Tower of Power

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风格: #放克　#平静风暴　#灵魂乐
地区: United States of America 美国

艺人介绍

Tower of Power 这个活跃了近半个世纪的Funk与R&B界的长青树乐团，总是聆听者抚慰人心的一帖良方，把那些生活中的悲凉全盘托出，再经由与聆听者共鸣，直至把聆听者那些消极情绪驱散殆尽。你很难不被这种含有大量切分的节奏与未经太多修饰的嗓音旋律所感触，这种随着心绪而缓缓溢出的音乐也使得T.O.P的歌迷经过了一代又一代人的悉心品味。

从1968年开始，至今已经演出逾四十个年头，发行了17张录音室专辑、5张现场专辑以及8张单曲。

上世纪七十年代的美国，正是Funk音乐大放异彩的一个特定阶段，T.O.P游走于那个时代潮流音乐的浪尖。时至今日，与他们同台合作的世界级音乐人数不胜数，而在被媒体采访时没有一个不是感慨万千的。乐队灵魂Emilio Castillo从探索Soul的极致婉约开始，慢慢奠定了T.O.P今后所走的Funk音乐之路。而数十年来跟随他们的粉丝中不乏世界巨星，这其中有Elton John，Santana，Rod Stewart，Aerosmith，TOTO等等，这些人把T.O.P挂在嘴边的一个原因便是——这帮家伙巡演了快五十年了！

每场演出，乐队都表现了强大的现场爆发力及戏剧效果。1969年旧金山演奏会中，万千观众疯狂呐喊，1974年在玫瑰露天剧场的演出，竟有八千万观众守在电视机前，将他们推上媒体焦点。透过乐团编制里的Horn section和套鼓、Bass、电吉他等等现代乐器的配合，Tower of Power将黑人的音乐发挥得淋漓尽致。放肆的切分音，营造出原始的放克精神；毫无保留的唱腔，彻底表现出黑人灵魂乐的情绪。

乐队成员Francis Rocco Prestia，是指弹FUNK创造者。

Rocco出生在美国加里弗尼亚的Sonora，在南奥克兰的Fremont长大。从小受母亲的影响，Rocco第一次接触音乐是学习吉它。而真正对他的音乐事业起到决定性影响作用的，是电台里播放的早期的摇滚音乐。在加入Emilio Castillo的乐队进行演奏之前，Rocco演奏许多年的吉它。但是加入了乐队以后，他却改演奏贝司，并且在贝司的世界发起了一场革命，并且让许多人对贝司发生了兴趣，开始学习演奏。当时，Rocco所在的乐队会演奏许多乐队的作品，比如Beatles、Rolling Stones等，没过多久，乐队开始演奏R&B的东西，并且加了一些管乐器进来。随后，他们就开始演奏James Brown一类的作品。“TheRock”就是受James Brown的影响，再加上一些Motown还有Memphis的东西而出来的作品。而影响Rocco的贝司手包括James Jamerson，Chuck Rainey，Jerry Jemmott还有Duck Dunn。通过这些音乐领路人，Rocco创造并发展了自己的风格，那就是后来被人们称为指弹Funk的演奏风格。

他的乐队－Tower Of Power也很快的开始了创作音乐，并且开始在当地的各个演出场所进行演出。而在鼓手David Garibaldi加入了乐队以后，乐队就算真正的开始运转起来了。

1971年，乐队发行了第一张专辑《East Bay Grease》，这张在独立唱片公司发行的专辑后来被人们认为是Tower Of Power乐队创造经典的开始。在那之后不久，乐队于1972年同著名的华纳唱片公司签约，他们的专辑也进入了最佳销量排行榜。

乐队的第二张专辑《Bump City》中，也产生了如You Got to Funkifize和You’re Still A Young Man这样的经典歌曲，你可以听听You Got To Funkifize中的经典的贝司演奏，它可以说是Rocco演奏风格的一个非常好的代表。

Tower Of Power的第三张专辑的名字非常简单，就是使用了乐队的名字Tower Of Power，但是它却是一张绝对经典的作品。其中也包括了This Time It’s Real，So Very Hard To Go，Soul Vaccination这样的热门歌曲，当然还有不得不提的，Funk历史上的经典篇章What Is Hip。每一个真正想学习指弹Funk演奏风格的音乐人，是一定会收藏这张专辑的。虽然在前两张专辑中，Rocco已经把自己的指弹Funk技术融到了音乐中，可人们对他这种技术真正的承认，正是在这第三张专辑中。

Rocco与众不同的贝司旋律线的编排成为了这支乐队的一个标志，随后乐队的专辑一张接一张，经典歌曲也一首接一首，比如《Back To Oak－land》专辑中的Squib Cakes，《Urban Renewal》专辑中的Only So Much Oil In The Ground，《In The Slot》专辑中的On The Serious Side。

Tower of Power

Tower's 40 year odyssey actually began in 1968 when Emilio Castillo met Stephen "Doc" Kupka in July of that year. When Doc auditioned during a band rehearsal at Emilio's house, Emilio's father called him into the kitchen and offered the following advice: "Hire that guy, he's got something." Doc and his signature baritone sax sound were now in the band, and on August 13, 1968, Tower of Power, as we know them today, began playing gigs, and soon became very well known in the area.

Many other bands came out of the San Francisco Bay area in the late 60's. Bands like The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Big Brother, Journey, Cold Blood and others all helped to define the "San Francisco Sound." Tower of Power has always claimed Oakland, California as their hometown. Playing area venues and making a name for themselves, Tower of Power's big break was just around the corner.

After playing at a Tuesday night audition at the Fillmore in 1970, Tower was signed to Bill Graham’s San Francisco records and their first album, “East Bay Grease,” was recorded. All of the compositions were original tunes written by Castillo and Kupka. Their next album, “Bump City,” was recorded on the Warner Brothers label, and this led to a string of hits and memorable albums that include many of the songs that TOP fans come out in force to hear, even to this day. Over the years, the Tower of Power Horns have recorded with hundreds of artists as diverse as Aerosmith, Elton John, Little Feat, Phish, Santana, Heart, and many others, forever infusing the radio airwaves with Tower’s musical DNA.

Since the beginning, Tower of Power has never stopped touring and recording. Always in demand, the band never fails to entertain and amaze their fans. Tower is truly blessed to have a dedicated following that often travels to see the band, and in many cases fans will plan their vacation or work schedule around an appearance of TOP.

Tower celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008 at a very special reunion show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. In addition to the ten current members of the band, another 20 musicians and vocalists that at one time held a position with the band appeared with them. The show was filmed and is available on DVD. Of the ten current members, Emilio Castillo, Rocco Prestia, Stephen Kupka, and David Garibaldi are four of the band’s founding members. Their dedication to the music, their creative writing, and their original vision still guides Tower of Power.

Each year Tower of Power tours the United States, Japan and Europe, playing to sold out crowds all over the world. Recent releases include “Great American Soulbook”, a collection of classic soul tunes, and the 40th Anniversary Concert DVD. Tower has never been busier or more in demand. New generations of fans come to see the band perform as their timeless music continues to excite fans of all ages. We hope you enjoy this website, which will be growing and evolving continually to include more band history, information on alumni members, and regular updates on Tower of Power.

Tower of Power

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