Rhythm and Business is an album by the American band Tower of Power.[2] It was released in 1997.[3][4] The band promoted the album by playing the Red Sea Jazz Festival, among other concert dates.[5]
Production
The album was produced by bandmember Emilio Castillo.[6] The band had decided not to chase any kind of market trend, and instead record what it wanted.[2] Castillo, Stephen Kupka, and Frances Rocco Prestia were the only founding members who played on Rhythm & Business.[7] The title track is about the state of 1990s R&B and the music industry.[8]
The Boston Globe wrote that "the implausibly soulful baritone sax of Stephen 'Doc' Kupka, Castillo's partner since 1969, is highlighted on 'Spank-A-Dang' and 'East Bay Way'."[13] The Los Angeles Daily News noted that "Tower of Power has never lost the ability to turn up the heat on slippery funk grooves and soulful ballads."[11]
The Blade deemed the album "plain old funk and soul," writing that, "at times, it's like listening in on a jam session as the horns blare and the drums pound."[14] The Sunday News called it "a funky soul assembly of churning Hammond organ, snappy chicken-scratch rhythm guitar, ear-bending wah-wah guitar, high-powered thumb-popping funk bass, soaring gospel-tinged soul singing and those nasty, legendary, extraordinary Tower of Power horns."[15] Christina Cole, of the Anchorage Daily News, listed the album among the best of 1997.[16]
AllMusic wrote that "these guys know all there is to know about R&B and on Rhythm & Business they combine their musical passion, knowledge and abilities into that one-of-a-kind Tower of Power sound."[9]
