The horn section is the star of the enduring R&B/soul/funk ensemble Tower Of Power, which has outlasted some 50 different lineups—not to mention a dozen lead singers—since forming in Oakland in 1968. Known originally as The Motowns when tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo and baritone sax player Stephen “Doc” Kupka first joined forces, the newly renamed Tower Of Power released their rough-and-ready debut, East Bay Grease, in 1970. Bump City’s “You're Still a Young Man” went Top 40 in 1972, and their eponymous 1973 release delivered three more hits thanks to soulful vocalist Lenny Williams and pyrotechnically inclined tenor saxophonist (and future Saturday Night Live bandleader) Lenny Pickett. A couple of late-’70s disco experiments preceded a nine-year recording hiatus; with 20 albums behind them, Tower Of Power soldiered on into the new century, launching their own label in 2009 with the genre tribute Great American Soulbook. And with Kupka and Castillo still at the helm in 2022, the band began leading select orchestras in a new sort of classical music: James Brown medleys.