Maceo Parker (; born February 14, 1943) is an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and soul jazz

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, best known for his work with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

in the 1960s, Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

in the 2000s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and baritone saxophones. Since the early 1990s, he has toured under his own name.

Biography

Parker was born in Kinston, North Carolina, United States. Parker's father played

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

in addition to singing in church with Parker's mother; his brother Melvin played drums and his brother Kellis played the

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

.Thompson, Dave (2001). ''Funk''. Backbeat Books. pp. 176-179. . Parker and his brother Melvin joined

in 1963; in his autobiography, Brown claims that he originally wanted Melvin as his

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

, but agreed to additionally take Maceo under his wing as part of the deal.Brown, James (1988). ''The Godfather of Soul'' (with Bruce Tucker), Fontana / Collins, p. 156. . In March 1970, Parker, his brother Melvin, and a few of Brown's band members left to establish the band Maceo & All the King's Men, which toured for two years.Brown (1988). ''The Godfather of Soul'', pp. 217-18. In January 1973, Parker rejoined James Brown's group. He also charted a single "Parrty – Part I" (No. 71 pop singles) with Maceo & the Macks that year. In 1975, Parker and some of Brown's band members, including Fred Wesley, left to join George Clinton's band Parliament-Funkadelic.Wesley, Fred Jr (2002), ''Hit Me, Fred''. Duke University Press, p. 192. . Parker once again re-joined James Brown from 1984 to 1988. In the 1990s, Parker began a solo career. His first album of this period ''Roots Revisited'' spent 10 weeks at the top of the '' Billboard'' Contemporary Jazz Charts. To date he has released 11 solo albums since 1990. Parker's 1992 live album, ''Life on Planet Groove'', is considered to be his seminal live album, marking his first collaboration with Dutch saxophonist Candy Dulfer. In 1993, Parker made guest appearances on hip hop group De La Soul's album '' Buhloone Mindstate''. In the late 1990s, Parker began contributing semi-regularly to recordings by

and accompanying his band, The New Power Generation, on tour. He also played on the

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1985. The band's best known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins and guitarist Dave Navarro. Jane's Addicti ...

track "My Cat's Name Is Maceo" for their 1997 compilation album '' Kettle Whistle''. In 1998, Parker performed as a guest on " What Would You Say" on a Dave Matthews Band concert, which also became one of their live albums, '' Live in Chicago 12.19.98''. In 2004, Parker toured as a part of Prince's band for the " Musicology Live 2004ever" tour and again in 2007 he performed as part of Prince's band for Prince's 21 nights at the O2 arena. Parker also played as part of Prince's band for his 21-night stay at LA's Forum in 2011. In 2008, Maceo Parker closed the Edmonton International Jazz Festival at Urban Lounge. Maceo Parker Band Liri Blues 2009

Parker's album ''Roots & Grooves'' with the WDR Big Band is a tribute to Ray Charles, whom Parker cites as one of his most important influences. The album won a Jammie for best Jazz Album in 2009. Parker followed this up with another collaboration with WDR Big Band in 2012 with the album ''Soul Classics''. In October 2011, Parker was inducted in the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. In July 2012, Parker was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from Victoires Du Jazz in Paris. He continues touring, headlining many jazz festivals in Europe and doing as many as 290 concerts a year. In May 2016, Parker received The North Carolina Heritage Award from his home state. Parker toured with the Ray Charles Orchestra and the Raelettes performing a tribute to Ray Charles at major festivals worldwide, including Monterey Jazz Festival in 2016 and Playboy Jazz Festival in 2019.

Book and media

In February 2013, Maceo Parker published his autobiography, ''98% Funky Stuff: My Life in Music'' with the publisher Chicago Review Press. Parker was portrayed by Craig Robinson in the 2014 James Brown biopic '' Get on Up''.

Equipment

Maceo plays a gold-plated Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone and the mouthpiece he uses is a #3 Brilhart Ebolin. Maceo's reed of choice is the Vandoren Java, 3.5 gauge.

Tributes

Maceo, the restaurant in the

1st arrondissement of Paris The 1st arrondissement of Paris (''Ier arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is colloquially referred to as ''le premier'' (the first). I ...

opened in 1997 by Mark Williamson, is named for Parker.

Discography

As bandleader

As sideman

Filmography

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Maceo 1943 births Living people People from Kinston, North Carolina Soul-jazz musicians African-American saxophonists American funk saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz saxophonists American bandleaders James Brown Orchestra members The J.B.'s members P-Funk members New Power Generation members Heads Up International artists 21st-century American saxophonists Jazz musicians from North Carolina American male jazz musicians Verve Records artists Jive Records artists P-Vine Records artists North Carolina Heritage Award winners Prince associates