BERKLEE | Advice from a Funk Pioneer: Chill

Advice from a Funk Pioneer: Chill

Bassist Rocco Prestia follows the Tao of musicianship.

By Danielle Dreilinger and Kevin Levesque
Berklee.edu Correspondents
November 20, 2007

Rocco Prestia goes with the flow at his Berklee clinic.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth.

You might expect a man who took the bass out of the background to promote grandstanding. Not Rocco Prestia. The father of fingerstyle funk bass displayed both force and peacefulness at an October 12 clinic, where he answered questions and performed with Berklee's Tower of Power Ensemble.

Prestia cofounded the 10-piece funk band Tower of Power in 1968 and still plays 150 to 200 gigs per year despite undergoing a liver transplant in 2002 and open-heart surgery in 2006. The student ensemble played last year at a benefit for Prestia's medical bills.

In last month's performance, the ensemble performed seven tunes, including "Soul Vaccination" "What is Hip?" and "So Very Hard to Go." The latter tune featured third-semester student trombonist Aubrey Logan, who stepped out of the brass section to perform a searing lead vocal.

Relaxed about gear (he wasn't sure what strings he used) and practicing (he doesn't), Prestia illustrated that true innovators don't always have a death grip on what they do. He told students to listen to each other, avoid overplaying, and keep their egos on the shelf.

"Trust each other," Prestia said. "You collectively try to get the sound."

He had no love for copycat virtuosity, either, suggesting that players make the music new every time: "Put your own stamp on it. . . . [Being] exact defeats the purpose of being creative."

It was an unexpectedly chill message for the ambitious audience—but from an undeniable authority.

Prestia performs with the student Tower of Power Ensemble.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth.