After Monty Alexander Trio left stage to a standing ovation, bassist John Clayton reappeared on stage to introduce Tower of Power Friday night in the Kibbie Dome.
“Put your dancing shoes on, folks,” said Clayton, who is also the artistic director of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. “If this doesn”t make your body do something physical, check your pulse.”
Tower of Power is characterized by their fat, full-horn sound paired with a driving rhythm section made of guitar, bass, drum set and electric organ.
The raucous funk band opened with “Soul with a Capital S.”
Mamta Kandel | Argonaut
Guest singer Brent Carter sings with Tower of Power Friday at the Kibbie Dome.
Brent Carter, former band member and guest singer, encouraged the crowd to clap and dance.
“I see you got a party going on there,” he shouted, pointing to crowds of dancers on the edge of the stadium.
Carter is now the lead singer for the Average White Band.
In “I Like Your Style,” Jerry Cortez performed a guitar solo reminiscent of classic rock and new-age funk. Between each song, Carter engaged the audience.
“Jazz is sophisticated kind of stuff,” he said. “But ya”ll going to have to get up and move.”
And the audience moved.
“You”re the Most” showcased Roger Smith on the Hammond B3 electric organ.
Slowly the stands started to empty as attendees took to the floor to dance. What may have started as peaceful swing dancing turned into section-wide conga lines.
Band leader Emilio Castillo said that even though the song wasn”t famous, Tower of Power still plays it.
“It wasn”t a single, it”s not famous,” he said. “But we play it every night. We felt we were hitting on all 10 cylinders when we wrote this.”
Castillo took over on vocals for “You Got to Funkifize It.”
Tom “Big Love” Politzer used the range of the tenor saxophone during the course of his solo.
The next song, “Willing to Learn” was a bit different.
“We also write those emotional, heart-wrenching ballads,” Castillo said. “Whatchu laughing at?” he asked as the crowd laughed.
In “Willing to Learn,” Carter belted out the lyrics as high trumpet notes screamed in the background.
“Oh that moved me man,” Carter said of his solo. “He messed me up. I don”t even know what to say now.”
As the rhythm section laid down a beat, Carter took a break from singing to give the crowd life advice. Sometimes, in lieu of talking, Carter resorted to scatting.
“Cause sometimes talking ain”t good enough,” he said.
He spoke about pride and his personal experiences.
“I lost someone,” he said. “A good woman is hard to find. You have to be willing to learn.”
The group brought the energy back up with “Soul Vaccination.” The conga line started again.
“Put your hands together ya”ll,” he said. “It”s your party.”
The crowd clapped over their heads and dancers fist pumped to the funky music.
Tower of Power doesn”t just groove musically. When they aren”t playing, the horn section has a variety of low-key dance moves, usually involving shimmying and jumping.
Stephen Kupka, or “The Funky Doctor,” pretended to dance like David Knight. Kupka plays baritone saxophone and has written a majority of the band”s song catalogue.
Washington State”s head basketball coach Ernie Kent attended the concert. While he didn”t partake in the dancing, Kent relented when Carter shouted for the crowd to stand up for “I Got to Groove.”
Castillo revealed Tower of Power is currently recording a new, original CD.
“My agent said, “It”s time to make the best record of your career,”” Castillo said. “So you do it the Michael Jackson way where you record way too much and pick the best twelve. But Tower of Power is a working band, so we record in between tours.”
Castillo said fans will have to wait awhile for the release.
Carter said he had to readjust to the Tower of Power style of performing.
“I started warming up probably around 2 p.m. to make it through this show,” he said. “This is a high-energy show.”
Carter said he spent a majority of the show thinking.
“I really couldn”t just have fun because I was thinking,” he said. “But I think it came off fun. It was an awesome audience.”
He gave some advice for young vocalists: “Don”t smoke, don”t drink and get plenty of rest.”
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos