Maceo Parker:his name is synonymous with Funky Music, his pedigree impeccable; his band: the tightest little funk orchestra on earth.

Everyone knows by now that he's played with each and every leader of funk, his start with James Brown, which Maceo describes as "like being at University"; jumping aboard the Mothership with George Clinton; stretching out with Bootsy's Rubber Band. More recently Prince called on Maceo to be part of his record breaking Musicology Tour, after all if you want funk you'd better call Maceo! He's the living, breathing pulse which connects the history of Funk in one golden thread. The cipher which unravels dance music down to its core.

It is almost impossible to separate which came first, Maceo or the funk. The amazing P-funk Parker has been at it with his legendary alto horn for some time dating back to the 1960's. That's when Maceo and his drummer brother Melvin climbed on board the James Brown funky soul funk train. It wasn't long before James coined the solo summoning signature, "Maceo, I want you to Blow!". To most musicologists it's that fertile group of men who are recognized as the early pioneers of the modern funk and hip-hop we still jump to today.

Having taken his touring band into the studio, (they've been described as tight as the chewing gum on the bottom of your shoe) he brings us an album with scholastic themes, but don't be fooled, journalist Dave Todoroff describes School's In as undoubtedly the next best thing to being with the funk maestro in person. His alto cries slowly on a couple of slower tunes (Song for My Teacher), which allows us all to catch our breath before the next onslaught of the very next cut as he gets us all sick from the feverish pace in which he burns on Speed Reading. The overall vibe of School's In is a study in Funkanomics:101, with the cuts playing much longer and a lot saxier than previous recordings.

At the beginning of 2007 Maceo had a chance to fulfill one of his dreams in working with a Big Band. Working with Grammy Award Winners the WDR Big Band he broadcast and performed a live series of shows paying tribute to Ray Charles and putting Maceo's own funky music to a Big Band setting. The success of these shows is leading to talks about future projects, in the meantime