Maceo Parker Roots & Grooves

Picked up this blurb from Mike Wilpizeski, Heads Up International on Maceo's next CD:

Acclaimed soul/funk saxophonist and former James Brown session man and stage foil Maceo Parker steps into the spotlight for his 2-disc Heads Up debut, Roots & Grooves, an album that features a rock-solid rhythm section and no less than fourteen horn players behind and alongside this brilliant and innovative sax legend (Release Date:February 12th, 2008).

Disc 1 is a tribute to Ray Charles, with well-known classics like “Hallelujah, I Love Her So,” “Busted,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “Georgia on My Mind” and “What’d I Say?” Disc 2 consists almost entirely of original Parker material, loaded with the same punchy, high energy stuff that cemented his and Brown’s collective reputation as the co-architects of the original soul sound more than four decades ago.

Parker calls Roots & Grooves “a dream come true” in more ways than one. The album not only serves as his opportunity to pay tribute to an revered mentor, but also illustrates how those early influences laid the groundwork for the funk sound and sensibility that Parker himself helped spawn. “As soon as I started hearing rumors that perhaps I could do some kind of big band project, my brain raced right to the Ray Charles stuff that I knew, because I’ve always wanted to do that. And to hear those funk tunes blown up to big band proportions is really something else!”