Inspired by the Tower of Power show I attended last saturday, and by the way Rocco held down the groove while looking so fragile due to his age and health problems, I searched the net for more. And look what a nice (old) picture I found! I love that man...

http://www.roccoprestia.com/gallery/images/rp17.jpg

rocco rocks, for sure!
http://planetsmilies.net/vicious-smiley-1815.gif

I was driving through Oakland last week and Soul Vaccination kept rolling through my head. I think I found the cure for the Honky Pox! (their line, not mine)

There's a small club here in LA called La Ve Lee, usually featuring jazz/fusion, that has some pretty good local players appear- Scott Henderson, Poncho Sanchez, Marco Mendoza, Freddy Ravel etc.

About 5 years ago, there was a sign saying "Appearing Tonight-
Rocco Prestia".
That's something you don't see very often.

The show opened with a 5-piece instrumental rhythm section- Guitar, bass, drums, keys, sax- but no Rocco. They were very good, doing some instrumental funk R&B based tunes.

After 3 numbers, the bassist announced a "special guest" and Rocco took the stage.

I've NEVER seen a better example of a Bassist taking a dominant role and elevating the level of music BECAUSE of his groove and skills.
(BTW, I've seen Jaco w/ Weather Report - live- and many many other stellar players).

But that was the PREMIERE example of what the bass does when it's played well-Rocco was so good, so tight, so amazing- to hear him play in a small club setting, up close... I was stoked to say the least.

Not only that- He was one of the most humble, easy going, personable individuals you could imagine, extremely grateful and mellow when I thanked him for the experience.
I'm glad to know he's OK.
He is one of the finest players to ever nail a groove on the Bass guitar.
Amazing.

L1K+Rocco=awesome, no doubt!

Tight
Pumping
Driving
Rocco

Good to know that he's still touring. I had heard that Bobby Vega had been filling in for him on some Tower of Power shows recently.

By the way, I just got his "Fingerstyle Funk" instructional video in the mail a couple of days ago. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, mainly because it's VHS, and my VCR has been collecting dust on a basement shelf for about a year. Can't understand why they don't make a DVD version; however, I plan on making a DVD copy for myself.

I have an old bass magazine, I think it was like a guitar player bass special and that was the picture of Rocco they had. One of my favorites.

I actually got to see him here in Denver several months ago playing with a local group at their CD release party. I was there to support my bass teacher, and you know who walked out on stage and played a couple of tunes with the band. Give the band a listen when you get a minute http://www.funkiphino.com