Cicero Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 I just felt I needed to openly express my love for them. The groove is strong. And Rocco Prestia? What a bass player! For those who haven't seen their Tiny Desk Concert... Here it is (pretty sure it's Marc van Wageningen on bass here, although he's almost entirely obscured): 2 Quote
Cato Posted March 1, 2019 Posted March 1, 2019 There's a lot of love for ToP on Basschat. I'd never heard of them before I joined up here, now I have pretty much their whole back catalogue on one of my favourite playlists. 1 Quote
Barking Spiders Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 Rocco Prestia is one of my fave bassists, Dave Garibaldi one of my fave drummers and the horn section is elite but.....I once had the first 6 albums but for me the soul ballads, - as with the Ohio Players and EW&F - spoilt my enjoyment. The uptempo stuff is mostly, but not always, good. After Urban Renewal I thought they really lost the plot. For me the What is Hip Anthology is all I need. 1 Quote
Cicero Posted March 2, 2019 Author Posted March 2, 2019 Agreed. This has to be one of my favourite tunes of theirs. The horns are just dense and, umm, delicious? 😅 Especially the section at 1:32 ... Quote
Cicero Posted March 2, 2019 Author Posted March 2, 2019 And then there's Squib Cakes... And the ridiculously funky and unorthodox Oakland Stroke... I could go on 😀 1 Quote
Cuzzie Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 And for those interested that are doing some dates in the UK later this year. Monster band 1 1 Quote
lowdown Posted March 2, 2019 Posted March 2, 2019 (edited) Of course, the Bass playing with TOP' was/is terrific. 'Back To Oakland' is still one of my favourite all time albums. But also, the arrangements are just top draw, with plenty of Big Band Jazz flavouring. I liked the 'Soul Ballads', they were well composed and harmonically rich. But I suppose, style wise, not for everyone. Edited March 2, 2019 by lowdown 1 Quote
ianrendall Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Speaking of big band jazz flavouring, here is a selection of ToP charts arranged for big band. http://www.mindformusic.com/big-band/80-artists/345-tower-of-power 2 Quote
BassBunny Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 23 hours ago, Cuzzie said: And for those interested that are doing some dates in the UK later this year. Monster band Already got my tickets booked for Manchester. They toured UK in 2017 and played Manchester for the first time in 15 years. I got a chance to speak to Rocco for a few minutes. Coming back 18 months later is awesome. Unfortunately Rocco is now "retired" from touring. Quote
BassBunny Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 26 minutes ago, ianrendall said: Speaking of big band jazz flavouring, here is a selection of ToP charts arranged for big band. http://www.mindformusic.com/big-band/80-artists/345-tower-of-power That is awesome and bookmarked. We always fancied doing a bit of TOP but couldn't get our horn section to score the. Could be a quick win. Quote
ianrendall Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 (edited) 24 minutes ago, BassBunny said: That is awesome and bookmarked. We always fancied doing a bit of TOP but couldn't get our horn section to score the. Could be a quick win. Bear in mind that the What Is Hip chart is, so I’ve been informed, a semitone higher than the recording, which makes the bass part a real exercise. On the 13 horn version we use anyway. Edited March 3, 2019 by ianrendall Quote
Japhet Posted March 3, 2019 Posted March 3, 2019 Would have loved to have seen Garibaldi and Bobby Vega laying it down. Quote
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