Tower of Power

With David Sanborn. Saturday, August 18, at Cain Park, Cleveland Heights.

By Mark Keresman on Wed, Aug 15, 2007 at 4:00 am

Tower of Power lowrider funk Oakland, California

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Digital sampling has made the concept of live musicians a novel one in R&B and mainstream pop. But apparently, somebody forgot to send the memo to Tower of Power. The horn-laden group started life in Oakland, California in 1967, where it synthesized mellow, Motown-inspired melodies, plaintive vocal harmonies, and chunky, lowrider funk. This makes ToP one of the few old-school outfits still busting soul, R&B, and funk in the live setting.

The group no longer climbs the contemporary charts, but groove-heavy classics like "You're Still a Young Man" and "So Very Hard to Go" are still high-rotation cuts on oldies radio.

And hell, ToP has never stopped gettin' down at concerts.