Music Review: Maceo Parker - Roots and Grooves - Page 2

Unlike Charles’, however, Parker’s stuff doesn’t always clean up so well.

That brings us to Disc 2, which is subtitled “Back to Funk.”

While the soloists — in particular the greasy and great bassist Rodney “Skeet” Curtis — certainly acquit themselves well, the larger band behind them simply isn’t limber enough to do justice to such glorious hip-shakers.

“To Be or Not to Be,” though you can’t argue with the clustered brilliance inside that soloing group of horns, can't get down-home enough to connect.

The backing group similarly mars standby party-starters like “Shake Everything You’ve Got” and that timeless James Brown-era closer “Pass the Peas” — both of which shuffle along, too often sounding polite when they ought to be nasty and fun. (See Parker’s 1992 perfectly titled concert offering Life on Planet Groove.)

That doesn’t take away from what came before. Still, as transcendent as Disc 1 of Roots And Grooves so often was, best to leave it at that.

Article Author: Nick Deriso

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