All hail the mighty Tower of Power!

And now, to wrap up a week of memorable concerts that I've  been able to see from all my live music-loving (yet not having enough time or money to be able to see all the live shows I'd like to see) days, I'll go to the last live show I've been able to see.

I started the month of September with the launch of this blog, writing about this year's Salt Lake City Jazz Festival.  I wanted to kick off this blog on the right foot.  So when I saw Jerry Cortez -- guitarist for the powerhouse funk and soul group Tower of Power and a Utah resident himself -- posting on Facebook about his band wrapping up the festival that Labor Day weekend Sunday night, I knew that I just had to go.

I'd tried out Tower of Power's music years ago with an audiophile copy of the classic album "Back To Oakland," and I was immediately hooked.

The playing was so tight, so fun, so groovy.  It made you just want to get up and boogie.  The rhythm section, the soulful singing ... perfect.

But one thing that truly defines Tower of Power's music are those horns.   Those mighty horns.

It's one of those things where you use a tired stand-by way of describing something, but in a musical sense it fits perfectly:  If you look up the word "tight" in the dictionary, you'd find a picture of Tower of Power to go along with it.

That would be no lie.

These guys can rip the roof off of any joint.