- Stephen Kupka
Stephen "Doc" Kupka (a.k.a. "The Funky Doctor") (born
25 Mar c.1949 ,United States ) is an Americanbaritone saxophone player andcomposer , best known as a founding member of the bandTower of Power .In
1968 Kupka met tenor saxophonistEmilio Castillo and joined hissoul music cover band 'The Motowns,' based inOakland ,California . Kupka convinced Castillo to start performing original songs, and they changed the band's name to 'Tower of Power'. The band recorded their first album, "East Bay Grease", in1970 . Kupka has been with Tower of Power ever since, and is also responsible for co-writing (with Castillo) many of the band's best-known songs.According to his bio on the Bump City site, the "Doc" plays a Yamaha YBS-62 baritone saxophone, Berg Larsen 130 facing metal mouthpiece, and Rico Plasticover 1.5 strength reeds. [http://www.soulmusiconline.com/bumpcity/band-members/current/doc-kupka.html Doc Kupka on Tower of Power Fan Website]
Kupka has also recorded with numerous other artists, including
The B-52's , Chicago,Dan Fogelberg , Heart,Elton John ,Huey Lewis and the News ,Little Feat , andBonnie Raitt .In 1998, Kupka founded
Strokeland Records along with Andy Ebon as a platform for his own songwriting. Strokeland Records grew to include numerous other soul, jazz, and funk artists. [ [http://www.strokeland.com Strokeland Records ] ]In 2006, Steve Finch took over as Director of Operations for Strokeland Records, as Kupka began work on two new releases: "Doc Goes Hollywood", a collection of his songs written in the "Great American Songbook" style; and "Bumped Up to First Class", a new collection of Kupka's classic soul songs in the early Tower of Power style.
References
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