Maceo Parker

MaceoParker: his name is synonymous with Funky Music, his pedigreeimpeccable; his band: the tightest little funk orchestra on earth.

Everyoneknows by now that he's played with each and every leader of funk, hisstart with James Brown, which Maceo describes as " likebeing at University ";jumping aboard the Mothership with George Clinton; stretching outwith Bootsy's Rubber Band.  He’s the living, breathing pulsewhich connects the history of Funk in one golden thread. The cipherwhich unravels dance music down to its core.

"Everything'scoming up Maceo," concluded DownBeat Magazine in a 1991 article at the beginning ofMaceo Parker's solo career. At the time Maceo was a remembered byaficionados of funk music as sideman; appreciated mainly by those inthe know. More than a decade and a half later Maceo Parker has beenenjoying a blistering solo career. For the past sixteen years Maceo has been building a new funk empire, fresh andstylistically diverse. He navigates deftly between James Brown's1960's soul and George Clinton's 1970's freaky funk while exploringmellower jazz and the grooves of hip-hop. 

Hiscollaborations over the years performing or recording or both haveincluded Ray Charles, Ani Difranco, James Taylor, De La Soul, DaveMatthews Band and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. His timeless sound hasgarnered him a fresh young fan base.

It is almostimpossible to separate which came first, Maceo or the funk. Theamazing P-funk Parker has been at it with his legendary alto horn forsome time dating back to the 1960’s. That’s when Maceo and hisdrummer brother Melvin climbed on board the James Brown funky soulfunk train. It wasn’t long before James coined the solo summoningsignature, “ Maceo,I want you to Blow!” . To most musicologists it’s the muscially fertile group of men fromthis period of James Brown's band who are recognized as theearly pioneers of the modern funk and hip-hop we still jump to today.
 
In 1964, Maceo and his brother Melvin were in collegein North Carolina studying music when a life-changing event tookplace. James Brown, the famous God Father of Soul happened on to anafter hours club in which Melvin was drumming a gig. Mr Brown was insearch of some late night food when he was knocked out by MelvinParker’s bombastic beats. Brown offered the drumming Parker afuture gig, telling him all he had to do was refresh the soul man’smemory and a job would be his. Cut to a year later when James Brown’sband was touring again in the North Carolina area. The Parkerbrothers looked to take JB up on his verbal job posting and cased thevenue in search of James Brown’s limo. After a while they spottedthe vehicle and waited for brother James to step out. Walking rightup to the already legend of soul, Melvin works Mr. Brown’s memoryto the year before. Soon, JB’s eyes light up and he resubmits thejob to the drumming Parker, while Maceo stands by waiting his shot.Then Melvin blurts, “Oh, by the way Mr. Brown this is my brotherMaceo, he plays saxophone, and he needs a job too.” James, asksMaceo if he owned the big horn. Maceo, spouts a big fib responding“Ahhhhh, yes Mr. Brown,” knowing full well he would have to goout and find the big brass Bari sax if he wanted to join his brotheron the road. Maceo found a Baritone sax and recollects that he andhis brother thought they’d play with JB for about six months andthen head back to school. Maceo laughs, “ Westayed a lot longer than that.”

Maceo grewto become the lynch-pin of the James Brown enclave for the best partof two decades. - his signature style helped define James' brand offunk, and the phrase: "Maceo,I want you to Blow!"  passed into the language. He’s still the most sampledmusician around simply because of the unique quality of his sound.

There wouldbe other projects and short hiatuses during his on-off time with TheGodfather, including a brief spell overseas when he was drafted, andin 1970 when he left to form Maceo and All the Kings Men with somefellow James Brown band members (the two albums from this period areon a constant reissue cycle even some thirty years later.)

It wasMaceo's uncle front man for local band the Blue Notes, who wasMaceo’s first musical mentor. The three Parker brothers (Maceo,Melvin and trombonist Kellis- later to become Professor ofEntertainment law at Columbia University) who formed the “JuniorBlue Notes. " .When Maceo reached the sixth grade, their uncle let the Junior BlueNotes perform in between sets at his nightclub engagements. Itwas Maceo's first experience of the stage that started hislove affair with performing that has increased rather than diminishedwith time.

Maceo grewup admiring saxophonists such as David "Fathead" Newman,Hank Crawford, Cannonball Adderley and King Curtis. "Iwas crazy about Ray Charles and all his band, and of courseparticularly the horn players" .By the age of 15, Maceo had forged his own style on the tenor sax. "Ithought about ‘Maceo Parker plays Charlie Parker’, and then Ithought how about ‘Maceo Parker plays Maceo Parker’, what wouldit be like to have young sax players listening to me and emulating mystyle of playing”. Thus the “Maceo sound” we know so well was born.

In the mid'70's Maceo hooked up with Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, and thevarious incarnations of Funkadelic and Parliament. He now had workedwith the figure heads of Funk music at the height of their success.From the breathtaking shows of James Brown to the landing of theMothership,  Maceo has been there - as close as it gets to someof the most exciting moments in musical history, contributing hissound as a constant point of reference.

In 1990 theopportunity came for Maceo to concentrate on his own projects. Hereleased two successful solo albums entitled RootsRevisited (which spent 10 weeks at the top of Billboard's Jazz Charts in 1990)and Mo'Roots (1991). But it was his third solo album, Maceo’s ground breaking CD Lifeon Planet Groove, recordedlive in 1992 which soon became a funk fan favorite. PlanetGroove also served as a calling card, boosting Maceo's contemporary careeras a solo artist for a college aged audience, and bringing into beinghis catch phrase "2%Jazz, 98% Funky Stuff."

 Maceo beganhis relentless headlining touring, bringing his top notch, road-tightband and three hour plus shows to the people all over the world. "Ifeel it's my duty as an artist to go as many places as I can,especially if the people want it."  The soft spoken North Carolina native doesn't come out on stagein a diaper or a velvet swirling cape, no giant spaceships or 50person entourages, nothing except the core of his musical soul whichhe lays open every time he blows his horn.

In 2003, afterseveral years as Band Leader for the Rhythm and Blues FoundationAwards Maceo received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and BluesFoundation for his contribution as a sideman to the genre of R &B.

He has alsosince 1999 participated in some of Prince's groundbreaking tours whennot with his own group.

Maceo's albums FunkOverload , DialM-A-C-E-O and Madeby Maceo entered the top 40 in the European charts upon release. DialM-A-C-E-O features guest spots from the Mistress of folk music Ani DiFranco,Prince, and a quite different James from the one we have come toassociate with Maceo: James Taylor, while School's In from 2005 isabout as Funky as a studio album can be.

At thebeginning of 2007 Maceo had a chance to fulfill one of his dreams inworking with a Big Band. Working with Grammy Award Winners the WDRBig Band, he broadcast and performed a live series of shows payingtribute to Ray Charles and putting Maceo’s own funky music to a BigBand setting.

This has ledto his latest release Rootsand Grooves  alive recording taken from these shows which also features DennisChambers and Rodney "Skeet" Curtis.

"GivenParker's sense of groove invention and the evergreen emotional powerof Charles' chestnuts like "Busted" and "Hit theRoad Jack," anyone might have expected this to be a dream match.But it's more than that because Parker also sings with a gravelly, Charles- likeperfection on these two songs, and even more poignantly on "YouDon't Know Me," "Margie," and a magically moody"Georgia on My Mind." Charles may have been declareddeceased in body in 2004, but he lives again through Parker inhaunting yet wonderful ways".