Though not as heavily sampled as hip-hop cornerstones James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, Oakland-based soul and funk favorites Tower of Power earned their own place in the pantheon of R&B greats with their classic '70s albums featuring dance-floor hits like "Don't Change Horses (In The Middle Of A Stream)," "Down To The Nightclub," "What Is Hip?" and "Soul Vaccination" as well as seductive ballads like "Your Still A Young Man" and "So Very Hard To Go." Besides the band's own albums, the Tower of Power horn section became in-demand session players providing muscular charts for the likes of Elton John, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Little Feat, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart and many others.

The group may have done its best work behind lead singer Lenny Williams on those '70s seminal releases (current vocalist Larry Braggs has been out front for over a decade), but ToP has maintained its sound and reputation for electrifying live shows by retaining core members Francis Rocco Prestia on  bass, David Garibaldi on drums and the arranging/songwriting team of Emilio Castillo (tenor sax/vocals) and Stephen "Doc" Kupka (baritone sax).

Besides playing to sold-out crowds all over the world on their international tours every year, Tower of Power continues to put out quality albums. In 2009, the band issued their most recent collection of new recordings, Great American Soulbook. The collection of classic soul tunes includes such gems as "I Thank You," "It Takes Two" and "Who Is He And What Is He To You" and features guest vocal performances from Tom Jones, Joss Stone and original soul man Sam Moore. Two years ago, the group put out its 40th Anniversary DVD/CD Box Set with footage from a very special reunion show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco in 2008 that spotlit the ten current members of the band in addition to another 20 past  musicians and vocalists.

Tower of Power
Tue-Wed and Fri-Sun, Jan. 29-30 and Feb. 1-3 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. (7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Sun) $40-$45
Yoshi's in Oakland