Roger Smith: Keyboards, Vocals
I am stoked to be a member of Tower of Power! To formulate your groove within a group like this is a unique challenge because this group has its roots every where, from jazz to pop to soul to blues. T.O.P. combines every element you can imagine -- so just imagine how that challenges me as a player navigating and negotiating so many poly-rhythms. I mean, think about the rhythm section alone! Now consider the intricacy of the horn parts, and the chords coursing through all these tunes. It's not like you can just stick a big old chord in there and make it all-purpose, one-size-fits-all. No, sir! (Laughs.)
You've really have to listen to the chords as they go by, and play in rhythm, and then ask yourself, on songs like "Willing To Learn" and "So Very Hard To Go," how can you help the band maintain that tension, that drama? How can I fatten those suckers up? That's my favorite part of being in the band, stirring the pot without overplaying. You see, Tower's original keyboard player, Chester Thompson, gave us a signature, and forgery is my calling card! (Laughs.) The trick is, how can I follow his footprint and yet make it my own. It's a win-win situation all around. I get to solo with total satisfaction, and still remain faithful to the footprint, like it's never been tampered with. And the fans get to hear the songs as they remember them. Only a band with so much history can accommodate that kind of flexibility.
I’m particularly proud of the solo career I’ve developed as a composer and instrumentalist. My Colors, an album I recorded in the mid-Nineties, was nominated for two Jazz Grammys, which totally blew me away. The follow-up was called Both Sides; one of the songs, “Off The Hook,” went to the top of the jazz charts – in the middle of my first tour with the band! I was honored when the trade magazine Radio & Records recognized me as their “Breakout Artist of the Year” in 1999. I’ve also enjoyed some very fruitful collaborations with Chieli Minucci and George Junda of Special EFX -- I played on their Butterfly album, which had the number one jazz hit, “Cruise Control.” I did a couple of tracks for No Static At All: A Tribute to Steely Dan; we had a lot of fun with “Bad Sneakers.” And once a month I’ll contribute a song or a musical idea to the NBC daytime series Passions – I just tap into the storyline and have fun!
Recently, I've faced a major challenge with my health, and it's reminded me how precious time is, how it's not to be wasted, not one minute. But that's the beauty of adversity. It's hard to explain, but I look at life differently now, on a whole new level. It's a very spiritual transformation, and I feel I've grown tremendously. And musically, wow -- I can't tell you how excited I am to contribute to our next project, as a personal challenge, to push myself musically, but to help the band reach the heights its capable of. It's all part of the journey, making the best out of every moment, every moment of every day.
Being in Tower of Power has been a dream come true for me, the realization of something I've always hoped for. I have other interests, as we all do, and a life outside the band. But in Tower of Power I can truly say: I am free to be who I am. And I am home.
All band member biographies were compiled by Leo Sacks.
Leo Sacks is a freelance record producer in New York. With Emilio Castillo, he co-wrote “Happy ‘Bout That” and “Stranger In My Own House” for Tower of Power’s Oakland Zone (Or Music, 2003), and the bonus track “Nothing Like It” for the European edition.