MACEO PARKER
Roots & Grooves
Heads Up
Saxophonist Maceo Parker needs no introduction
to fans of soul and funk. He served as James Brown’s
right hand man through his most groove-a-liscious years
and worked with George Clinton’s P-Funk collective,
a logical extension of Brown’s groundbreaking groove-based
music, as well. In 1991 Parker started to map out a solo
career, and he’s remained synonomous with the groove
ever since, mixing in some jazzier moods and even hip-hop.
Parker’s work has been heavily sampled by hip-hop
musicians, in part because of his disctinctive, hard-edged
alto sound and in part because of his devotion to groove-based
music.
Parker was influenced by a variety of saxophonists,
including David “Fathead” Newman, who was as
essential to Ray Charles’ sound as Parker became to
Brown’s. He also shows the influence of Cannonball
Adderley in his sound, his style, and his expansive approach
towards music of all styles. It should come as no surprise,
then, to find Parker in the company of the WDR Big Band
Cologne, a group of musicians who have successfully worked
with groove and funk-based musicians such as Joe Zawinul
and Randy Brecker in recent years. The resulting double
live CD, Roots and Grooves is really two separate
recordings. The first disc is a tribute to the music and
legend of Ray Charles, while the second is a revisiting
of some of Maceo’s most funky tunes in a big band
setting.
Parker’s Ray Charles tribute is one
of the best to arrive since Charles’ death in 2004.
Not only is the song selection strong, but the performance
pays tribute to Charles without slavishly imitating his
sound or the sound of his band. Parker realizes that Charles
music, particularly early on when he was performing in clubs,
is largely good-time music rooted in the blues with a feel
that is completely compatible with the funk groove that
James Brown would later define with Parker’s assistance.
Parker himself handles the vocals, and though his delivery
can be reminiscent of Ray’s at times, he is definitely
his own vocalist. There’s no sense that Parker and
the band need to overplay or pump up these tunes, because
they are both fantastic in their own right and also because
they are so associated with Ray Charles.
On CD 2, ‘Back to the Funk,”
Parker brings in his own rhythm section, drummer Dennis
Chambers and bassist Rodney “Skeet” Curtis.
Both of these guys worked with P-Funk as well as a host
of other great jazz and funk musicians, and they know how
to set the groove. With the pocket they provide, the WDR
horns provide a punchy setup for Parker’s soul jazz
soloing. One cannot help but feel that if Cannonball Adderley
were alive today, he’d be mining this kind of funk
groove.
All the tunes on this second disc are Parker
compositions with the exception the JB classic “Pass
the Peas.” The results are exceptional, and the WDR
soloists are, as always, standouts, including trumpeters
Andy Haderer and John Marshall, guitarist Paul Shigihara,
sax players Karolina Strassmayer and Paul Heller, and Olivier
Peters, who plays the EWI (electronic wind instrument),
a kind of synthesizer/saxophone (anyone remember the Lyricon?).
The two discs that comprise Roots and
Grooves are exceptional performances that continue
both Maceo Parker’s excellent solo discography and
the winning streak of the WDR Big Band Cologne. There’s
just no way you can go wrong with this one.