WOMAD

Maceo Parker

From United States

'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' by James Brown, right? That back-bone slip-sliding riff during the verses where the bass is lowdown and dirty but the sax is dirtier still, right? Well that's Maceo, tussling with the moral majority. The word 'legend' has long been a victim of verbal inflation and become a cliché, but when Maceo Parker is the man in question you just have to say "Legend!" There ain't no way around it. Just check his CV. I mean, the man was THERE when 'Sex Machine', 'Cold Sweat', 'Get On The Good Foot' and 'Payback' came busting out of the studios speakers for the very first time. Maceo Parker joined the James Brown band, the 'JBs', as a green horn sax man back in 1964 and stayed with The Godfather for the best part of the next decade and a half, not counting a few years peeling potatoes in Europe for Uncle Sam. His tenure as lynchpin member of the JB Horns coincided with momentous developments in black music. It was the era when soul mutated into funk and Maceo not only bore witness to these changes, he actually played a major part in making them happen. He also found time to record two albums with his own band, All The Kings Men. In 1980 Maceo became a member of Parliament, not as MP for Billericay, but as fellow funkateer to George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Horny Horn stalwarts Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis. In the 1990s Maceo went his own way again producing a string of acclaimed solo albums which ends with his latest, 'Dial: M. A. C. E. O.' on the German label ESC. Maceo is a proud survivor of show business's old skool, when life was touring, touring, touring with a few hours stolen from the schedule here and there to cut another classic tune. Nearing the big 6-0, he'll still blow a tight sweet little riff that won't fail to put you on the good foot!June 2000