Posted on 01/18/2016 4:00:34 PM PST by nickcarraway
Mic Gillette, renowned trumpet and trombone player and founding member of the legendary Oakland funky soul band Tower of Power, died suddenly of a heart attack over the weekend. He was 64.
Gillette started playing with members of seminal funk outfit back in 1966 and as first trumpet, he was a powerful sonic force behind Tower of Power’s rise to prominence in the 1970s.
“The Tower of Power family was stunned today by the news that Mic Gillette, our dear friend and bandmate going back to 1966, passed away,†bandleader Emilio Castillo announced on the group’s website Sunday night.
“Mic was without a doubt the greatest brass player I've ever known,†he said. “Our sincere condolences go out to his wife Julia and his daughter Megan and their entire family."
While bands like the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead were shaping the rock scene at the height of the 1960s psychedelic movement in San Francisco, Tower of Power carved out its own funky niche across the Bay in Oakland.
The group had several top 40 radio hits through the 1970s, including “You Are Still a Young Man†and the 1973 grooving classic “What is Hip?â€
During his more than four-decade-long music career, Gillette played with huge names in the business, including Santana, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Elton John and dozens of others.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The entire horn section was one of a kind.
There will never be another one like them.
GREAT song. But I am still most partial to "So Very hard To Go" and "Down To The Nightclub"
Dang, I loved this band's different sound back in the day.
Those names bring me back to some great memories.
I'm jealous.
Was just going to post that. Soooo many are passing on. Sad.
With television gaining prominence, we are now just entering the wheelhouse of the era when the number of celebrities grew tremendously, so we are going to be having a lot more celebrity deaths in the coming years.
Heard a few days ago that Glen Campbell went home to die(End stage Alzheimer’s), very sad..I always loved his music
Introduced my youngest son to Frankie Valli's trumpet player after their concert NY Eve. I was the proud dad, he had just been named to All City band. One of the backup singers overheard me, and said "I know that town! They have a GREAT music program!"
I ordered a beer, toasting them with a Prosit Neujahr.. Their sax player starts talking to me in German, I found out he lived there nearly 20 years. Besides swapping stories about living in Germany, he told me about several name musicians he worked with. I probably bored him, as many of those musicians were in groups on my IPod. Lol
And a big leap of a different sound for their time and era.
Condolences to family and friends of Mic Gillette.
What is Hip? TOP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcL23m9QuaM
I’d like to think our Lord is putting together a new band :)
LOL! WinterLand and PepperLand are “the” very high risk venues.
So long, bozos...
Social Security has unleashed its assassins.
I’ve seen Cray several times . Last time he was with Eric Clapton and Phill Collins . It was incredible .
Bill Champlin went on to join Chicago in the 80s.
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