Lloyd George "Shorty" Rollins (April 3, 1929 – December 28, 1998), nicknamed "Shorty", born in Granbury, Texas was the first official NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

Summary[link]

He began stock car racing in Corpus Christi, Texas. The great success achieved there led him to Fayetteville, North Carolina and to NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup). His rookie year 1958, he had one win, 12 top five finishes and 22 top ten finishes in 29 starts with car owner Spook Crawford. He won the first stock car race at the Daytona International Speedway, a 100-lap qualifying race in the NASCAR Convertible Division, which gave him a second place start in the first Daytona 500 in 1959.^[1] He made 43 starts in three professional seasons and earned $17,018.

He left racing in 1960 with just 43 starts and settled in Pensacola, Florida with his wife Mozelle, where he established Hurricane Fence Industries. He was a resident of Pensacola until his death at the age of 69.

Sources & References[link]

• NASCAR.com
• Career statistics at Racing-Reference.info

This biographical article related to NASCAR is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Sonny Rollins
Background information
Birth name	Theodore Walter Rollins
Also known as	Newk, Colossus, Uncle Don
Born	(1930-09-07) September 7, 1930 (age 81)
Origin	New York, New York, United States
Genres	Jazz
Occupations	Saxophonist
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Labels	Prestige, Blue Note, Contemporary, RCA Victor, Impulse!, Milestone
Associated acts	Jackie McLean, Max Roach, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk

Sonny Rollins at Stockholm Jazz Fest 2009

Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930 in New York City)^[1] is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians.^[1] A number of his compositions, including "St. Thomas", "Oleo", "Doxy", and "Airegin", have become jazz standards.^[1]

Biography[link]

Early life and career[link]

Although Rollins was born in New York City, his parents were born in the United States Virgin Islands.^[2] Rollins received his first saxophone at age 13. He attended Benjamin Franklin High School in East Harlem. He said that a concert by Frank Sinatra there, accompanied by a plea for racial harmony, changed his life.^[3][4][5]

Rollins started as a pianist, changed to alto saxophone, and finally switched to tenor in 1946. During his high-school years, he played in a band with other future jazz legends Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor. He was first recorded in 1949 with Babs Gonzales ( J. J. Johnson was the arranger of the group). In his recordings through 1954, he played with performers such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.^[6]

In 1950, Rollins was arrested for armed robbery and given a sentence of three years. He spent 10 months in Rikers Island jail before he was released on parole. In 1952 he was arrested for violating the terms of his parole by using heroin.^{[citation needed]} Rollins was assigned to the Federal Medical Center, Lexington, at the time the only assistance in the U.S. for drug addicts. While there he was a volunteer for then-experimental methadone therapy and was able to break his heroin habit.^{[citation needed]} Rollins himself initially feared sobriety would impair his musicianship, but then went on to greater success.

As a saxophonist he had initially been attracted to the jump and R&B sounds of performers like Louis Jordan, but soon became drawn into the mainstream tenor saxophone tradition. Joachim Berendt has described this tradition as sitting between the two poles of the strong sonority of Coleman Hawkins and the light flexible phrasing of Lester Young, which did so much to inspire the fleet improvisation of be-bop in the 1950s.^[7]

Rollins began to make a name for himself in 1949 as he recorded with J. J. Johnson and Bud Powell what would later be called "Hard Bop", with Miles Davis in 1951, with the Modern Jazz Quartet and with Thelonious Monk in 1953, but the breakthrough arrived in 1954 when he recorded his famous compositions "Oleo" "Airegin" and "Doxy" with a quintet led by Davis. Rollins then joined the Miles Davis Quintet in the summer of 1955, but left after a short stay to deal with his drug problems.^[8][9] Rollins was invited later in 1955 to join the Clifford Brown–Max Roach quintet; studio recordings documenting his time in the band are the albums Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street and Sonny Rollins Plus 4. After Brown's death in 1956 Rollins began his subsequent career as a leader, his first long-playing albums released on Prestige Records. He also recorded during the 1950s for Blue Note, Riverside, and the Los Angeles label Contemporary.

[edit] Saxophone Colossus

His widely acclaimed album Saxophone Colossus was recorded on June 22, 1956 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey, with Tommy Flanagan on piano, former Jazz Messengers bassist Doug Watkins and his favorite drummer Max Roach. This was Rollins' sixth recording as a leader and it included his best-known composition "St. Thomas", a Caribbean calypso based on a tune sung to him by his mother in his childhood, as well as the fast bebop number "Strode Rode", and "Moritat" (the Kurt Weill composition also known as "Mack the Knife").^[1]

In 1956 he also recorded Tenor Madness, using Miles Davis' group – pianist Red Garland, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Philly Joe Jones. The title track is the only recording of Rollins with John Coltrane, who was also in Davis' group.^[1]

At the end of the year Rollins recorded a set for Blue Note with Donald Byrd on trumpet, Wynton Kelly on piano, Gene Ramey on bass, and Rollins' long-term collaborator Max Roach on drums. This has been released as Sonny Rollins Volume One (the superstar session Volume Two recorded the following year has consistently outsold it).

The pianoless trio[link]

In 1957 he pioneered the use of bass and drums (without piano) as accompaniment for his saxophone solos. This texture came to be known as "strolling". Two early tenor/bass/drums trio recordings are Way Out West (Contemporary, 1957) and A Night at the Village Vanguard (Blue Note, 1957). Rollins uses the trio format intermittently throughout his career, sometimes taking the unusual step of using his sax as a rhythm section instrument during bass and drum solos. Way Out West was so named because it was recorded for a California-based record label (with L.A. stalwart drummer Shelly Manne), and because the record included country and western songs such as "Wagon Wheels" and "I'm an Old Cowhand". The Village Vanguard CD consists of two sets, a matinee with bassist Donald Bailey and drummer Pete LaRoca and then the evening set with bassist Wilbur Ware and drummer Elvin Jones.

By this time, Rollins had become well known for taking relatively banal or unconventional material (such as "There's No Business Like Show Business" on Work Time, "I'm an Old Cowhand", and later "Sweet Leilani" on the Grammy-winning CD This Is What I Do) and turning it into a vehicle for improvisation.

1957's Newk's Time saw him working with a piano again, in this case Wynton Kelly, but one of the most highly regarded tracks is a saxophone/drum duet, "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" with Philly Joe Jones. Also that year he recorded for Blue Note with a star-studded line-up of J. J. Johnson on trombone, Horace Silver or Thelonious Monk on piano and drummer Art Blakey (released as Sonny Rollins Volume 2).

In 1958 Rollins recorded another landmark piece for saxophone, bass and drums trio: The Freedom Suite. His original sleeve notes said, "How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim America's culture as his own, is being persecuted and repressed; that the Negro, who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is being rewarded with inhumanity."^[10]

The title track is a 19-minute improvised bluesy suite, much of it interaction between Rollins' saxophone and the drums of Max Roach, some of it very tense. However the album was not all politics – the other side featured hard bop workouts of popular show tunes. The bassist was Oscar Pettiford. The LP was only briefly available in its original form, before the record company repackaged it as Shadow Waltz, the title of another piece on the record.

Finally in 1958 Rollins made one more studio album before taking a three-year break from recording. This was another session for Los Angeles based Contemporary Records and saw Rollins recording an esoteric mixture of tunes including "Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody" with a West Coast group made up of pianist Hampton Hawes, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Leroy Vinnegar and drummer Shelly Manne.

1959 to 1971[link]

By 1959, Rollins was frustrated with what he perceived as his own musical limitations and took the first – and most famous – of his musical sabbaticals. To spare a neighboring expectant mother the sound of his practice routine, Rollins ventured to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice. Upon his return to the jazz scene in 1962 he named his "comeback" album The Bridge at the start of a contract with RCA Records, recorded with a quartet featuring guitarist Jim Hall and still no piano. The rhythm section was Ben Riley on drums and bassist Bob Cranshaw. This became one of Rollins' best-selling records.

The contract with RCA lasted until 1964 and saw Rollins remain one of the most adventurous musicians around. Each album he recorded differed radically from the previous one. Rollins explored Latin rhythms on What's New; tackled the avant-garde on Our Man in Jazz featuring Bob Cranshaw on bass, Billy Higgins on drums and Don Cherry on pocket trumpet; played with a tenor saxophone hero, Coleman Hawkins, on Sonny Meets Hawk, re-examined jazz standards on Now's the Time and some great American songbook standards on The Standard Sonny Rollins.

His 1965 residency at Ronnie Scott's legendary jazz club has recently emerged on CD as Live in London, a series of releases from the Harkit label; they offer a very different picture of his playing from the studio albums of the period. (These are unauthorized releases, and Rollins has responded by "bootlegging" them himself and releasing them on his website.) He then provided the soundtrack to the 1966 version of Alfie while recording for Impulse! records, which also produced East Broadway Run Down, Next Album, There Will Never Be Another You, and Sonny Rollins on Impulse!.

1972 to 2000[link]

Sonny Rollins

Rollins took his most recent sabbatical to study yoga, meditation, and Eastern philosophies. When he returned in 1972, it was clear that he had become enamored of R&B, pop, and funk rhythms. His bands throughout the 1970s and 1980s featured electric guitar, electric bass, and usually more pop- or funk-oriented drummers. For most of this period he recorded for Milestone Records and the compilation Silver City: A Celebration of 25 Years on Milestone contains a selection from these years. The 70s and 80s were not all disco though and it was during this period that Rollins' passion for unaccompanied saxophone solos came to the forefront. In 1985 he released The Solo Album.

In 1981, Rollins was asked to play uncredited on three tracks by The Rolling Stones for their album Tattoo You, including the single, "Waiting on a Friend".^[11]

In 1986 Documentary filmmaker Robert Mugge released a film titled Saxophone Colossus. It featured two Rollins performances: a quintet in upstate New York and his Concerto for Saxophone and Symphony in Japan.

2001 to present[link]

Sonny Rollins at Newport in 2008

Critics such as Gary Giddins and Stanley Crouch have noted the disparity between Sonny Rollins the recording artist, and Sonny Rollins the concert artist. In a May 2005 New Yorker profile, Crouch wrote of Rollins the concert artist:

"Over and over, decade after decade, from the late seventies through the eighties and nineties, there he is, Sonny Rollins, the saxophone colossus, playing somewhere in the world, some afternoon or some eight o'clock somewhere, pursuing the combination of emotion, memory, thought, and aesthetic design with a command that allows him to achieve spontaneous grandiloquence. With its brass body, its pearl-button keys, its mouthpiece, and its cane reed, the horn becomes the vessel for the epic of Rollins' talent and the undimmed power and lore of his jazz ancestors."

Rollins won a 2001 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for This Is What I Do (2000).^[12] On September 11, 2001, the 71-year-old Rollins, who lived several blocks away, heard the World Trade Center collapse, and was forced to evacuate his apartment, with only his saxophone in hand. Although he was shaken, he traveled to Boston five days later to play a concert at the Berklee School of Music. The live recording of that performance was released on CD in 2005, Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert, which won the 2006 Grammy for Jazz Instrumental Solo for Sonny's performance of "Why Was I Born?".^[12] Rollins was presented with a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 2004, but sadly that year also saw the death of his wife Lucille.^[12]

In 2006, Rollins went on to complete a Down Beat Readers Poll triple win for: "Jazzman of the Year", "#1 Tenor Sax Player", and "Recording of the Year" for the CD Without a Song (The 9/11 Concert). The band that year was led by his nephew, trombonist Clifton Anderson, and included bassist Bob Cranshaw, pianist Stephen Scott, percussionist Kimati Dinizulu, and drummer Perry Wilson.

After a highly successful Japanese tour Rollins returned to the recording studio for the first time in five years to record the Grammy-nominated CD Sonny, Please (2006). The CD title is derived from one of his late wife's favorite phrases. The album was released on Rollins' own label, Doxy Records, following his departure from Milestone Records after many years and was produced by Clifton Anderson. Rollins' band at this time, and on this album, included Bob Cranshaw, guitarist Bobby Broom, drummer Steve Jordan and Kimati Dinizulu.

Rollins performed at Carnegie Hall on September 18, 2007, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his first performance there. Appearing with him were Clifton Anderson (trombone), Bobby Broom (guitar), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Kimati Dinizulu (percussion), Roy Haynes (drums) and Christian McBride (bass).^[13]

September 25, 2009, Rollins performed to a packed crowd at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. The personnel was similar to the Carnegie Hall performance; Clifton Anderson (trombone), Bobby Broom (guitar), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Kobie Watkins, drums, Sammy Figueroa (percussion).^[14]

On June 27, 2010, Rollins played at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier in Montreal's Place-des-Arts for the 31st annual Montreal Jazz Festival, accompanied by, among others, Bob Cranshaw and Russell Malone. Prior to this show, he received the Miles Davis Award.^[15]

He also released on Doxy/Emarcy Records, 2 critically acclaimed albums from his archives: Road Shows: Vol. 1 and Road Shows 2 (with 4 tracks documenting his 80th birthday concert, which includes Rollins' first ever appearance with 'new thing' master Ornette Coleman on the 20 minute "Sonnymoon for Two".

Tributes and legacy[link]

Rollins is recognized for the length and quality of his career, one not easily matched in the world of music. His melodic sensibilities, playing style and solos have influenced several generations of musicians.^[1]

On September 7th 2011, his 81st birthday, Sonny Rollins was named as an honoree for the 2011 Kennedy Center Honors.

Rollins was awarded the 2010 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.^[16]

The city of Minneapolis, Minnesota officially named October 31, 2006 after Rollins in honor of his achievements and contributions to the world of jazz.

In 2007 Rollins received the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, Sweden, together with Steve Reich, and Colby College awarded him a Doctor of Music, honoris causa, for his contributions to jazz.

Rollins was elected to the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1973.

The cover of Donald Fagen's 1982 LP The Nightfly shows Fagen playing Rollins' 1958 LP Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders. The cover of Joe Jackson's 1984 A&M album Body and Soul is a replica of Rollins' 1957 Blue Note album Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2.

In The Simpsons Episode 6 Season 1, jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy plays the saxophone on a bridge in the middle of the night, a reference to Rollins famously playing alone on the Williamsburg Bridge.

Discography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Blancq, Charles. (1983). Sonny Rollins: The journey of a jazzman. Boston: Twayne.
• Nisenson, Eric (2000). Open Sky, Sonny Rollins and his world of Improvisation. Da Capo Books: Printing Press. 
• Christian Broecking (2010). Sonny Rollins - Improvisation und Protest. Creative People Books / Broecking Verlag, ISBN 978-3-938763-29-2

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sonny Rollins

• Sonny Rollins Official Website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Dennis Rollins
Rollins in concert, April 17, 2008
Background information
Born	1964
Origin	Doncaster, England
Genres	Jazz, pop, jazz-funk
Occupations	Musician, bandleader, record producer
Instruments	Trombone
Years active	c. 1984 - present
Associated acts	BadBone and Co, Boneyard
Website	http://www.dennisrollins.com/ Dennis Rollins.com

Dennis Rollins (born 1964) is a British jazz trombonist, the founder and bandleader of BadBone and Co.

Rollins was born in Birmingham, of Jamaican parents, and raised in Bentley, Doncaster and attended Don Valley High School. When he was fourteen years old, he joined The Doncaster Youth Jazz Association, with which he studied and performed for some years^[1] before moving to London in 1987.

Dennis Rollins has recorded, performed, and toured with a host of musicians and bands in jazz and pop, including Courtney Pine,^[2] US3, Jamiroquai, Roy Ayers, Dionne Warwick, Cypress Hill, Hermeto Pascoal,^[3] George Clinton, Lonnie Liston Smith, Blur, Tom Jones, Erykah Badu, Marcus Miller, Sting, Percy Sledge, Gorillaz, Space Monkeyz, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Brand New Heavies, Baaba Maal, the Jazz Warriors, Maceo Parker, Prince Buster, and Beverley Knight.

In 1995 he formed his own jazz-funk band, Dee Roe, with which he performed at such venues as the Jazz Café, Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, the London Forum, and Brixton Academy.

In 2000 he again formed a band, the quintet Dennis Rollins' BadBone and Co., launched at the Barbican in March of that year, again specialising in funk-inflected jazz.

Rollins with trombone, 2008

In 2005 he formed Boneyard, an ensemble featuring ten trombones, sousaphone (or "sousabone"), and drums; this band performed a series of live gigs throughout the U.K. that summer as well as a performance on BBC Radio 3. Boneyard featured the British jazz trombonists Barnaby Dickinson, Matt Colman, Julian Hepple, Andy Derrick, Kevin Holborough, Harry Brown, and Lee Hallam, with Andy Grappy on sousabone.^{[citation needed]}

Current Band members of Badbone&co are; Jay Phelps on trumpet, Johnny Heyes on guitars, Courtney Thomas on bass, Ross Stanley on keys and Jack Pollit on drums.

For the past several years, Ben has been a user of bespoke trombones designed and built by Michael Rath Trombones of Huddersfield.

Recordings (as leader)[link]

• 2000: Wild & Free (E.P.)
• 2001: BadBone
• 2003: Make Your Move
• 2006: Big Night Out

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dennis Rollins

• Dennis Rollins Official Website
• Myspace page
• "Funk Is the Preacher, Jazz Is the Teacher" Kevin LeGendre (Jazzwise 97, May 2006. pp 24–28)

ZumbaLand at the Art-Gene festival in 2008.

Zaza Korinteli (Georgian: ზაზა კორინთელი) better known by his stage name Zumba (born December 29, 1973) is a Georgian rock musician, folklorist and civic activist. His music fuses a wide variety of genres, principally Georgian folk tradition, rock, and reggae. Being a multi-instrumentalist on guitar, bass, wind instruments, percussions, and vocals, he leads the band ZumbaLand and also collaborates within several other musical projects. His stage name is an acronym of a Georgian phrase zogjer ubralod moindome, bolos agisruldeba (ზოგჯერ უბრალოდ მოინდომე ბოლოს აგისრულდება), translated as "Just wish sometimes – it will eventually come true."

Biography[link]

Born in Tbilisi, Korinteli graduated from the Department of Psychology, Tbilisi State University and 1997-2000 Kraków Academy of Modern Music and Jazz. He founded his first band in 1993 and named it ZumbaLand. The group initially performed in the streets, parks and metro stations of Tbilisi and recorded its debut album "I am waiting for the sunrise" in 1995. It went on to win two nationwide rock music festivals in 1996. In 1997, Korinteli disbanded the group and moved to Kraków, Poland, where the band was reincarnated featuring Georgian, Polish, Ukrainian, and American musicians. This line-up toured Poland at the end of the 1990s and recorded the album "Project Union" in 2000. The same year, Korinteli returned to Georgia and assembled a new band which has since maintained its lineup. It has since recorded three studio albums "Euroremonti" (2002), Jolo (2004) and Adila (2006), staged nationwide tours and performed at various festivals and concerts in Georgia, Ukraine, and Russia, including jamming with the American jazz musicians Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis and Richard Bona.^[1] Soundtracks for films “Travelling in folklore”; “Adila”, “Everything will be all right”. Theater music: “New year’s Tale” (Poland), “People from Yesterday” (Liberty Theatre)

In 2007 Zaza Korinteli's song "Hello, Abkhazia" has won the national competition "Patrinote". Korinteli is also known for his work as a cultural ambassador for Georgia and his promotion of Georgian folk music and folklore in general. He founded, in 2004, and has since managed an annual summertime folk culture festival Art-Gene hosted by Open Air Museum of Ethnography at Tbilisi. The festival also tours across Georgia, popularizing Georgian folk culture and collecting its obscure examples in the countryside.^[2] In 2009, Zaza Korinteli recorded CD album of his new musical project AstroGeorgia. AstroGeorgia represents a musical performance of the “world music” (The whole project could be also called as “World Music from Georgia”). Zaza Korinteli's new musical project's first tour was in Baltic countries (Estonia-Tallinn: open air festival "World Days"-in Estonia, Latvia-Riga, Lithuania-Vilnius, Vilkija, Kaunas.) International Festival "Art-Gene"-in Georgia, Black Sea Jazz Festival-Georgia (where participated in great musicians: Hugh Masekela, Mike Stern, Dave Weckl, Randy Brecker, Chris Minh Doky, Roy Hargrove). Zaza Korinteli-Zumba is founder of the "World Music Festival In Mestia", he was main organizer of the "5 star October" in Batumi. In 2009 Zaza korinteli founded non-profit organization Tsami, one of the goals of which is development of traditional and modern culture and art.

Discography[link]

• 2010-"AstroGeorgia"
• 2006-"Adila"
• 2005-"Mgzavruli"
• 2004-"Jolo"/"Raspberry"
• 2002-"EuroRemont"
• 2000-"Project Union" (Poland)
• 1995-"I'm waiting for Sun Rise"

Links[link]

• Zaza Korinteli's page on Facebook
• Zaza Korinteli's song - Patriot

References[link]

This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (April 2011)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Maceo Parker
Parker performing at the 2002 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
Background information
Born	(1943-02-14) February 14, 1943 (age 69)
Origin	Kinston, North Carolina, United States
Genres	Funk, soul jazz, P-Funk
Occupations	Musician, band leader
Instruments	Saxophone, flute, vocals
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Verve Records, What Are Records?, Heads Up Minor Music
Associated acts	James Brown, Maceo & All the King's Men, Maceo & the Macks, The J.B.'s, Parliament, Prince, Horny Horns
Website	www.maceo.com

Maceo Parker ( /ˈmeɪsiːoʊ/; born February 14, 1943) is an American funk and soul jazz saxophonist, best known for his work with James Brown in the 1960s, as well as Parliament-Funkadelic in the 1970s. Parker was a prominent soloist on many of Brown's hit recordings, and a key part of his band, playing alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. He is now just as well known for his own shows, as he has toured continuously under his own name since the early 1990s and has built up a strong fan base.

Biography[link]

Parker was born in Kinston, North Carolina. His father played piano and drums; his mother and father both sang in church. His brother Melvin played drums and his brother Kellis trombone.^[1] He and his brother, Melvin, joined James Brown in 1964; in his auto-biography, Brown says that he originally wanted Melvin as his drummer, but agreed to take Maceo under his wing as part of the deal.^[2] In 1970 Parker, his brother Melvin, and a few of Brown's band members left to found Maceo & All the King's Men which toured for two years.^[3]

In 1974, Parker returned to James Brown. He also charted a single "Parrty - Part I" (#71 pop singles) with Maceo & the Macks that year. In 1975, Parker and some of Brown's band members, including Fred Wesley, left to join George Clinton's band Parliament-Funkadelic.^[4] Parker once again re-joined James Brown from 1984 to 1988. In the 1990s, Parker began his successful solo career which is ongoing to this day. He has released ten solo records and has been playing 100 to 150 tour dates per year. His average playing time on stage is more than two and a half hours and is dominated by the music he helped invent, funk. The band has been billed as "The greatest little funk orchestra on earth" or the "Million dollar support band".

Maceo Parker at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy, in 2009

In 1993, Parker made guest appearances on hip hop group De La Soul's album Buhloone Mindstate. In the late 1990s, Parker began contributing semi-regularly to recordings by Prince and accompanying his band, The New Power Generation, on tour. He also played on the Jane's Addiction track "My Cat's Name Is Maceo", for their 1997 compilation album Kettle Whistle. In 1998, Parker performed as a guest on "What Would You Say" on a Dave Matthews Band concert which also became one of their live albums, Live in Chicago 12.19.98.

In 2007, Parker performed as part of Prince's band for Prince's 21 nights at the O2 arena.

Parker's last album Roots & Grooves with the WDR Big Band is a tribute to Ray Charles, whom Parker cites as one of his most important influences. The album has received critical acclaim, particularly in the US, and won a Jammie for best Jazz Album in 2009.

In October 2011, Parker was inducted in the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.^[5]

He continues touring throughout the world, headlining the major jazz festivals in Europe.

Discography[link]

Maceo Parker playing a Western Concert Flute at Jazz Cafe (london) 22 May 2009

As leader[link]

As sideman[link]

Filmography[link]

Playing with Prince

Equipment[link]

Maceo plays a Selmer Mark VI, (which he has had goldplated) and a Brilhart Ebolin mouthpiece 3. He uses Vandoren Java 3 and a half reeds.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maceo Parker official website
• Maceo Parker at Allmusic
• Shake Everything You've Got at YouTube