Maceo Parker - Roots Revisited - Region 1 DVD

The opener "Up 'n' Down East Street" sets the tone, a sweat-soaked soul stomper redolent of fried pig foot in East New Orleans, old-school style. Ditto "Everywhere Is Out of Town" and the old James Brown classic "Doin' It to Death" (familiar to anyone who's seen the Muhammad Ali documentary When We Were Kings), during which you're longing for the Godfather himself to slide on his knees onstage and hit the mic. Equally strong, however, are ballads like "Inarticulate Speech of the Heart," on which Pee Wee Ellis proves a thoroughly articulate soloist, and "Children's World," a thoughtful, jazzy upgrade of Brown's "Man's Man's World." Good to see that old soul soldiers neither die nor fade away. --David Stubbs, Amazon.co.uk

"The LP Roots Revisited is still considered a secret under wraps, but after the German tour, its insider status ought to be a thing of the past." That was how the normally restrained Spiegel voiced its enthusiastic verdict of Maceo Parker's newly released jazz record, one of the top ten American jazz albums in the first four weeks of its release. After the great success of the first series of concerts, Maceo Parker and his band, including top players Alfred "Pee-Wee" Ellis (tenor saxophone), Fred Wesley (trombone), Ronald Muldrow (guitar), Larry Goldings (organ) and Jimmy Madison (drums), returned to the Stuttgart Theaterhaus in the late spring, where these excerpts were recorded on July 7, 1991--an extraordinary musical event and a milestone in the history of jazz. Tracks: Up 'N' Down East Street, Southwick, Inarticulate Speech of the Heart, Peace Fuque, Cold Sweat, Children's World, Everywhere is Out of Town, Doin' It to Death.