Rocco Prestia Archives

Julia Hofer’s “Top 5 Bass Lines” series is a popular one here, and she has a new edition. Julia breaks down her favorite Tower of Power tunes (and the work of Rocco Prestia) in this video.

The bass world lost a legend last week with the passing of Tower of Power bassist Francis “Rocco” Prestia. Now, a huge gathering of the bass community will be getting together to remember him.

Tower of Power has announced that bass legend Francis “Rocco” Prestia has passed away. The band made the announcement on their social media.

Tower of Power celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2018 with “Soul Side of Town.” Though it was a partial victory lap for the band, they’re clearly not done as they’ve just released a new album called “Step Up,” recorded during the same session.

In May, Rocco Prestia announced he was working on his first solo album in 20 years. Of course, his work with Tower of Power is always popular, including the videos we shared in 2019. This landed him at #9 on this year’s “Reader Favorite Bassists” list.

Back in 2008, Tower of Power celebrated its 40th anniversary. Taken from their 40th Anniversary DVD, here’s Rocco Prestia and the band laying down the East Bay grease on “Boys From The Bay.”

During the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival, Tower of Power took the stage and brought the funk (and were joined by Carlos Santana and Chester Thompson). Here’s a clip of the band performing “Squib Cakes.” Rocco Prestia killed it!

Twenty years after releasing his debut solo album, bass icon Rocco Prestia has announced he’s working on his second. The Tower of Power legend unveiled the new project via an ArtistShare crowdfunding campaign.

Here’s an excellent clip from Bass Day 98 showcasing Rocco Prestia on the tunes “Oakland Stroke” and “What is Hip.” Is there a tighter rhythm section than Rocco and David Garibaldi?

Tower Of Power performed a killer set at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 2006. Among the tunes they played was “So I Got to Groove.” Of course, Rocco Prestia laid down the funkiness behind the band and that awesome horn section.

Who knew you could be so funky for so long? Tower of Power is celebrating 50 years of making music in 2018 with a new album called Soul Side of Town. While the band’s lineup has changed up through the years, the album includes original saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Stephen “Doc” Kupka as well as the epic rhythm section of...

The other day, I stumbled upon this 1973 video of Tower of Power’s appearance on Soul Train. I immediately texted it to Kevin, and then I watched it countless times since then. The song is “So Very Hard To Go”, and Rocco Prestia is laying it down like only he can, behind one killer band.