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Rating: The title of the CD is already a complete review. It's hard to do better. 2% Jazz, 98% Funky. Maceo Parker is not much liked by Jazz purists, those who see Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Coltrane, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley ("cannonball" because he fired off notes at lightning speed), Jimmy Cobbs as the true representatives of Jazz. However, in my opinion, Maceo is fundamental for Jazz; he is the key that allows one to enter that world without getting bored. Listening to jazz without first going through Maceo is like visiting the Uffizi Gallery in Florence without ever having heard of painting. It's nice, yes, but then what? Instead, Maceo is the one who brings you closer to art, makes you love it, makes you discover it, and most importantly, makes you curious. Perhaps some of his records are a bit too commercial, but for Jazz illiterates like us, it's more than enough.
To begin. Maceo Parker remains one of the musicians who have collaborated with the greats: James Brown on stage at his concerts would yell "Maceo! Blow your horn!" (Maceo! blow that saxophone!). He worked with The Parliament (George Clinton, does that ring a bell? the one who produced the first records of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, universally known around the world [except in Italy] for his funk and his "crazy style"), with Bootsy Collins, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, etc., etc. Now that the character and style have been presented, it's time to present the album.
Live in Cologne, Germany. It must be the chemical reaction between two opposite entities (a German people said to be cold and a very warm American black saxophonist) or perhaps the German people are not as cold as they are said to be, but the fact is that that evening the Stadtgarten in Cologne exploded. It all starts with the tremor of the audience, a typically funk audience, participating in the concert, playing with their screams and hands. Applause, shouts, calls, jokes, applause. The bass starts: dum dom dom dum... dududum... dum. Then the drums and then the guitar with the "cocotte" (that riff that makes the guitar a percussion instrument) start, and the audience cheers. The great Maceo enters the scene with a presentation halfway between Ice Cube and James Brown. He warns the audience: 2% jazz 98% funky oh! Describing it like this, it seems like I was there in Cologne too. Instead, I've never been, but when you're at home fooling around, with no aim for the day, and you turn on the stereo with Life on Planet Groove (which must be listened to as any respected record should be, from start to finish, without skipping from track 2 to track 1 and then to 6), it lights up your room, your house, your mind, your soul. Maybe it's true that you'll spend an hour in the kitchen going wild and dancing alone, inventing B-BOY moves (for those who suddenly come home, it might seem a bit strange), but afterward, the day starts anew. The concert continues for an hour and a half, never, ever, ever losing rhythm, even in the sweetest songs. But I won't tell you about it because I don't want to spoil the album for you!
If any of you have the opportunity to see a Maceo Parker concert, first let me know where, how, and when so I can go, and then go there, because it must be an experience that almost reaches the level of James Brown's concerts.
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