Tower of Power & Jerry Cortez

[MARICOPAA]

I saw Tower of Power Monday night @ a 250 seat club in Oakland CA...their stopping grounds. T.O.P was on FIRE last night @ the 10pm show @ Yoshi's. I've seen them many, many times since about 1970 and periodically they dip into being a kind of top-40 version of themselves...but last night...wheeew...they are back and burnin' it u......p. The addition of Mic Gillette (back after 22+ years) puts point on the horn section that's full of life and and vital. Special note about Jerry Cortez on guitar...he is fantastic. Jerry's got a bluesy thick, syrupy lead tone that just nails it to the wall in a way that none of his predecessors have done. Soulful yet sings in a beautiful way I haven't heard with Tower before. His rhythm chops are exceptional and he's a great addition. Jerry plays a 59 re-issue Gibson ES-335 through a Maxon OD808 into a Twin Reverb and just kills. I've seen all the guitarists with Tower...and there have been some amazing ones to be sure!

 

Jerry brings a smooth solo approach with beautiful tone that is different and a really good thing in my book. Doc & Mimi were on it as usual. I gotta say Mimi's vocals were spectacular...he claimed it all when he sang. Tower of Power IS a SOUL band extraordinaire! The icing on the cake was old bandmate Chester "CT" Thompson jamming a few songs over the course of the evening. The kicker was his solo spot...the band was blazing and Chester was otherworldly...just amazing solo. So good to see/hear Tower so on it! Check out Jerry Cortez! he's been with the band for about a year now and is incredible! here's a link to him at the Maxon site where is is featured artist of the month (you can see him with his beautiful Les Paul): http://www.maxonfx.com/ArtistJerryCortez.php

[Versatile]

I've enjoyed Tower of Power for a long time

And the link-up with

Graham Central Station

 

V

 

 

[Mule 1]

I love T.O.P. He gets killer tone from the LP in the clip!