Norman Howard Landsberg

Norman Howard Landsberg, b. August 20,1949, passed away peacefully at home on October 28, 2023 after a nearly yearlong battle with a brain tumor. He is survived by his wife Socorro de Castro – Landsberg, brother Joel Landsberg with wife Sarah Greenwald, numerous adoring cousins, and a musical cadre of friends nationwide who cherish the memories of his wonderful presence and musical prowess.

The following is adapted from a profile written by Andrew Gilbert in the East Bay Times from April 2017.

Considering how many different musical lives Norman Landsberg has lived it’s a wonder he only had one alter ego. By day he was the mild-mannered general manager of Piedmont Piano in Oakland’s bustling Uptown district, but by night, donning his fedora, he stepped into the role of Manny Moka, the streetwise leader of the hard grooving nine-piece Latin funk-jazz combo “Band on Fire”. Considering as well, his history as a founding member of the pioneering heavy metal band Mountain, famous for the cowbell-driven, stripper friendly hit “Mississippi Queen,” it’s hard to say which role suited him better. The truth is he was a musician who followed his particular gifts wherever they’ve led. Over the years he served as musical director for the Pointer Sisters during the siblings’ early 1970s rise and toured with Tower of Power vocalist Lenny Williams, played hundreds of gigs with friend and fellow pianist Bob Yount as the long-running pop piano duo Landsberg & Yount, performing with major symphony and regional orchestras around the country as well as being one of the first artists invited to join Yamaha’s prestigious concert and artist roster, and produced albums for acts from the Philippines along with his wife, pianist/composer Socorro de Castro - Landsberg. “You start out and take all these different left turns,” Landsberg said from his home in San Francisco. “You need to do different things to sustain yourself. I’ve always liked to produce. That’s what I do best. The Manny Moka thing, it’s the music that I loved growing up. Earth, Wind & Fire and Tower of Power didn’t invite me to play with them so eventually I created my own band. It’s so much fun with all percussion and horns and all that drive.” Landsberg introduced Manny Moka on an eponymous 2006 CD and followed up with 2014’s powerhouse “Brooklyn Battery” (both on Lamp88 Records), which drew heavily from the ranks of Santana. As any bandleader will tell you, launching a large ensemble is an unforgiving financial exercise. Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, Landsberg absorbed the Latin music that defined the era just before the rise of salsa and the Fania label, particularly Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. Manny Moka was born when he found himself pouring all his energy into other people’s music as a hired gun. “I was doing all these projects, writing tunes and producing, and I wanted to do my own thing,” he said. “What music do I really like? Funk and Latin. I wanted to explore where that music intersects. If it gets to be expensive, you learn to work digitally. You learn to do it yourself or it won’t get done.” He’d been a self-taught self-starter from the beginning. He studied classical music with private teachers growing up and taught himself to play organ. His high school buddy, drummer Ken Janick, was hanging out with the rising garage rock band, The Vagrants. When neighborhood rivals Vanilla Fudge released a track with strings “The Vagrants wanted a piece with a string quartet too, and Ken said Norman can arrange that,” Landsberg said, “I started hanging with them and when the group fell apart guitarist Leslie West, Ken and I formed another group, a power trio. I was going to play bass with the organ pedals. I had never done that.” Landsberg co-wrote half of the original tracks on the 1969 debut album “Mountain” (Windfall), songs sampled decades later by the likes of Jay-Z and Kanye West. But his tenure with the group was cut short when producer/bassist Felix Pappalardi, a heavyweight from his work as a producer and arranger with Cream, replaced Ken Janick and Landsberg walked out in solidarity. He missed playing Woodstock with Mountain, but quickly formed a new band, Hammer, which came under the wing of producer David Rubinstein and impresario Bill Graham. Signed to Atlantic, the band had a brief burst of success in 1970 following the release of an eponymous debut album on which Landsberg contributed his writing talents to the majority of tracks. “We had a great first year and opened for all the biggest acts,” he recalled. “Our first professional gig we opened for Leon Russell and Miles Davis at Fillmore West. I had applied and was accepted to the Berklee College of Music and at the same time Hammer got their record deal. Go to Boston and study, or go to California and do it? You’re 19, You tell me, which would you chose?”

In lieu of a monetary donation to an undoubtedly worthy cause, Norman himself had requested that you instead perform a random act of kindness for someone you may or may not know, perhaps both, if you’re up to it.

Vaya con Dios Manny!

A celebration of life and remembrance service will be held on January 6, 2024 at 1:00 PM at the San Francisco Columbarium, One Loraine Court, San Francisco CA 94118