Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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This is a rare kind of music film. A portrait of a musician better known as a sideman than as a star. The classic recordings of funk music pioneer James Brown are frequently punctuated with a cry of "Maceo!" which listeners often assumed to be some funky catchphrase of Brown's own invention. In fact it was the cue for his long-serving alto sax man Maceo Parker to step forward and blow his horn. When Brown went to prison in the late eighties, necessity led Maceo to become a bandleader in his own right, enlisting other former funk pioneers such as trombonist Fred Wesley and tenor saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. In 1994, we filmed Maceo and his group in concert and rehearsal and, two months later, spent a fortnight traveling with him in New York, New Orleans and on the road. Though essentially a performance film, it captures, both on and off stage - the warm and generous personality that flows through Maceo's music. The affectionate, almost telepathic relationship amongst Parker, Wesley and Ellis - cemented through years of playing together as a unit - can be felt in the little glances, nods and shrugs they give each other on stage. Relaxed and revealing interviews with Parker, his brother Melvin, and musicians who have worked with him, fill in the background to a career that began on a poor North Carolina housing project. Among other things the film is an object lesson in funk.

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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Maceo Parker - My First Name Is Maceo (2004)

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