Have you ever had HonkyPox? Do you have an over bite while you dance? Have you ever clapped on 1 and 3 instead of 2 and 4 while listening to music? When you dance, do you wiggle your thumbs like you’re hitch hiking? If you’ve ever done any of these things then you have suffered from HonkyPox.
The best prevention for HonkyPox is to listen to the great American soul band, Tower of Power (TOP), play the song “Soul Vaccination” live. I should be good for another year because I was able to do just that recently at Jazz Alley in Seattle, WA.
Tower of Power is one of my favorite bands and David Garibaldi is one of my favorite drummers. Along with bass player Francis “Rocco” Prestia, they make up one of the tightest and funkiest bass and drums combinations in the music business.
Garibaldi and Prestia have played together off and on in TOP for over forty years and it shows. They have a unique style of playing driving sixteenth notes totally in sync.
Using a technique called “ghosting,” their rhythmic patterns are played in odd combinations that follow horn accents and vocal lines. “Ghosting” refers to playing a constant sixteenth note pattern where some notes are emphasized heavily (the “accents”) and others are played lightly (“ghost notes”). The effect is a driving pattern without being overwhelming. For a great example, listen to “What Is Hip” from the “Tower of Power” album.
Seeing TOP at Jazz Alley is an experience like no other. Jazz Alley is a large club that holds almost 400 people but there’s not a bad seat in the house. The sound is great and the atmosphere is intimate. In fact it was a unique enough environment that I had friends Jon, Jeff and Guitar Tom drive up from Portland just for the show.
Our table was about 10 feet from stage and we had a great view of Larry Braggs (lead vocals), Roger Smith (keyboards) and Jerry Cortez (guitar) from the side. I was able to see Garibaldi and Rocco as I looked between Braggs and Emilio Castillo (tenor sax and co-band leader).
We saw them on Sunday, their 4th night at Jazz Alley (2 shows a night), so they were feeling loose and playing tight. The horns played together in perfect sync with the usual antics like the Stephen “The Doctor” Kupka (baritone sax and co-band leader) doing the shoulder shake and a dance where they all “freeze” in mid stride.
Long-time member Mic Gillette (trumpet & trombone) was not along this time but has been replaced with Lee Thornberg, an excellent player who has worked with the band before.
Adolfo Acosta (lead trumpet) played crazy high and Tom Politizer (lead tenor) took some incredible, crowd-pleasing solos. Larry Braggs is always impressive, especially on the slow tunes. Rocco and Garibaldi were into it and Cortez was feelin’ it too.
Sitting in on second guitar for part of the set was Seattle native Danny Hoefer. Hoefer is a local legend because he played with Tower 1979-1981. He was introduced as Castillo’s cousin, Leroy DeHoser.
But the night belonged to Roger Smith on keyboards. He was ON FIRE. I first noticed something special on “Only So Much Oil” and his playing just got better after that. Roger took an extended solo on “Hip Street” that included playing left hand bass lines (“kickin’ bass with his left hand”) with Garibaldi and Cortez. Rocco joined in and the jam was elevated to being something very special.
The song list included quite a few tunes that I had not heard them do live (and I’ve seen them over 10 times). Here’s the setlist:
Soul Vaccination (Wow!)
Stroke Medley: Stroke ’75, Ain’t Nothin Stoppin’ Us, You Ought To Be Havin’ Fun
Only So Much Oil in the Ground
You Strike My Main Nerve
Just Enough And Too Much
Loveland
(To Say The Least) You’re The Most
As Surely As I Stand Here
Walkin’ Up Hip Street (Roger’s extended solo)
So I Got To Groove
I Like Your Style
Encore: You’re Still a Young Man
So if you want to get a “Soul Vaccination” to prevent the HonkyPox, see Tower of Power live or listen to a TOP CD! You’ll hear one of the best drummers and best bands ever!