Maceo Parker
PROJECTS:
Saxophonist Maceo Parker embodies the legacy of soul and funk music like no other musician can. Always at the forefront, Maceo has been a common thread in the history of funk – helping to pioneer the sound of the genre in collaborations alongside seminal icons like James Brown, George Clinton, and Prince, all the while honing his own signature brand of showmanship. Leading his flawlessly tight band with a cool confidence, Maceo transports audiences to the slickest of eras in performances that are positively timeless. Maceo says about his February 2018 release, “I feel like we can’t say the word enough. We all could use a little more love in the world, and so I wanted to have an album that encompasses just that.” It’s All About Love features the WDR Big Band with beautiful arrangements by Michael Abene. It is a fitting celebration of Maceo’s birthday (on Valentine’s Day) and of the longevity and importance of his role in musical history.
Maceo Parker: It's All About Love
Legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker embodies the legacy of soul and funk music like no other musician today. Always at the forefront, Maceo has been a common thread in the history of funk ‘” pioneering the sound of the genre in collaborations alongside seminal icons such as James Brown, George Clinton, and Prince and all the while honing his own signature brand of showmanship with a cool confidence embodied in his distinctive sound.
In this special program Maceo, along with his flawlessly tight Big Band – which includes many former members of the Ray Charles Orchestra and features the Raelettes – brings together a joyful experience of all things LOVE. ‘I feel like we can’t say the word enough,’ Maceo says speaking of the project, ‘we all could use a little more love in the world.’
Anchored in music from his new album It’s All About Love (including hits from Crosby, Stills & Nash, Stevie Wonder and the Isley Brothers: Love The One You’re With, Love Won’t Let Me Wait, Isn’t She Lovely), some of the signature songs of Ray Charles as well as Maceo classics such as “Pass the Peas,” Maceo will be both singing and playing his way throughout an evening that transports audiences to the most soulful of eras in a performance which is positively timeless.
PRESS QUOTES:
Maceo Parker, who joined James Brown’s band in 1964 and became one of its great anchors, is a lancing, quick-phrasing alto saxophone blazer, and his band performs a fizzy mixture of hard-driving funk and swing. It’s party music from start to finish.
The New York Times
Parker and company sparked the crowd into constant motion, making even the most rhythmically inept wallflower wiggle and bob like the Godfather of Soul himself.
Chicago Tribune
He’s no bebopper, reborn or otherwise. His roots are the church and the blues… his sound is joyful, cutting ribbon of light and heat burnished by grit and soul.
DownBeat Magazine
The audience singing and swaying like trees in a hurricane: Maceo is in the House – blowing a tempest.
The Seattle Times
Maceo Parker is a funk titan. His body of work is as important to the genre as those belonging to James Brown, George Clinton and Bootsy Collins, all of whom have collaborated with Parker. On a broader level, Parker must be regarded as simply one of the all-time great saxophonists. He stretched the boundaries of music, fashioned a new style of playing and, most importantly, made some truly great music.
San Jose Mercury News
Hurricane Maceo blew through, delivering a multihour non-stop barrage for an audience that danced itself into a frenzy before the second song was over.
Austin American Statesman
