Whenever the Tower Of Power horn section kicks into any track, whether its the humongous hits “So Very Hard To Go,” “You’re Still A Young Man” and “What Is Hip?” or supporting the A-list likes of Santana, Elton John, Aerosmith, Stevie Nicks and Quincy Jones, the distinctive stamp is unmistakable.

Tenor saxophone player/songwriter Emilio Castillo was there the very first day the beloved Oakland-based band formed back in 1968, alongside fellow lifer/baritone sax man Stephen “Doc” Kupka, who continue to lead the soul, funk and jazz troupe through the brand new “It’s Christmas” collection.

But as Castillo tells Chicago Concert Reviews, there’s going to a wide variety of classics, holiday and otherwise, when the veterans come to the Rialto Square Theatre on Wednesday, December 11, which will be the latest stop on an almost 60-year relationship with the Windy City that won’t be ceasing anytime soon.

What prompted the group to finally release its first ever Christmas album?

Emilio Castillo: A really wise manager named Ivory Daniel. I was talking about, “I would like to get in the studio again, blah, blah, blah.” He goes, “You’re going to the studio…You’re going to do a Christmas record and you’re going to thank me every Christmas for the rest of of your life.”

How did you apply the Tower Of Power sound to holidays?

Castillo: We just tried to put our stamp on the great Christmas songs. We had this one original song called “It’s Christmas” and we actually titled the album after that song, but other than that, we were trying to pick classic holiday Christmas music. We also did a Hebrew song, “Maoz Tzur.” I wanted to do the José Feliciano song, “Feliz Navidad.” We didn’t get around to it, but I think we will be doing that in the future. We just wanted to put out a nod to all these great Christmas songs and put the Tower Of Power stamp on it. That means we think different rhythmically and we try to make sort of calculated, sudden left turns here and there, great vocals, meaning lead and background vocals, and a stellar horn arrangement.

How do you plan to incorporate the songs into your upcoming Rialto Square Theatre show?

Castillo: We have to play all these sort of expected Tower Of Power songs, like “What Is Hip?,” “So Very Hard To Go” and “You’re Still A Young Man,” so we kind of pepper the set with Christmas songs. Last year we did a little tour and we did four. This year we’re doing six and that seems to work out well.

Do any previous shows you’ve performed around Chicago come to mind?

Castillo: We played the [Navy] Pier a few times. We played all the theaters there. All the gigs in Chicago are good because Chicago is a music city. It’s always been a big music city, just like Detroit is, and Memphis, and Nashville, and New Orleans. Certain cities are known for their musicality and Chicago is one of the best.

I lived in Chicago for almost three months when I was making a record in the late ‘70s. We made an album called “Back On The Streets” and I was working there at P.S. Studios, Paul Serrano Studios. We were working with a producer named Richard Evans and I was living there, right on the lake [by] McCormick Place, right around Thanksgiving too cause I remember that was in the days when I was drinking. I went out one night, got particularly drunk and wound up in the hospital. Then they let me out on Thanksgiving day, but told me not to eat (laughs). The people at the studio were friends with the guy that owns a famous Greek restaurant. I can’t remember, but the owner was married to Jo Collins, who was one of the most famous “Playboy” Playmates ever (laughs). So I get out of the hospital and I’m going to the number one Greek restaurant in Greek Town in Chicago. The owner’s a big Tower Of Power fan and his wife’s the most famous Playmate in the world and they’re telling me, “don’t eat and don’t enjoy yourself,” you know? Suffice to say, I didn’t take their advice!

What do you remember about rising to fame throughout the 1970s?

Castillo: I remember I was a foolish young man and had no idea what to do with it (laughs). By God’s grace, I came to my knees in 1988 and that’s when my life kind of changed, and I got on the right path. A year later “Doc” Kupka, the bari sax player and my songwriting partner, got sober, and next thing you know, we were praying. Pretty soon the whole band was praying and things have been good ever since, but that’s not to say we didn’t have a lot of fun in those crazy years. We saw the world. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, and all that, and by God’s grace, lived to tell about it…

Carlos Santana was a huge fan of the band and he took us out on the road when we weren’t really known throughout the nation. We were really hot in the Bay Area. Our first record was out. It was a big hit in the Bay Area, but throughout the nation, nobody knew us and yet he took us out, and we opened for him every night. You know we made him play (laughs). We were playing our best and every night we pushed him. I think that’s why he did it.

Then we had a big tour with Creedence Clearwater Revival, and I remember on those shows, half the tour was [with] Tony Joe White and [the other half was with] Bo Diddley. Every night, and I remember this happened in Chicago, [Bo] walked out on stage, before he even played a note [he said], “I’m so grateful to be here tonight in Chicago, Illinois where I got my start 17 years ago today” and the place would give him a standing ovation before he even started the set! Then we went to Omaha the next day and he walked out and did the same thing! Every city was where he got his start that day (laughs), so it was a lot of fun. [Tony] was so great. He used to sing “Rainy Night In Georgia” every night.

We played with José Feliciano with Santana at The Forum. We toured with Quincy Jones, The Jazz Crusaders, George Benson, the Average White Band, Sly & The Family Stone. We played with all of them. It was a great time.

In what ways did you stand out from everything else that was going on at the time?

Castillo: Another blessing from God. We have our own signature, our own voice. Horns became popular in the early ‘70s and there are a lot of bands that have them, but for some reason, when we put out a record, people would go, “oh, that’s Tower Of Power.” Even if the horn section played on someone else’s record, like Elton John, or Santana, or Linda Ronstadt, people would hear it and go, “oh, that’s the Tower Of Power horns.” We have a sort of signature sound and that helps. I think every great artist needs to find what their signature and what their voice is.

How did it develop that the horn section specifically would work with other artists?

Castillo: It was totally unexpected. We were starting to be known in the Bay Area. There was a guy named Mike Bloomfield, actually he’s from Chicago. He played in Chicago for years and he had a partner named Nick Gravenites, who was in Big Brother And The Holding Company after Janis Joplin left. They liked to watch us play because we did a lot of Howard Tate material and they dug Howard Tate. One night we got a call in the middle of the night from Nick Gravenites and he says, “Hey, what are you guys doing? We’re over at [recording engineer] Wally Heider’s [studio] in San Francisco. We got this song named ‘Funky Jim’ and we think it would be great with horns. Do you feel like coming down and putting on some horns?” And we said, “yeah.” We went down there, had a ball, put the horns on and we just totally loved it. As we’re walking out, he goes, “here” and gave me a bunch of money (laughs). I go, “What’s this for?” “Ah, just thanks a lot.” We’re like “oh!”

And then it wasn’t even a month later, middle of the night again, Carlos Santana calls. “Hey, what are you doing? We’re over here at Columbia Studios in San Fransisco. We got this song called ‘Everybody’s Everything’ and we think it would sound good with horns. You want to put horns on it?” We said, “sure,” went down there and same thing again. We walked out, he shoved a bunch of money in my hand and we’re like, “Wow, this is interesting” (laughs). The next thing you know, we sort of had this side career.

Who are some of the more surprising acts that contacted you to play?

Castillo: Well, we played on heavy metal acts like Poison and PiL [Public Image Ltd]. We played with Neil Diamond. We played with P. Diddy and Pharoahe Monch, the rapper. We’ve done gospel records. We were on The Hawkins Family’s album that got [a Grammy Award for] “Gospel Album Of The Year,” so we’ve done everybody. We got it all over the years.

How did you continue to evolve throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s though now?

Castillo: In the early part of the ‘80s, we still were able to play live, [but] we couldn’t get a record deal. People referred to us as “dinosaurs.” They said, “their music will never be popular again,” but we were still popular enough to play live gigs. We had fans everywhere and Huey Lewis & The News, turned out, was a fan. We played on his records and we used to go sit in with them live. When they put out “The Heart Of Rock & Roll,” he wanted us to go on tour and I made a deal with him. I said, “I gotta promote Tower Of Power. If you promise to promote Tower Of Power, and let me bring them out and play midnight shows after the big concerts with you, and you guys come and sit in with us, I’ll do it.”

He agreed and he was true to his word. Every show he talked about us, every interview. We’d be playing somewhere, like Jones Beach in New York City, and he’d say, “We’re all going over to The Bottom Line in The Village tonight to sit in with Tower of Power. They’re playing a midnight show” and the place would be besieged. So Huey Lewis was a big factor in sort of resurrecting our career, and then at the same time, [David] Letterman. [Musical director] Paul Shaffer and those guys loved us and they had us on the [“Late Night”] show 16 times. That sort of resurrected us.

We were still kind of finding our bottom, and then in 1988, I came to my knees, and in 1989, Doc did. Then in 1990, this guy that was a big fan of the band for years who wanted to be in the record biz, well, he had worked his way up to Vice President of Epic Records. He was sober, and he heard about me and Doc. He called up and we wound up getting a seven album deal with Epic Records. The trajectory was slow going up. It’s still slow going up and I’m glad about that. I remember hearing a story about Quincy Jones telling Patti Austin’s parents, “I hope she doesn’t have a mega hit too soon,” and they were like, “What do you mean?” He said, “I’d rather she’d get in the business, have some relative hits, but have a long career, rather than a short, quick, mega career.” So we’re in our 57th year now and I’m grateful for that.

If you were to refer people to a quintessential album per decade, what would they be?

Castillo: In the ‘70s, I like “Urban Renewal.” That wasn’t as big a seller as “Back To Oakland” or “Tower Or Power,” but I just love that record. In the ‘80s, we didn’t have that many records, but there was a record that we did with Ellis Hall as our vocalist and it’s called “Power.” It’s on Cypress Records and is very difficult to find. In the ‘90s, we did a lot of records and I guess the first one we did for Epic, [“Monster On A Leash”], was the best. We recorded with Al Schmitt, one of the most famous engineers in the world, so the recording quality was superb. The songs were great. We hadn’t recorded much in the ‘80s, so we had all these songs prepared and they came out great. I think in the 2000s, I would say “Oakland Zone.” My favorites recently are the ones that we did with Joe Vannelli and me producing, “Soul Side Of Town,” and the one following it, “Step Up.” We recorded both those albums at the same time and they just came out superb. I love them.

Where do you hear Tower Of Power today in terms of its influence on other artists?

Castillo: I under estimate our influence constantly because I’m in it on a day to day basis, so I’m not really seeing it from outside. But then I hear about these rock bands and these heavy metal bands talking about, “yeah, we’re going do it Tower Of Power style,” plus I hear about these rappers and people sampling us. I’m just like, “we really made a mark” and I’m very proud of that.

So many bands from the 1960s and ‘70s are going on farewell tours. Is that even something you ever envision or are you going to keep going?

Castillo: My ambition is to go as long as B.B. King did. He was my role model. You bop ‘til you drop, but I did just do a 35-day tour of Europe and I nearly dropped (laughs), so I am going to start looking at how I place these gigs and how long these tours are. But yeah, I want to do it for as long as I can.

A lot of members have come and gone, but what’s kept you committed since day one?

Castillo: It’s the music. We don’t follow trends. We don’t try to be like nobody else. We learned a long time ago, no matter what we do, we sound like Tower Of Power…We make it exactly the way we want it to be and that makes it really easy to go to work every day. I love the music and I love the type of musicians that are good at playing this type of music. There’s a certain something about their personalities, it makes for a really comfortable work situation. I’m with these guys 200 days a year and I’m closer to them then my brothers. It’s great to have good people, and for some reason, this type of music seems to draw great musicians with great personalities.

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Tower Of Power performs at the Rialto Square Theatre on Wednesday, December 11. For additional details, visit TowerOfPower.com and RialtoSquare.com.