MIAJE - Emilio Castillo's Music Craft

The Michigan Association for Jazz Education aims
to actively support jazz education, performance and
heighten awareness throughout the state,
bridging the upper and lower
peninsula and the
Great Lakes
area

Home

A Passion for Learning -
Emilio Castillo's Music Craft

Tower of Power featuring Emilio Castillo
     Adolfo Acosta, trumpet
     Larry Braggs, lead vocalist
     Emilio Castillo, bandleader, 2nd tenor sax, vocals
     Jerry Cortez, guitar
     David Garibaldi, drums
     Mic Gillette, trumpet & trombone
     Stephen "Doc" Kupka, baritone sax
     Tom Politzer, lead tenor sax
     Rocco Prestia, bass
     Roger Smith, keyboards

31st Detroit International Jazz Festival
Friday, September 3, 2010 - 7 pm
Chase Main Stage, near Campus Martius (map)
Free admission, outdoor street stage
http://www.detroitjazzfest.com

Ask Emilio Castillo to detail his success as the exemplary Tower of Power bandleader the past four decades and he'll likely credit educational discovery, a passion for learning, and creatively resolving musical curve balls. A chief milestone exists as a key turning point dating back to his formative days in Fremont, Calif., where he forged musical ties to music teachers and, later on, one important jazz legend, Dave Brubeck.

The native Detroiter and lead saxophonist for the incendiary soul-jazz-R&B band honed his songwriting craft doing it all himself south of the Oakland Bay area when he launched his first band. 'I was just completely obsessed with music and a band concept. I said to myself, 'this is cool and I'm gonna do this for the rest of my life'. I never looked back. I had blinders on the rest of my life,' said Castillo, 59, from his home in Phoenix, Az.

In 1962 Castillo and family left behind their Detroit home (Evergreen Rd., between Chicago and Joy Road) for the West Coast. By age 14, Castillo benefited from musical support from his father Jack, a bartender at the Cabana Hotel, and had assembled a local band. But creative direction appeared out of sync and he didn't have the prowess to pull it off. Then there was his boyhood pal Rocco Prestia, who had gravitated to guitar playing but later switched to bass thanks to urging from guitarist Terry Saunders, who his father lined up as a teacher during work hours at Neero's Nook, the hotel's nightclub.

'My dad saw that I had Terry as a teacher but he was eager to get me more help. So he approached the show bands at Neero's to help out. A referral came one day to go across town and see Norman Bates, who was the bass player for (jazz pianist) Dave Brubeck. I got weekly lessons and he explained to me everything about playing intervals like minor thirds, a major sixth or seventh, plus he had me counting numbers and exploring harmony,' he says.

Castillo candidly admits he felt lost as he wasn't fully absorbing what was happening musically. The learning curve was obviously steep and there was still the aspect of how to apply it to his latest prized endeavor, leading his own group. In addition, as a newbie to saxophone Castillo still hadn't even acquired a taste for leveraging his instrument and strategically voicing what notes he could generate.

'Norman taught me how to work with numbers, how to count and how to communicate in an expedient manner. The music theory he taught me helped enable me to transcribe chords and recordings. I soon learned a lot of songs use the same chords but are actually voiced differently,' says Castillo, with stark emphasis.

With newfound dedication and through self-study, Castillo says it all suddenly fell into place. Soon he was calling chord progressions by number. And the mastery of playing songs and arrangements accelerated right along with it though the going was a continuous challenge.

Later personnel additions to TOP added a distinct jazz flavor when keyboardist Chester Thompson joined the band. Another was trumpeter Greg Adams. But by then, Castillo had solidified his large ensemble as primetime purveyors of Oakland's emerging and vibrant soul music scene. TOP music roots took shape through neighborhoods milked in funky jazz, soul and R&B. A cultural backdrop of working class blacks, Asians, and Mexicans in the area promulgated a multi-cultural explosion with soul music an elementary foundation.

The urban setting compelled TOP album cover designer-photographer Bruce Steinberg to coin the phrase 'East Bay Grease' as a hip descriptor for the famous TOP sound. By claiming Oakland the official TOP hometown, Castillo creatively branded the group and their band's tight groove-making netted a national following through deft songwriting and arranging and sold out tour dates.

Castillo's Detroit upbringing listening to mother Katina's record collection of Dinah Washington and The Platters tunes made music an easy career choice. By frequenting his dad's workplace, he conveniently absorbed showbands known for their punchy 4-piece horn sections and covers of classics like 'Night Train' and 'Harlem Nocturne'.

'For me the coolest guy in the band was the sax player. My brother, Jack Jr., took up the drums and we were on our way. We hung out and listened to stuff like Curtis Mayfield's (with The Impressions) record of 'This Is My Country'. One ballad, 'A Woman's Love' became an infatuation,' recalls Castillo, with giddy excitement.

'We heard those (Maxwell House) coffee commercials with the percolating beat and we put that beat to a song. The syncopated beats caught our ears, so I made up a bass line and guitar parts and soon was creating these layers of sound,' he says. This led Castillo to hire an integral addition for the band, the renowned baritone saxophonist Leonard 'Doc' Kupka. 'Doc was amazed at what I was doing composing these tunes. He inspired me to have the band write our own songs', said Castillo.

Castillo, following a breakup with a girlfriend, managed to use his personal life as inspiration and leveraged that experience thanks to daily doses of The Impressions, featuring Curtis Mayfield’s vocals on 'A Woman’s Love'. 'We were infatuated with this. So, Doc had us compose our own tune and it quickly became a major hit single for us'. That song, 'You’re Still A Young Man' remains a TOP concert staple every night. Shortly thereafter, another single 'Knock Your Self Out' garnered more attention.

The latest TOP line-up reveals a triumphant band return for trumpeter-trombonist Mic Gillette, after a 25-year hiatus. Toss in a new guitarist, Jerry Cortez, whom Castillo says is taking the band to lofty new heights. 'He is just phenomenal,' says Castillo. Besides Castillo, four other original TOP members remain -- Prestia, Kupka, Gillette, and drummer David Garibaldi.

It's no surprise then why Castillo glows about the latest TOP CD 'Great American Soulbook', a respectful yet earnest salute to assorted soul songs which exist as kindred cousins to the heady soul-jazz-R&B milieu of Tower of Power. 'There's a few tunes well known and a few relatively obscure. We were careful not to choose tunes that shaped our sound. We simply wanted to honor soul music and cover a wide path with special guests contributing some musical history,' says Castillo.

Top