One day in 1966 the Godfather of Soul- James Brown- took the stage with his newly assembled horn section consisting of Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and one Maceo Parker. Now while James Brown had been preaching the gospel of soul, with this horn section a new kind of sound was created. This sound was so magnificent and so powerful that the heavens parted and a great light shown down on these pioneering performers. And God said, "Let there be funk." And it was so. And there was much rejoicing.

Whether or not the moment of the inception of funk was divinely inspired or not matters far less than the fact that it's here to stay and nobody does it better than Maceo Parker. Those lucky enough to catch Maceo and his crew at the Seattle show or the following night at Portland's Crystal Ballroom were also treated to a set by Seattle's own funk/soul phenomenon, Maktub. Maktub's recently released debut CD, Subtle Ways, is a little bit o' funk and a whole lot of soul. Their live performance, however, is pure energy.

The back bone of Maktub's sound emanates from the tight rhythm section of the subtle beats of drummer Davis Martin and Kevin Goldman's groovin' bass lines. The smooth voice of lead vocalist Reggie Watts seems a odern take on Al Green during the mellower moments and when Reggie cuts loose he can wail out a tune with the best of them. On this night, Maktub's extended jams were driven by the powerful yet precise keyboard solos of Alex Veley. During a particularly bluesy stretch of one of Veley's solos he pounded at multiple keyboards and invoked images of Page McConnell, whose music Veley is just discovering.

Maktub's performance and energy was clearly bolstered by the excitement of opening for Parker. "For me it was sort of a dream," begins Veley of the experience, "because I'm really a follower of American R&B and funk. Part of the reason I got into music was because of James Brown and Maceo and all of those guys," says Veley with reverence. "And I was glad they decided to come up to Seattle. I really needed that; I think a lot of people needed that to shake some of these winter blues out of them." In usual form, Parker's band took the stage and started warming up the already excited crowd. Corey Parker, Maceo's son- who is currently working on what will be his first solo project- took the mic and played the part of MC leading the band in a round of "C'mon Maceo!" Speaking of upcoming releases, word on the street is that Maceo has a new album set for a March 2000 release. When then the legendary sax man took the stage himself Corey joined Charles "Sweets" Sherrell- formerly a vocalist for James Brown- on background vocals. Maceo's playing on both sax and flute was brilliant and flawless (not a surprise to anyone who's seen the man perform). His stage presence was luminous and charismatic as always. Maceo Parker wields a command over his audience and a leadership of his band that few have ever known.

"A girl got up on stage," Veley begins of the Portland show, "and then another and, then another one and then a guy got up on stage. At that point it looked like it was sort of getting out of control. And Maceo just turned around, had the band stop on a dime, and said, 'Give 'em all a round of applause, everyone' and he saved face and kept the show flowing and got everyone off the stage. It was really great. Instead of using security guys in yellow jackets to boot them off the stage, he just used a finely honed sense of professionalism. And I though, wow, look at the control he has from the stage."

And as for the band, they can not only stop on a dime and strike off in a different direction, but they can tell you what year the dime was and what in which mint it was coined. Hammond B-3 virtuoso Will Boulware- who plays the keys for jazz guitarist John Scofield in his free time- played a blistering solo through the end of "It's Your Thing" and into Maceo's signature piece "Shake Everything You've Got" (a song originally composed under the title "Southwick"). During this one Maceo played a little call and response with crowd, slowly bringing the room down to whisper. The audience responded just as readily as the members of his touring band.

As always, Maceo threw a few covers into the set list. After one such tune he gave props to former JB trombone player Fred Wesley for writing "Party 'Til Your Butt Gets Hot." Playing trombone as the other half of Maceo's horn section was Greg Boyer who along with bassist Rodney "Skeet" Curtis are the two P-Funk alums in Maceo's funk orchestra. Rounding out the band was Bruno Speight on guitar and drummer Jamal Thomas who pounded out a powerful solo to close the set.

Maceo abandoned his microphone to take a mid-set break and Sweets Sherrell took over on lead vocals for "Mustang Sally." Sherrell got the crowd even higher with his acrobatic dance moves. The only placid moment of the show came upon Maceo's return when he played a soft beautiful flute solo during which the rest of the band watched on silently. Then he donned his shades and did his best Ray Charles impression with his soulful vocals. Toward the end of the show Corey moved to the front of the stage and took over vocals adding his hip-hop flavor to the evening on songs like "Maceo's Groove." When the senior Parker returned to the microphone he announced, "We remember Marvin Gaye," before picking up his sax and laying into his own rendition of "Let's Get It On."

When band left the stage, the space was filled with the roar of the crowd who didn't have to wait long for their encore. The encore was high energy funk free-for-all that was almost as long as the preceding set. "We went on to a packed house and we played our music," recalls Veley, "and it was accepted and cheered on. And then we got see the godfathers of the funk up there and just dance and see the joy in the room. I thought it was an interesting match because where they're coming from is sort of as the inventors of this modern sound and where we're coming from is as the inventors of a new modern sound. It was cool to see the generation gap close for the night." And that's what funk is all about; bringing people together to get lost in the power of the music and groove the night away.

For more info on Maceo Parker, visit www.maceo.com
For more info on Maktub, visit www.maktubmusic.com