You have probably heard Maceo Parker, even if you haven't heard of him. He is a veritable Forrest Gump of soul music for the last 20 years, packing a resume which reads like a who's who of the jazz/funk/soul recording industry.
His contribution to the colloquium of cool cannot be overstated; adding flame to James Brown, flavor to Bootsy Collins, and soul-power to George Clinton. His signature noise, grown from a fertile childhood of soul, blues, and gospel, fertilized by the likes of John Coltrane, King Curtis and Hank Crawford, has bloomed into a composition of unique rhythm-driven fire.
His latest disk, "Southern Exposure" expands on the "2% jazz, 98% funk" cuts of his previous works: Planet Groove, Roots Revisited, and Mo Roots. Aided by the eloquence of the performers, the album is accessible to neophytes without losing much of its complex character.
Tenor sax Pee Wee Ellis and trombone Fred Wesley, both James Brown alums, even join in on two of the tracks.The latter of the two songs, "Every Saturday Night," an encomium to Ray Charles, features Parker's little heard other instrument, a throaty but lilting voice. Several of the cuts, particularly those with the 8-piece Rebirth Brass Band sport a funkified New Orleans jazz sound, with walloping doses of Maceo's pumping sax cutting between chords of the carnival-esque atmosphere on "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy."
Overall, the album is a return to tradition-steeped roots, but provides an adequate blend of the funk that made him famous. The seemingly boundless energy and lung power are channeled by a Meters percussion line on "Keep On Marching," invested with a staccato drill of interplanetary funksmanship. The flavorful bass of George Porter is a highlight throughout, but particularly on "Splashing" his solid tones flavor the horns.
At times, it seems without reins of a strong band Parker could very well huff and puff himself well into energetic cacophony, but thankfully, his co-conspirators are able to effectively focus him into a chisel cut stone groove. The main fault of the legions of contemporary satin jazz men is that they are rarely able to deliver the emotion and verve promised by their technical proficiency. Maceo Parker, as musician and band leaderputs it forth the old-fashioned way: with sweat, smoke, and swagger.
From 1964 until the mid 1980s, Parker provided the saxual healing of James Brown, cementing his place in the annals of musical lore. Since Brown's penitentiary sabbatical, Maceo has struck out on his own, not only as a performer, but also in collaboration with groups like Dee Lite, 10,000 Maniacs, DeLa Soul and Rod Stewart. His contributions seem to have sated an otherwise soul-starved audience, in addition to expanding his own appeal. Both on "Southern Exposure" and in concert, the competence of his band leadership is evident, the sound controlled, but evocative.
Maceo Parker will be kicking off Green Key weekend at 4 p.m. on Thursday May 18th at 5 Webster Ave.
