship, Heart, Spyro Gyra, Aerosmith, P. Diddy, and many others.

When asked to list some of his favorites, Castillo says, “I'm very proud of the work we did with Little Feat. And certainly, Huey Lewis and the News…. I [toured] almost four years with them in the ’80s. They were an excellent musical group and we saw eye to eye musically, and Huey promoted my band at every turn. He was pretty responsible for getting us back on track in our career. I also enjoyed playing with the Rolling Stones, and the Eurythmics.”

Tower of Power is about halfway through recording its latest album, a collection of covers of both well-known and obscure soul classics. Because of exposure on the Internet and through first-generation fans, Castillo says the band's audience is getting younger, especially in Europe and Japan.

After nearly 40 years, Castillo says he still loves what he does.

“We stay at nice hotels, eat great food, play really nice places, and we travel all over the world…. I'm totally blessed. I love the job.”