Tower of Power and Average White Band brought some “Soul with a Capital ‘S’” to an enthusiastic crowd in Englewood, NJ, when each of the bands took their turn onstage at BergenPAC in a glorious evening filled with soulful funk on Thursday, April 21, 2016.
Average White Band, the Scottish funk and R&B band that made a name itself in the 1970s with an infectious mix of soul, jazz, rock, and R&B, opened the show with “I Just Can’t Give You Up” followed by a rousing version of the first song they ever created together, “The Jugglers.”
They performed other AWB R&B classics, too, including “Work to Do,” featuring spot-on vocal harmonies and a groovin’ guitar, and the percussive “Cut the Cake,” with its funky bass riff and hot horn lines galore. Laying down the boogie, the Average White Band had the entire BergenPAC audience cutting loose and moving to their soulful groove.
Spotlighting founding members Onnie McIntyre on guitar and Alan Gorrie on bass — along with new addition, ace vocalist Brent Carter— AWB showed the audience at BergenPAC they’ve really “Got the Love” on such tunes as the breezy “Watcha Gonna Do for Me?,” the Earth Wind and Fire-ish “A Love of Your Own,” and their signature ode to funk, “Queen of My Soul.”
In addition to original members McIntire and Gorrie, AWB also currently features Cliff Lyons on alto sax, Fred Vigdor on tenor, and Rob Aries on keyboards. The newest member of the band, Rocky Bryant, joined the group in 2006 and, at BergenPAC, did his work laying down the solid funk beat like a soul train chugging down the track. At times — during “Schoolboy Crush” for example — he was even called upon to play drums with a single hand, leaving his other hand free to play jingle bells.
The highlight of AWB’s set, however, was reserved for their grand finale when they played their 1975 Grammy-nominated #1 hit, “Pick Up the Pieces.” With an extended version featuring wild solos and a groove-laden performance from the rhythm section, AWB had the entire house up dancing, proving to their fans at BergenPAC that Average White Band is anything but average.
Following AWB, Tower of Power, the 10-piece Oakland, CA-based R&B group, took the stage in front of the now well-warmed-up-crowd. Opening with “I Like Your Style,” they proceeded to blast through a cool collection of funk classics which have made them one of the world’s preeminent horn bands for nearly 50 years.
The group originated in 1968 when two saxophone players, Emilio Castillo and Stephen “Doc” Kupka, met and decided to create a group where the horn section would be a primary element of their sound. Over the years, Tower of Power has counted a total 60 musicians among its members. Their current line-up consists of Adolfo Acosta, trumpet; Sal Cracchiola, trumpet; Roger Smith, keyboards; founding member Kupka on baritone sax; Tom E. Politzer, lead tenor sax; David Garibaldi, drums; founder Castillo on second tenor sax; Rocco Prestia, bass; and Jerry Cortez, guitar.
At BergenPAC, the band also introduced their newest member, lead vocalist Marcus Scott, in his New Jersey TOP debut performance, having only joined the group three and a half weeks ago! Scott sailed through the Tower of Power catalog of tunes including “You Ought to Be Havin’ Fun,” “Only So Much Oil in the Ground,” and “Time Will Tell.” He looked and sounded like a seasoned pro with a soulful, focused voice and a collection of dance moves that would make James Brown himself take notice.
And speaking of Brown, one of many highlights of the evening was TOP’s tribute to the Godfather of Soul, “Diggin’ on James Brown” — a sparkling tour de force featuring Emilio’s passionate vocal, Scott’s fresh moves, percussive horns, and lots of eager audience participation. Another was Scott’s outstanding extended vocal cadenza on “Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of the Stream.” On both of these tunes, the rhythm section percolated, the bari sax soulfully grooved on the bottom along with the rock solid bass, and the TOP horns shimmered and trumpeted throughout the auditorium like a triumphant audio tower of power.
It’s no secret that for nearly a half century, a main ingredient of Tower of Power’s signature sound has been their world-famous horn section. Over the years, the TOP horns have recorded with a who’s who of the music industry including Santana, Elton John, The Grateful Dead, Frankie Valli, Toto, Journey, Rufus, Huey Lewis & The News, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Phish, and many more. At BergenPAC, they showed why they are in such demand, particularly on such brassy confections as “You’re the Most” (from coast to coast!), the percussively funky “Maybe It’ll Rub Off,” and the soulful-to-the-max “You Got to Funkifize,” proving to everyone present at BergenPAC just why they are the best in the business.
After dazzling the crowd with their long-time audience favorite, “So Very Hard to Go,” TOP lifted the fans to their feet with the eternally funky “What is Hip” and the powerful “You’re Still a Young Man.” With such a dynamic evening of classic R&B and funk behind them, Tower of Power and Average White Band left every soul at BergenPAC in Englewood knowing precisely why “You’ve Got to Funkifize!”
For more on Average White Band, go to averagewhiteband.com. For more on Tower of Power, check out towerofpower.com. For upcoming concerts at BergenPAC — including Boz Scaggs on April 27 and Kool & The Gang on May 15 — go to bergenpac.org.
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