concert video revu draft: Maceo 2003

notes for

Reviewing a video of the Maceo Parker concert at:

B Jazz Burghausen 34. Internationale jazzwoche 2003

A - What does it feel for Maceo and for other jazz musicians and observers that Maceo's set, a funk set, be packaged along with "jazz".

to be sure other jazz festivals, and a lot of what gets labeled as jazz (usually cheaper or free concerts) is actually more on the pop/rock and particularly r&b or soul and funk side of things.

Interestingly Maceo did address that question in his words to the audience - after "Uptown" :
He expressed thanks for those responsible for having them there , and gratitude for having been on tour as long as 3 months by then, and thanks
" also to be invited in the [he signals quotation marks with his fingers] jazz [hesitates] concert , we really appreciate that although ... we don't do jazz [he smiles and audience laughs] thank you."

obviously also the other jazz musicians and the listeners don't mind and perhaps they particularly don't mind Maceo himself. It could thus be down to the likeability of the person himself. Eg, no one would at a jazz or heavy metal festival would complain , however strange and unlikely it would be, if say Stevie Wonder walked in on stage as a guest , or was invited to be one of the acts.

Then again there is the more technical question of funk's proximity to acid jazz, fusion, particularly modern easy listening and groove oriented popular jazz, like benson , etc; as well as funk's distance from the mainstream of pop or black pop like r&b and soul, and its other proximity to that other niche in modern popular music, rock and even hard rock.

like the blues funk is a lot like a root ( a root of musical genres). a raw form that informed so many "genres" , from dance disco to soul to rock music to acid jazz , and later to the neo-funk or new wave / minneapolis sound / "funk" of the eighties.

so perhaps that too contributes to the acceptability of an act like maceo's in a german jazz week.

A.bis. - when he started talking i also wondered about that seeming presumption of english' universality when they speak in english on the stage - though this is not only true of north american acts, but also some non native english speaking european ones.
For Maceo just went through his word in english, and to be sure the audience sounded like it understood every word of it.
i felt it was a bit presumptuous on his part, even given the fact that it is lingua franca throughout the world by now particularly via the ameriganos.

zappa , by contrast treated it differently.
in some spanish concert he spoke spanish to the audience, probably the one in barcelona the video; then on vol. 3 cd 2 of YCDTOSA, he talks in italian to what presumably is an italian audience (easily verifiable).

B - nice to see Maceo so recently (2003). Also saw 16 minutes of him from 2002

C - prim and proper act and lineup - dressed in comfortable dark dress suits (except for Corey)

D- much the same lineup from 2002

E - The Hammond organ

F- Gimme some more does not sound as funky , lacks the beat of the studio version i used to have

G - Uptown: the Solos , trombone, trumpet , hammond then Corey Parker . No body applauded for the hammond and his solo was sort of cut in by Corey (though surely it's all rehearsed and intended) but there wasn't closure for the hammond solo and certainly no time for an applaused as Corey walked upstage to do his lyrical act.

H - "Baby knows" by prince.

I- Cover of McCartney's "My Love" that segue's to Hey Jude's chorus :)

is beatles music part of maceo's unive