Maceo Parker has had a long and successful carreer, mostly known for working with James Brown in the 60s, Funkadelic in the 70s and Prince in the 2000s. For quite some time, he has toured using his own name. He has a distinctive style of playing and this man is FUNKY! When listening to this music, body parts automatically start to move and you smile a lot too.
We had bought tickets to go see James Brown at a festival here in Stockholm quite a few years back now. Just a week or so before, word got out that mr. Brown had legal issues and was not allowed to leave the US.
Damn.
So, the festival organisers scrambled and was able to get Maceo and his band to cover for James. We were there, and I like many others had no idea who this guy was, so we kept expectations low. The band steps out on stage, Maceo front and center counts them in. We’re off.
Mind. Blown! Eight beats in, he had the entire crowd — first picking our jaws off the ground and then nobody could stand still for a moment of that performance.
Prince later called him “The Teacher”. Yep. I learned a thing or two about the funk that day. He returned the following year, drawing an even bigger crowd.
James Brown never made it back to Stockholm again, as far as I could tell.