Emerging from the vibrant late-1960s San Francisco East Bay music scene, the mighty Tower of Power eleven-piece soul-funk machine featured the famous Tower of Power horns and the devastating rhythm team of Francis ‘Rocco’ Prestia on bass and David Garibaldi, purveyor of some of the slickest funk beats ever heard.
Biography:
David Garibaldi was born in Oakland, California, and began playing drums at age ten. By 17 he was playing professionally in a big band. Two years later in 1966 – during the time of the Vietnam War - he was enlisted into the U. S. Air Force where he played in symphonic and big bands. On his discharge in 1970 he returned home and joined Tower of Power.
Over the next few years his playing on tracks like Squib Cakes, The Oakland Stroke, Soul Vaccination and many others became landmarks in the history of funk drumming. David specialised in subtle and precise grooves, involving the inventive use of ghost notes, creating signature drum parts for many of the band’s classic tunes. Although known as a groove player rather than a flamboyant soloist he had one of the finest techniques around.
After leaving Tower of Power David went freelance although it was hard to get his unique style accepted in the 1980s LA session scene. He has nevertheless built up an impressive list of recording credits, including performances with Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Larry Carlton, Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, Jermaine Jackson, Ray Obiedo, the Buddy Rich Orchestra, Boz Scaggs, Gino Vanelli, Deniece Williams, the Yellowjackets and Wishful Thinking.
David rejoined Tower of Power in January 1998 and has been touring with the rejuvenated band ever since. Between times he has also toured Europe with the female singer RAD. He’s also recently worked with Tower of Power’s 'Doc' Kupka in The Strokeland Superband. And as a keen student of Afro-Caribbean music, he has his own trio called Talking Drums with percussionists Jesus Diaz and Michael Spiro. David has also released several highly recommended educational books, videos and DVDs.
Yamaha equipment:
Birch Custom Absolute kit in blue and (at home) another in Silver Sparkle. Sizes are 22”x16” (BBD-1022) bass drum, 10”x7.5” (BTT-1010J), 13”x9” (BTT-1013J) and 16”x14” (BTT-1016) tom-toms. Main snare is the 14”x3.5” David Garibaldi signature model (SD-435DG), with a birch-shelled version of the Peter Erskine sopranino 10"x4" signature snare drum (MSD-10PE) mounted to the left.
Yamaha hardware includes a TH-945 tom holder, 2xWS-865 tom stands, HS-1000 hi-hat, FP-9310 bass drum pedal, SS-940 snare stand, 5xCS-845 cymbal stands, 2xCH-745 cymbal holders, 4xCSAT-924 cymbal stand attachments, AC-910 multi-clamp, WS-945 tom stand, CHH-910 closed hi-hat and DS-940 stool.
Artist Website: www.bumpcity.com (Official Tower of Power website)