Maceo Parker - Pigalle Club, 20/8/08

The Pigalle is not short of trendy downtown charm. It’s a little bit glitzy and supper-clubbish: definitely not the usual setting for “2% jazz, 98% funk” kind of music. Luckily, there is no better man to bring a venue to life than Maceo Parker, playing here with his nine-piece band featuring UK trombone star Dennis Rollins. Early on, the saxophonist stirred people up by patrolling dinner tables, many of which then gave way to open up a heaving dancefloor.

Song lengths went well into double figures without exception, moving up and down the dynamic spectrum with frightening rigidity. At times it felt a little like too much filler and not enough funk – Maceo would go through long periods without lifting horn to mouth – but since the set lasted almost three hours, we probably shouldn’t complain. And when he did play, he really played – with a towering stage presence, signature piercing tone and perfectly controlled melodic phrasing. It’s no exaggeration to state Maceo as the seminal influence on a generation of funk saxophonists.

Despite the drawbacks of the club, this was a rare chance to see Maceo on stage in such an intimate venue. Even at the age of 65, the former James Brown sideman shows no sign of slowing down. The king is dead, long live the king.



< Published in London Tourdates, 5/9/08.