Jim Alfredson Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Stumbled across this video of ToP on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert. I won't link to the exact time because it's worth watching the whole thing, but Chester takes a nasty organ solo (while kicking bass) that's so funky, it's illegal in 48 states. 8 5 Quote Keep it greazy! B3tles - Soul Jazz THEO - Prog Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AROIOS Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 49 minutes ago, Jim Alfredson said: Stumbled across this video of ToP on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert. I won't link to the exact time because it's worth watching the whole thing, but Chester takes a nasty organ solo (while kicking bass) that's so funky, it's illegal in 48 states. They've put out a lot of great tunes, but I've always found their signature machine-gun straight 16th bass notes the least Funky thing imaginable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Love this era of the band! 2 Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcS Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 If you only watched the first solo, you missed it. How could anyone tell who in the audience was dancing and who was having a seizure. The only person in the place who could dance with any rhythm was the multi-colored sax guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickzjamm Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 The dancing machine & sax guy monster, Lenny Picket I believe is the current MD on SNL. Yeah, CT is the master of funk solos & pocket on the organ board & pedals!!!!!! Jim, you're pretty funky your damm self BTW!!!!!! Quote You don't know you're in the dark until you're in the light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 That was great, I like this singer a bit better than the one on the Midnight Special live version that I had seen (though he was good too). Always loved this bit Quote You went an' found you a guru In an effort to find you a new you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Damn the band sounds so good here. The pocket somehow seems depeer. I love how high the organ is in the mix. An essential part of the sound IMO. I've played TOP tunes when the keys aren't loud enough (and frankly I'm not funky enough) and it can fall flat. This groove is undeniable. 1 Quote Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Didn't know one of the trumpets would switch to bone sometimes. I thought it was always 2 trumpets 2 tenors 1 bari and that was the TOP sound (except in the studio where they'd overdub). Shows what I really know about this great band. Quote Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossRhodes Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Great find @Jim Alfredson. Worth a watch for the crowd alone. 😄Rocco is the man! Quote Jazz is the teacher, Funk is the preacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 CT is a monster, but gawd damn that band is dangerous. I went to hear them in lowly Elmira NY back in 2008, they played a dining room on the 2nd floor at the Holiday Inn. This was not a town where ToP got radio airplay, but you would never guess it by the very receptive crowd that came to hear them. One of the best concerts I have heard in my life!!! Soooo much to learn from these guys... world class live horn arrangements, the tightest drum/bass section in the business, funky comping on guitar and organ. Oh and a sax playing dancing fool for visual impact. It ain't always about solos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpgxk3 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Thanks Jim, nice find. I saw the guys in 1976 at My Father's Place. They blew the place up of course. Tightest band ever, what a sound up close. One of the horn players used to be able to hold a note as long as he wanted using central breathing?? IIRC? Might have been LP, but can't recall. CT is just The master of funk period. 😁 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Amazing. I wish I could do THAT! Quote '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niacin Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 2 hours ago, jpgxk3 said: One of the horn players used to be able to hold a note as long as he wanted using central breathing?? Circular breathing. I was a teenager playing euphonium in a concert band that once shared the stage with Australian jazz trumpet/trombone great James Morrison, and backstage he showed us how to do circular breathing with a pipe in a tub of water. Iirc you breath in one corner of your mouth while blowing the horn as usual, though it was 40 years ago so i could be misremembering that. I’m sure anyone interested can find it on Youtube. Quote Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Chester was awesome drumming for Zappa & Genesis! (yes, i know) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMcD Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 15 hours ago, rickzjamm said: The dancing machine & sax guy monster, Lenny Picket I believe is the current MD on SNL. Yeah, CT is the master of funk solos & pocket on the organ board & pedals!!!!!! Jim, you're pretty funky your damm self BTW!!!!!! Shit, that's Pickett in ToP? Dude might have the most impressive altissimo in the world. He's been my favourite part of SNL for at least 15 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoJoB3 Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 Players!... every one of them! And only as good as their drummer btw (starts there at the base). Look at how 2022 on has borrowed the fashion btw. Interesting. Wish I owned and could rock some of that. I'm sure most here already know but there's even heavier Chester out there (like 'insane, wait that's Chester T?' kind of playing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 On 2/15/2024 at 9:03 AM, AROIOS said: ... They've put out a lot of great tunes, but I've always found their signature machine-gun straight 16th bass notes the least Funky thing imaginable. As I recall it from playing the song, they're not exactly 16ths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 10 hours ago, D. Gauss said: Chester was awesome drumming for Zappa & Genesis! (yes, i know) He showed his funky side with Weather Report too. The box set has a live version of"Cucumber Slumber" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 What did the leggbone say to the thighbone? What is hip? Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted February 16 Share Posted February 16 I've said it before, I'll say it again: if every '90s jam band had been required to thoroughly check out TOP before playing their first gig, we as a society could have skipped over a whole lot of unnecessary silliness. Also, Chester is a more patient and forward-thinking player than I will ever be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Always funny to see folks just sitting there totally unfazed by the Funk in the room. Granted, not everyone could or should get and dance as evidenced but a head nod or shoulder shinmy or something. Nope. Just sitting there tethered to the seat. Guess only a few skunks running through and spraying the crowd would've made everyone move. 🤣 Yet, the audience totally dug the performance based on their applause and ovation. Great share there. Thanks.😎 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 5 minutes ago, ProfD said: Always funny to see folks just sitting there totally unfazed by the Funk in the room. Back story: Around 73-74, a tpt friend and i, went to see TOP in Boston at Pall's Mall, small room. We didn't have tickets but hoped to get standing room tics. As we were in line, discussing our options, a couple in front of us turned and said they had a pair of tics and we could have them for cost. We had front row seats, TOP was literally, 500-1000 ft away, with no risers. All original member, etc. (There's a live album from that period that many of you are probably aware of. They recorded it at a radio station in NY, I think.) . Anyway, I too had the same response about the crowd. I, could not sit still in my seat for all the up tempo stuff and I remember looking around and being amazed how stoic these people were being, as the most funky music was being played live. I'm sure there were others into it, I mean it's a music town. Now I'm kind of a old man snob in that I wouldn't go see them live again, so to preserve the memory I have of that night but, I've watched tons of newer versions of TOP and they still got it. Sadly, I didn't dig some of the vocalists they got after original left. I loved that the organ was jacked up and part of the sound. Lastly, I have an original vinyl copy of CT's Powerhouse, which I cherish even though I don't have a turntable. Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 10 minutes ago, 16251 said: We had front row seats, TOP was literally, 500-1000 ft away, with no risers. At Paul's Mall, a "small room" (capacity 245 according to this site), front row seats were 500 - 1000 feet from the stage? Typo? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 When I saw them around '90 they sounded pretty good, and there was movement going on in the audience. T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 1 hour ago, Reezekeys said: At Paul's Mall, a "small room" (capacity 245 according to this site), front row seats were 500 - 1000 feet from the stage? Typo? Wow, not a typo, just not good at measurements. Thank you for site info. Needless to say, I was close and very happy. I could think of it as a big wedding venue and I was the first table from dance floor. I saw Bill Evans at Jazz Workshop, among others. (small story <sorry> While waiting in line for Bill Evans, I watched Eddie Gomez pull up in Volvo station wagon, double park and carry his bass in.) Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 I played a few nights at the Jazz Workshop - 1976, I believe. I was in a band on a double-bill with Dave Liebman's Lookout Farm. It was a bit of a mismatch if you ask me! Richie Beirach played my Rhodes (and wasn't that happy about it, lol!). I lived in Boston for my first year of college - 1973/74 - but don't remember going to either Paul's Mall or the Jazz Workshop during that time (being a broke college student had a lot to do with that!). Around 1978 I played at a place called Sandy's Jazz Revival, outside Boston with a great bari sax player, Bruce Johnstone. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
o0Ampy0o Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 TofP was the first live rock concert I attended. Saw them in the 70's original singer at a hall of a fairground, general seating and was maybe 3 people from the stage. Also on the bill Badfinger and Lee Michaels (headliner). I have remembered TofP's set but only one song of LM and only recall seeing but not any songs from BF. I was with a few friends including my sister. She commented how good the singer could dance. The first guy in the audience shown dancing has been at several concerts I attended. Perhaps only generically. One of those who is almost as much a performer in the band as the band. Somehow TofP came up with such exciting arrangements. They really should be bigger in history than they are. Not as many hits but bigger than Chicago IMO as a horn band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Until recently I was much more aware ot the TOP Horn Section than the TOP band. Just because the TOPHS was treated as a brand name like Hip to be square with Huey L and the TOP horns... Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floyd Tatum Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 On 2/15/2024 at 4:53 AM, jazzpiano88 said: Love this era of the band! Who's the dancing tenor player - is that the TOP guy, Lenny Pickett? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberGene Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Blame it on a multitude of factors such as me being a geek/nerd, coming from (and still preferring) classical music concerts, Christian upbringing with a strict no-pleasures dogma but you won’t see me dancing even at the funkiest Funk 😀 I hate dancing and find it embarrassing 🤣 But I understand people who dance on Funk, it really makes you wanna move. I really love it how these grooves can have such an effect. All that being said, after three funk tracks I get bored and need different music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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