Maceo Parker
Maceo Parker ( pronunciation: [ meɪsi ː oʊ ] ) ( born February 14, 1943 in Kinston, North Carolina ) is an influential American radio musician. He sings and plays alto saxophone.
Life and work
Parker's career began in 1964 in the fan department of James Brown as a tenor saxophonist (who later went on to alto saxophone ). In the 1970s he formed with the Horny Horns, later JB Horns ( Fred Wesley, Rick Gardner, Richard " Kush " Griffith ) the brass section for the P-Funk projects by George Clinton ( Parliament, Parlet and others) as well as for Bootsy Collins. In 1990, he made his comeback with the album Roots Revisited and played over ten years very successfully - including Bruno Speight (guitar ), Larry Goldings (org ), Will Boulware (org ), Jamal Thomas (drums ), Rodney Jones ( guitar) Jerry Preston (bs) - with a solid brass section - Maceo Parker ( sax), Pee Wee Ellis ( sax), Fred Wesley ( tr). End of the 1990s to Pee Wee Ellis and Fred Wesley separated by Maceo Parker, who then with Ron Tooley, Greg Boyer and Vincent Henry put together a new horn section.
In early 2007, Parker worked together with the WDR Big Band. Together with drummer Dennis Chambers, they developed a program with pieces by Ray Charles and pieces from their own repertoire of saxophonist and singer. This first collaboration was later released under the name Roots & Grooves on CD. In 2012 it was again a collaboration between Parker and the big band of the WDR. This time a CD was recorded with songs from the era of Soul and released as Soul Classics.
Parker describes his music with the become known sentence: " Two Percent 98 Percent Jazz and Funky Stuff" His autobiography he published in 2013 under the title 98 % Funky Stuff: My Life in Music
But He is also open to a wide range of influences today's music styles; as for example in collaboration with his son Corey Parker, who raps on the last albums to Maceo spark. Even with many fellow musicians Maceo Parker enjoys high reputation, for example, he was standing with Prince on stage. Concerts by Maceo Parker often take more than three hours. He gives about 200 concerts a year, making it one of the busiest musicians around the world.
His live band 2009: Bass: Rodney " Skeet " Curtis; Drums: Jamal Thomas; Guitar: Bruno Speight; Trumpet: Ron Tooley; Trombone: Dennis Rollins; Background vocals: Martha High, Corey Parker (his son )