Maceo Parker - Roots & Grooves
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CD Details
Artist: Maceo ParkerEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2008-02-12
Music Label: Heads Up
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
- Hallelujah I Love Her So
- Busted
- Them That's Got
- You Don't Know Me
- Hit the Road Jack
- Margie
- Georgia On My Mind
- What'd I Say
- Uptown Up
- To Be Or Not To Be
- Off the Hook
- Advanced Funk
- Shake Everything You Got
- Pass the Peas
Music reviews of Roots & Grooves
Music Review: Exuberant, energetic, electrifying !
Rating: 4 Stars
Alto saxophonist Maceo Parker, the former James Brown sideman and P-Funk all-star, is heard for the very first time fronting a big band, the Germany's acclaimed WDR Big Band Cologne on this 2007 2CD live recording during a European tour.
The first disc is a tribute to Ray Charles; the second contains Parker's trademark stuff and digs deep into the soul/funk groove.
Parker rose to prominence as a member of James Brown's band (his first tenor sax recording was on Papa's Got A Brand New Bag) and was a key member of George Clinton's Parliament and Funkadelic.
He has arranged his new album with one CD devoted to his homage to Ray Charles and the other one as a showcase for Parker's own fiery hybrid of R&B, soul and funk.
Parker plays powerfully on his alto sax and does a decent job of singing like Charles, he stretches the potential of his instrument to unprecedented limits, exhibiting an uncanny ability to alternate the saxophone from a melodic instrument to a percussive one, and then back again, in the span of just a couple of beats, often less.
The group provides a terrific backdrop for a Disc 1 tribute to Charles -- tearing through the opener, "Hallelujah I Love Her So", then settling into an elegant rhythm under the direction of conductor and arranger Michael Abene (Check out Avant Gershwin).
In fact, it's maybe the most fully realized compliment paid to the late soul stirrer -- sensitive, yet still swinging.
Most of the other titles are familiar, to be sure. But Abene and company dust them with a polish that matched Charles' later, often regal recordings.
There's an appropriate reverence that perfectly offsets Parker's funky growl, both on the sax and on a sprinkling of rough-hewn vocals.
In this way, you come to realize that tunes like "Busted", "You Don't Know Me", "Hit the Road, Jack", "Georgia on My Mind" (recast here as moody retro-'60s avant-garde jazz) and "What I'd Say?" worked like signposts for Parker's nascent sound.
On "Busted," Parker ups the ante, singing in a manner that recalls Charles without slipping into imitation.
Unlike Ray Charles', however, Parker's stuff doesn't always clean up so well in the second CD "Back to Funk".
The second disc features some of Parker's best playing since he was a member of the J.B.'s.
His rhythm section -- Dennis Chambers (drums) and Rodney "Skeet" Curtis (bass) -- lays down a heavy groove, and the WDR band keeps up, resulting in some thrilling sounds.
But the larger band behind them isn't limber enough to do justice to such glorious hip-shakers.
"To Be or Not to Be" though you can't argue with the clustered brilliance inside that soloing group of horns, can't get down-home enough to connect.
The backing group similarly mars standby party-starters like "Shake Everything You've Got" and that timeless James Brown-era closer "Pass the Peas" -- both of which shuffle along, too often sounding polite when they ought to be nasty and fun.
Playing Charles songs and funk with a big band has been a dream come true, Parker has said in an interview.
It sure sounds like it. "I run out of words when I try to describe exactly how good and kid-like this project made me feel', says Maceo, who counts Charles among his earliest and most important influences. "I'm playing the same saxophone I always play, but it was like a whole new adventure for me to play with a big band. And it's very rewarding to get the kind of feedback I've been getting from people about this project. We started with a blank sheet and we ended up with this whole big wonderful thing."
He calls "Roots & Grooves" 'a dream come true' in more ways than one.
In fact the album not only serves as his opportunity to pay tribute to an revered mentor, but also illustrates how those early influences laid the groundwork for the funk sound and sensibility that Parker himself helped spawn
All in all, it's great stuff. You can't really go wrong with "What'd I Say?"
It's just one of the great singles of all time.
Maceo Parker is terrific. He really is a great sax player. It's the kind of thing, if you're feeling a bit low, that's the sort of thing you want to put on loud. A great feel to it.
I just love that funky sound. What's not to love about this? maybe it appeals to the ignoramus in me, but I just like the inevitability of it, the predictability of the blues chord sequence, just enjoying the return to the top line again and that driving bass line, the sparkling percussion and the blaring horns.
Dig the roots, ride the groove with Maceo !
I love it. You'll love it.
George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic - Live at Montreux 2004
Papa's Got a Brand New Bag
Avant Gershwin
Description of Roots & Grooves
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.This appropriately titled two-disc set finds famed ex-James Brown horn man Maceo Parker cutting loose with Germany?s incredible WDR Big Band. The first disc features a swinging Ray Charles tribute and the second, subtitled "Back to Funk," has the alto saxophonist and vocalist taking it to the bridge on the music he is famous for. Although not known for his singing, Parker acquits himself well, especially on the Charles material, when he sounds like a gruffer version of Brother Ray. The band boasts 15 horns (five each of saxes, trumpets, and trombones) pushing hard and tight through nearly two hours of music. The opening "Hallelujah I Love Her So" and the closing, nine-minute "What?d I Say" from the first platter are standouts connecting with crisp, vibrant charts and a vigorous attack. But even ballads "Georgia on My Mind" and "You Don?t Know Me" register, due to Parker?s obvious glee in performing this material along with his group?s sheer talent and a wildly appreciative audience. The funk segment shoots the intensity up a few more notches with Parliament-Funkadelic alumni Dennis Chambers (drums) and Rodney "Skeet" Curtis (bass) driving the energy to uncommonly soulful and sweaty peaks. The concept of playing hard funk with a brassy big band in tow is somewhat unusual, but the results smash all preconceptions. Parker?s dueling alto battle with Karolina Strassmayer on "To Be or Not to Be" and a rousing 17-minute version of the J.B.?s classic "Pass the Peas" are just a few highlights of this rollicking, electrifying set. --Hal Horowitz
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