Tower of Power Horn section [Squib Cakes] on David Letternan

[hibrassmann]

Smokin !

[thibo62]

Will Lee is really good on bass too! Great performance!

[EJL88]

1 dislike! Must have not been vaccinated! Walking around with Funky Pox!

[HarmonicGentlemen]

One pressed the wrong button, by accident... This horn section is pure energy!

[mbfavreau]

Great video and great example of TOP section playing. Who is playing 2nd tpt? The rest are Greg Adams, Elliot, Emillio and Doc, right?

[LeondelSon]

@mbfavreau- it's Lee Thornburg on trumpet here, Adams on flugelhorn...you are correct on the rest of the section.

[sactiger]

Paul Shaffer was livin' the dream... damn, I think he had a hard-on the whole time

[andygnatovich]

@sactiger No the hard on came in rehearsal. This was fulfillment of a dream.

[sactiger]

@andygnatovich I'd have to agree with you... :)

[hotfunkcooljazz]

@sactiger Paul was handling it though -

[sactiger]

@hotfunkcooljazz Oh yeah, Paul was definitely holdin' it down!

[ciscoscash]

The best horn section ever. Great phrasing, timing and tone!

[avp0713]

@ciscoscash - I love TOP, but they cannot now, and couldn't then, hold a candle, or even a match to BS&T.

[dbassmd]

@avp0713 I would bet my left nut you ARE NOT a musician!!! 99.999% of musicians, and I'm sure including BS&T would agree that TOP's horn section is superior... BS&T and Chicago's horn sections were/are great, but TOP's is by far the best on the planet. It would be like BS&T holding a candle & TOP holding the sun.

[avp0713]

@dbassmd - Well then, start handing over the nutz! lol I play Sax, Bass, Drums, Keyboards, Flute, Congas; and i'm a prof. DJ on the Jersey Shore. I've been playing in Funk bands since 1975. I have my own crappy videos here on YT. Fred Lipsius (sax and Horn Arrangements for BST) is a personal friend of the family since 1955. At one time they jammed in my apt in the Bronx.  Google TOP and BST for Gold, Platinum and Grammy let me know what you come up with. It's OK to be wrong.

[dbassmd]

@avp0713 Well then that explains your obvious bias ( personal friend of the family). As far as gold, platinum,and grammy, BS&T catered to the more bubble gum, have a nice day crowd...TOP is just down, dirty & nastily in the pocket. I'll keep my nuts thank you very much...and yes, it IS OK to be wrong, so don't feel too bad.

[avp0713]

@dbassmd - BS&T's "45's were targeted to the "pop" crowd. That was to draw them in. I'm gonna guess you never heard any of their album material. The jazz on their album is something that TOP, and Chicago could never match. TOP tried to squeeze in between Brass Construction, EWF, Ohio Players. AWB and the JB's. BST never tried to "fit in'. TOP is awesome, I love them.. but they never were able to reach BST or EWF status; there are reasons for that. Ask around.

[LeondelSon]

@dbassmd- "Brass Constr, EWF, Ohio Players. AWB & JBs" JBs is maybe 10% close, the rest are just way off the reality chart, not even close. The "reasons for" there not reaching BST & EWF status (and you obviously mean sales, cause where r they now?) was not quality of musicianship/arrangements but purely political; a mostly white-hippie looking band, lead by same, managed by such, playing SOUL; a black thing. Black producers and Black Radio black listed "blue-eyed soul" to protect their product

[LeondelSon]

I LIVED this and renounced RADIO for this prejudice! There is no comparing the energy TOP puts out with Chicago or BS&T, both good bands w good musicians but far less energy. As far as TOPs positioning, they were screwed around with by record executives who just wanted "hits" and TOP had some projects that reflect that, no doubt. But the band has never been a pop band like the others you compare them to. That's an argument from someone who doesn't know the material. Sorry!

[gabriel4838]

@ciscoscash BEST IN THE BUSINESS ABSOLUTELY!!!!

[dharmaseed]

Sorry, it just ain't TOP without Rocco. The same thing applies if Rocco tries to do this song without the horn section.

[bcjake01]

Richard Petty.AAAAAAAAAAAhaaaaaaaaaaaa­aaa. Beautiful.That is frikkin halarious. Lee Thornburg aka The Monster/Richard Petty .lol

[bcjake01]

Richard Petty.AAAAAAAAAAAhaaaaaaaaaaaa­aaa. Beautiful.That is frikkin halarious.

[fuzzybear718]

Aw man that bass line is siiiiick!!!!!

[p1000SWR]

one of the rare performances with Richard Petty of Nascar fame sitting in on trumpet with the TOP horns.

[IanTheDinosaur]

Is that Doc? If it is, he's about 53 times cooler now that he's nice and hefty

[hotfunkcooljazz]

@IanTheDinosaur yep that's Stephen !

[drummertech57]

Smokin!!!!!!!!

[waldmat]

thx for posting! This appearance got me hooked on ToP and playing bari. We had recorded the show on VBS I grabbed the audio from TV speakers into a Walkman... sounded awful!

[TheStampedehero]

Paul Shaefer loves to play with these guys You could tell he enjoys real musicians. TOP is the cornerstone of a real Rock Hall of Fame. Amazing Band from 68 to now. Those monkeejoes in the Rock Hall Induction Committee are clueless.

[BusMaster007X]

Extremely well done.

Good combination of musicians.

Short & Tight rendition.

[elainezfw]

I think this must be a very old video. Emilio has hair and Doc doesn't have a belly. :)

[GaribaldiInTheMaking]

seems a little straight and not swingy. dave g makes a big difference

[funkfanNo1]

Not the same without Rocco and Garibaldi. The horns still jam though! Will Lee does a good job though. The drum playing is not correct though. Loving how skinny Doc Kupka is on this!!!

[will30078]

Heya!

[TheGroove99]

Yeah just the TOP horn section. But House band Will Lee on bass ain't no slouch...think Brecker Bros and Some Skunk Funk...now it's smelling!!!

And of course Shaffer is doing a great Chester. Not sure what year this is but Chester was probably with Santana by this time.

[bopper1234]

All incarnations of TOP are great. Some are just greater. Castillo and Kupka just surround themselves with great musicians.  Shaffer's band happens to be great too!

[cainanuk]

Paul Shaffer.. I always thought he was really underr ated... Dude is a great musician.

[hotfunkcooljazz]

@cainanuk YES SIR !

[piliage]

@cainanuk Anyone who played on Heavy Metal BeBop is a bad ass.

[woody95124]

totally awesome even in todays standards...tower is # 1

[ddrums001]

Squib Cakes! FUNKY!! Anton held it down even though David G. Got this song on lock!!

[alecfederov91]

And as much as there are things to like about Richard Elliott - some nice patterns, he's no Lenny Pickett - of course neither is any of the other wannabe standins on these youtube selections - tune into the Saturday Night Live band for the real thing to hear the still reigning No. 1 funk soul Tenor Player on the Planet! Supernatural altissimo to boot, not as a gimmick but as a voice. Never been dethroned and never will be - check out the end of "If I play my cards right" if you disagree?

[gpatricknavarro]

@alecfederov91 Get a grip, dude. There are many dozens of players, who can sing in the altissimo range. They just don't have the notoriety or exposure that Lenny has had. I'm not saying Lennie isn't great; as I've listened to him when he was with TOP and SNL. But really, he's not the only one who can do that "stuff". There are college and even excellent high school players who can sing in the altissimo. Once you've raised someone to god-like status, you close your mind to others.

[alecfederov91]

@gpatricknavarro comparing lennie's altissimo range to excelent high school players is like saying christian laettner are on the same talent level

[Drumaddict63]

To bad they didn't include David Garibaldi in this taping. Anton is usually spot on but on this tune he is way off and totally unprepared to handle this tune. He really should have done his homework and learned the drum part. Any drummer that knows how to play this tune will agree that Anton was wingin' it badly.

[travelinguy06]

That would be "The Funky Doctor" on the killer baritone sax!

[johnnyswingo]

Will Lee is kicking ass on this tune. He's no Rocco, but he's killing it.

[DeeDubDrum]

without garibaldi, that groove just won't float

[WRPecs]

Mad dog trumpet solo!

[hotfunkcooljazz]

There names are Larry,David, and Rocco-This is only the horn section setting in with [THE WORLDS MOST DANGEROUS BAND!]

[jazzgod101]

@hotfunkcooljazz yo, don't be downsizing the horns man. Kupka and Elliot are sick in this!

[hotfunkcooljazz]

@jazzgod101 no one is downsizing the horns at all. I was just explaining to the gentleman from Germany, that they were just setting in.TOP is my favorite band of all time. since before the voco lights out LP from 1972.

[jazzgod101]

@hotfunkcooljazz word, misunderstood sir

[cabirius]

Terrible.

The current band is better, in every way. The singer, the drummer, the bassist and so on... Today the band has the best sound ever in their history.

They are on the "TOP"!

[steviemusic1]

@cabirius Don't think it's the actual band; seems to be the TOP horns with Paul Shaffer's house rhythm section