News and Updates

Don't miss these current eBay auctions benefiting Rocco!

ROCCO IS BACK. Rocco Prestia rejoined Tower of Power on tour in January 2003. Barring any unforeseen medical setbacks, he will be appearing at ALL shows on the Tower of Power Tour Calendar in 2003. This is what we have worked and prayed for the past year. It was only possible through the outpouring of love from fans and friends all over the world like you. Thank you so much! Click here for a musical response. [Posted 1/27/03.]

CBS ORCHESTRA MEMBERS SUPPORT ROCCO. Members of the CBS Orchestra, the house band on Late Night With David Letterman, have been active in the fundraising campaign for Rocco. Former Tower of Power trumpeter Al Chez appeared at the Le Bar Bat benefit in New York, as did his fellow band member, bass guitarist Will Lee. Lee has also actively supported Rocco on his Web site, www.willlee.com, from the earliest days of this campaign. Now their bandleader, Paul Shaffer, has added his name to the growing list of supporters (donor list). The Tower of Power Horn Section appeared regularly on Letterman for a period of time in the early 1990's. We want to take this opportunity to offer our most sincere thanks to these renowned musicians for their outstanding support of Rocco! [Posted 01/24/03.]

NOT YOUR ORDINARY SUBS. The great Dutch bassist, Mark Van Wageningen, substituted for Rocco in May and June at Tower of Power gigs. He is shown here at the DePere, WI gig on Memorial Day Weekend. You can see Mark daily in the house band on The Wayne Brady Show. Since then, the equally great Bobby Vega (Sly's original guitarist), shown below at B.B. King's on November 7, has been subbing for Rocco while he is on the mend. The Medical Fund personally extends its heartfelt thanks to these two fine musicians for their sterling efforts during Rocco's medical leave. Marc's photo by Bill Kritchevsky; Bobby's photo by George Grund. [Posted 11/25/02.]

HBO DONATES TO ROCCO. HBO generously donated some great memorabilia from its hit TV show, The Sopranos, to be auctioned for Rocco's benefit. Included is a baseball cap autographed by every member of the cast, DVDs of all the episodes from the first three seasons, and a Sopranos baseball jersey. Leslie Yngojo Bowes (spouse of former Tower of Power vocalist Tom Bowes) made the arrangements for this donation. The auction is complete. [Posted 11/17/02.]

FRANKIE FOTO CLICKS FOR ROCCO. At his own expense, Frank Abadie, Jr. of Bayport, Long Island, NY, printed 200 T-shirts for the Rocco benefit gig at Le Bar Bat in New York on September 23. He had a substantial quantity remaining after the gig, which he has offered for sale to the public to further help raise money for the Medical Fund. To date the Medical Fund has received $1,251.00 from Abadie from the sale of these shirts. Thank you, Frank, for your great show of support for Rocco! For information on how to purchase one of these shirts, see http://www.francisroccoprestia.com/tshirts.htm. [Posted 11/15/02; updated 11/27/02.]

ROCCO AT THE SUNCOAST. Tower of Power appeared at the Suncoast in Las Vegas for three shows on October 25-27, 2002. Rocco was able to make the trip from Los Angeles. Each night he sat in with the band and played a couple of songs in each set. Bob Faulkner ran into Rocco in the hallway before the October 25 show and captured the photo at right for posterity. [Posted 10/28/02.]

TOKYO GIGS RAISE $15K FOR ROCCO! On September 22, simultaneous gigs at the Sweet Basil and Blues Alley nightclubs in Tokyo, Japan, were held to benefit the Medical Fund. We are delighted to report that the total raised during these combined benefits is 1,830,505 Yen, or about $15,000!!! This puts the fundraising campaign over halfway to its goal! We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Naohiro Kondo, Toshinori Mogi, bassist Tomohito Aoki, trumpeter Eric Miyashiro, all the other musicians, and especially the Sweet Basil and Blues Alley. The generosity and big hearts of the Japanese people throughout this fundraising campaign is especially noteworthy and is deeply appreciated. Thank you! [Posted 10/03/02.] After international currency conversion, the final total from these benefits is: $14,859.28. [Updated 11/15/02]

ROCCO TAKES THE STAGE IN SAN DIEGO. Just 83 days after his July 23 surgery, Francis Rocco Prestia took the stage at Humphrey's in San Diego, California on Friday, September 27, 2002. He played the last three songs in the set with Tower of Power: What Is Hip, You're Still A Young Man, and Knock Yourself Out, taking extended solos on Hip and KYO. George Grund captured this photo after the show of Rocco signing an autograph for George's wife Donna (naturally, Donna is wearing her Tower of Power T-shirt!):

[Posted 09/28/02.]

NYC BENEFIT GIG A SUCCESS. Chris Jisi of Bass Player Magazine, host and emcee for the big benefit gig at Le Bar Bat on September 23, 2002, reports that this event raised $7,677 for Rocco's medical fund! Many thanks to the nearly three DOZEN musicians who made this event so successful, including former Tower of Power lead vocalists Tom Bowes and Brent Carter (pictured at right at Le Bar Bat), both members of the popular New York funk band, Funk Filharmonik.
[Posted 09/26/02.]

DOC AUCTIONS HAT FOR ROCCO. The most famous fedora in funk, Doc Kupka's hat, was auctioned at the Milford gig on 9/5/02 (see following item for details). The winning bidder was Guerino D'Amato, pictured at left--under the hat--with The Funky Doctor himself! This was one of numerous items raffled or auctioned at the Connecticut benefit to help Rocco with his medical expenses. Thank you to everyone, including the Stonebridge Restaurant, who donated the use of their facilities for this very successful benefit show!
[Posted 09/26/02.]

MILFORD GIG RAISES $11K FOR ROCCO. The September 5 benefit at the Stonebridge Restaurant in Milford, Connecticut raised $11,043 for the Rocco Prestia Medical Fund. Kim Yaffa (pictured at right with Tower of Power vocalist Larry Braggs at the event) organized the event! Photo by Steve Schwartzenberg.
[Posted 09/16/02.]

JACO PASTORIUS 7 CD SET ON EBAY. A retail record merchant in Brooklyn, New York (who wishes to remain anonymous) has donated 10 copies of the complete Jaco Pastorius 7 CD set. All proceeds from this auction go to Rocco's medical fund. The first six sets have been successfully auctioned to bidders all over the United States. The CD sets are being auctioned one at a time to enable everyone to have the opportunity to bid on one of these sets. If you would like to obtain the definitive Jaco Pastorius collection, check out these auctions being conducted by Chuck Marchant from New York. The 7th of these 10 sets is up for auction on eBay right now: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=917119629.
[Updated 10/30/02.]

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TODAY? Our good friend Toshinori Mogi in Japan wrote to tell us the story of a young boy who attended the August 11 HamaRock amateur rock festival in Japan. The event was rained out. An appeal was made to the audience and more than 50,000 Yen (over $400) was donated for Rocco's medical fund. The boy donated his train fare and walked home, more than 15 miles--in the rain!
[Posted 09/10/02.]

CHANNEL 36 AIRS SHOW ON ROCCO. Recently Roy Avila, Community Affairs Director for KICU-TV, Channel 36 in the Bay Area (San Francisco, California), aired a community affairs program discussing the Rocco Prestia Medical Fund. Avila's guests were Tower of Power Webmaster Andy Ebon and Al Carlos Hernandez, one of the band's most avid fans. About 20 minutes of the half hour show was dedicated to a discussion of Tower of Power and Rocco Prestia. We thank these men for helping to promote this worthwhile cause on Bay Area television!
[Posted 09/10/02.]

DENVER GIG RAISES $671 FOR ROCCO. The August 29 benefit gig at Choppers Sports Grill in Denver, Colorado, raised $671 for the medical fund. Thanks to Funkiphino and Phil Cummings and everyone else for their great efforts on Rocco's behalf! [Posted 09/02/02.]

FRENCH TRANSLATION NOW ONLINE. Carolyn Phillips in Bayonne, France, has graciously spent many hours translating the Home Page of this Web site into French. The translation is online at: http://www.bidaia.com/rocco/. Thank you so much! The Home Page is now available in six languages.
[Posted 09/02/02.]

SEPTEMBER BASS PLAYER MAGAZINE ARTICLE. The September 2002 issue of Bass Player Magazine includes a one-page article about Rocco and this fund-raising campaign. Thank you to the editors and staff writers of Bass Player Magazine for covering this story! [Posted 08/26/02.]

UPDATE ON LOS ANGELES GIG. The August 19, 2002 gig at Cafe Cordiale, Sherman Oaks, California, raised $3,640 for the medical fund! Our sincere thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this event possible. [Posted 08/27/02.]

JAPANESE FANS SUPPORT ROCCO. Tower of Power appeared at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival in Shizuoka, near Tokyo, on August 11, 2002. Donations were collected at the show for the medical fund. We are delighted to announce that T.o.P. fans donated $2,687.77 at this show! Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen! [Posted 08/23/02.]

MEDIA COVERAGE. Thanks to Margie McElhiney in Hayward, CA, for sending this news clip (see image at left) that appeared in The Oakland Tribune, The Argus (Fremont, Newark, and Union City), The Daily Review (Hayward, San Leandro, and Castro Valley), the Tri-Valley Herald (Livermore, Pleasanton, etc.), the San Mateo County Times, and the Alameda Times-Star.
[Posted 08/17/02.]

BUY A VIDEO AND HELP ROCCO. Video Progressions is donating all proceeds from the sale of Rocco's Fingerstyle Funk video directly to Rocco's medical fund. This offer applies to orders placed online at http://www.videoprogressions.com. Thanks to David Schaub, Director and Producer of the video, for this offer. THIS OFFER ENDS DEC. 31, 2002.
[Posted 08/05/02.]

CHICKEN FIST TATTOOS. Here's an inexpensive way to support Rocco and have some fun at the same time. Get a temporary tattoo (pictured actual size at right) with the famous Tower of Power “Chicken Fist” artwork. Show up in style at your next Tower of Power concert! One for a $5.00 donation, or three for a donation of $10.00. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope, and your check or money order made payable to Rocco Prestia Medical Fund to: David Mover, 780 N.E. 69th St. #708, Miami, FL 33138. All proceeds go directly to the Rocco Prestia Medical Fund. Order now while the supply lasts!
[Posted 08/01/02.]

ROCCO RECEIVES LIVER TRANSPLANT. In a 6+ hour surgery on Tuesday, July 23, Rocco Prestia received a liver transplant at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. The surgery went smoothly with no complications.
[Posted 07/23/02.]

ON THE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE. Not really! But Rocco's story and this Web site does receive coverage in the News section of the current issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. Thank you to the editors of Rolling Stone!
[Posted 07/22/02.]

ROCCO BACK IN INTENSIVE CARE. On Sunday, July 21, Rocco went into a coma again. He was transported to the hospital and is in the intensive care unit. He is on a respirator to help his breathing and is receiving blood. Pray for the best!
[Posted 07/22/02.]

ROCCO #1 ON TRANSPLANT LIST. We have just received news that Rocco has been moved to #1 on the waiting list for a liver transplant. The next available liver goes to Rocco! Pray for the best!
[Posted 07/19/02.]

BANNER FOR TOWER GIGS DONATED. Nina Mabalay, an avid Tower of Power fan in Washington, is donating a vinyl banner that promotes the fund-raising campaign. It will be delivered to the band at the Enumclaw show on July 17 (tomorrow) and will be displayed at the merchandise table at each subsequent show. Thank you, Nina, for this great idea! Special thanks to Tony Gable of Gable Design for his assistance with this project.
[Posted 07/16/02.]

TOWER ALUMNI RAISE $545 FOR ROCCO. The July 14 benefit for Rocco at Fisherman's Village, Marina Del Rey, California, featuring Tower of Power alumni Carmen Grillo and Bill Churchville (among others) raise $545 for the Rocco Prestia Medical Fund. Thanks to the Funk Attack Band for their efforts on Rocco's behalf!
[Posted 07/14/02.]

7 BRIDGES RECORDINGS SUPPORTS ROCCO. Michael Kirsch, President of 7 Bridges Recordings in Berkeley, CA, has contacted us with a special donation of rad's Higher Plane CD, featuring rad with David Garibaldi, Mark Van Wageningen and Bobby Vega. See the Special Events page for details. Your donation goes for a good cause and you get a great CD! You must mention the CD in the comments section of the PayPal form. To learn more about the CD, visit the Web site at: http://www.radmusic.com/rad/albumshigh.html.
[Posted 07/13/02.]

ROCCO READMITTED TO HOSPITAL. Rocco was taken to the hospital late Friday night and readmitted due to dizziness and vomiting. If you would like to send a card or a letter of encouragement, address it as follows:

Rocco Prestia
c/o Katherine Kelso Scott
7443 Sale Ave
West Hills CA 91307
[Posted 07/13/02.]

TOLL-FREE NUMBER IN THE WORKS. Thanks to David “STTV” Mover of Miami, Florida, for donating a toll-free telephone line for news, updates, and information about this fund-raising campaign. Radio stations and other non-print media will be able to give out an easy-to-remember number in public service announcements and other advertisements. The number is 888-51-ROCCO, or 888-517-6226, and is expected to be operational by Friday, July 19. See if you recognize the voice on the recorded message!
[Posted 07/13/02.]

JAZZBRIDGE.COM SUPPORTS ROCCO. JazzBridge Music has a special CD offer--see the Special Events page. Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra (and JazzBridge Music) will be donating auction items for an upcoming East Coast benefit gig. Stay tuned for details.
[Posted 07/13/02.]

JACK MACK SUPPORTS ROCCO. Jack Mack and the Heart Attack supports Rocco with a special offer on their CDs. See the Special Events page.
[Posted 07/11/02.]

ITALIAN LANGUAGE WEB SITE NOW UP. A translation of this Web site is now available in Italian at: http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/cartoni_jap/rocco_prestia.htm. Thank you to avid Tower of Power fan Lorenzo Bombacini for his diligent work on this project.
[Posted 07/11/02.]

JAPANESE LANGUAGE WEB SITE NOW UP. A translation of this Web site is now available in Japanese at: http://www.roccoprestia.jp. Thank you to Naohiro Kondo for his diligent work on this project.
[Posted 07/11/02.]

ROCCO ON HIATUS. The following was posted by Andy Ebon, Tower of Power's Webmaster, on the Tower of Power Message Board:

On Friday, June 28, at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California, Emilio Castillo, Tower of Power’s bandleader, paused before beginning the band’s encore to make an important announcement. Paraphrasing Emilio, his comments were roughly these: “Many of you may be wondering where our bass player, Rocco Prestia, is. Rocco is a very, very ill man at this time and is in need of a liver transplant. He is in the hospital and has just awakened from a coma he has been in for two days. We ask your prayers for his speedy recovery.”

There will be further official announcements as appropriate. For the immediate future, Rocco is on hiatus. Subbing for him will be Marc Van Wageningen or Bobby Vega. They have each filled in on several dates during the last month.
[Posted 06/28/02.]

ROCCO HOSPITALIZED. Rocco Prestia was taken to the hospital on Wednesday evening, June 26. He was admitted to the intensive care unit where he remained in a coma for two days. He regained consciousness on Friday but is experiencing difficulty breathing and is in danger of kidney failure. He continues to be hospitalized awaiting a donor for a liver transplant.
[Posted 06/26/02.]

PHONE CARDS DONATED. Jeanne LeClear has donated phone cards to our fund-raising effort to help us with the expenses of Rocco. What a lovely and thoughtful gesture! Thanks, Jeanne!

PHOTO RELEASE DONATED. Many thanks to Frank Abadie, Jr. (“Frankie Foto”) for allowing us to use his photograph of Rocco Prestia, taken April 20, 2002 at the Keswick Theatre, Philadelphia. This was the last weekend that Rocco appeared with the band before going on medical leave.