INTERVIEW: Maceo Parker brings love to his music

Maceo Parker is a performer who brings loves to each and every one of his concerts. The famed musician who got his start with James Brown, is currently on a tour that will bring him to the Northeast in the coming days.

Parker, who recently spoke with Hollywood Soapbox, said his brand of music features 2 percent jazz and 98 percent funk. “When I was very, very young, me and my brothers we just tried to listen to everything recorded, and it was what we could buy and what the neighbors had,” Parker said in a phone interview. “You know, Lawrence Welch, and sometimes Count Basie band or whatever. We just wanted to have it in the house, so there’s a lot of music. There’s a piano around as far back as I can remember, and somehow I felt really, really comfortable in the funky side. And that’s probably why and how James Brown decided to use me as much as he possibly [could] because he was sort of a funky kind of guy.”

When fans of Parker check out one of his shows, they usually hear some of Parker’s solo saxophone work, classics from his days with Brown, Prince and George Clinton, and some Ray Charles thrown in for good measure. To this day, Parker still remembers hearing Charles’ “What I’d Say” for the first time; it was a seminal experience for the musician.

“We actually tore the house almost down listening to Ray Charles’ ‘What I’d Say,'” he said. “We really went crazy then. I’ll never forget it. I’ll never, never forget it because we went absolutely crazy.”

Parker likes to spread the love at his concerts, and he said that’s what makes the musical outpouring different than, say, a sporting event. There’s no competition, and everyone is on the same page. “You come there hopefully to have some fun, and some entertainment and maybe some nostalgic moments,” he said.”I’m going to verbally say love almost every time I open my mouth. I’m going to say love. … It’s all about love.”

Parker got his start playing with Brown in the mid-1960s. He played for two years with the legendary performer, and then he was drafted and served for two years in the military. He rejoined Brown’s band for a couple of years, and in the 1970s, he started trying out different projects, including some time with Clinton. Other collaborators have included Dave Matthews Band, James Taylor, Ani Difranco and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

It was in the early 1990s when Parker left his “sideman” role behind and ventured out as a bonafide solo performer. He remembers Brown letting him take some gigs when the big funk band wasn’t needed. “In other words, he started getting jobs that he considered too small for him,” Parker said of Brown. “They were small nightclub things, so he said, ‘You know what, Maceo, I think I’ll sit out and let you put something together. You can do these little side things.’ And then I catch back up with him wherever they are, and that sort of started it.”

He added: “I really enjoy being in front, evoking my will on the band and the people, and just having fun. I just feel like all of the people who are into this, it feels like we’re born to do this. I’m very, very comfortable in doing it.”

Today, at the age of 73, Parker said he doesn’t feel like he did at 35 or 40, but he still gets a lot of satisfaction out of performing. Although he can be hard on himself during a performance, after listening to a live recording, he realizes he still has those funky talents. “I still find time to smile and reflect on my beginning and now,” he said.

As a child, Parker took to the piano and was influenced by his musical parents, who would sing church songs in the house. He eventually moved to the saxophone and had a fellow saxophone player as his first band director. “He sounded like a professional,” Parker said. “That became so paramount, sort of really important to be able to sound like him. … That was my mission. That was one of the things I really wanted to take away from high school, to be able to sound like my high school band director, and I achieved that. Everything seems to be like dominoes. It just sort of fell in place.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Click here for more information on Maceo Parker’s upcoming tour dates.