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Proof is in the performance, says Maceo Parker Who: Maceo Parker Where: Boot Pub Fairgrounds What: Zoophorus music festival When: Aug. 31 Despite demanding schedules, saxophonist Maceo Parker takes time with his interviewees.

Proof is in the performance, says Maceo Parker

Who: Maceo Parker

Where: Boot Pub Fairgrounds

What: Zoophorus music festival

When: Aug. 31

Despite demanding schedules, saxophonist Maceo Parker takes time with his interviewees.

And you always wish you could have a little more.

A member of the "greatest funk orchestra on earth" with 300 shows per year, the Kinston, Carolina native is one busy man.

"When I was at a crossroads way back and thinking about teaching music, I chose to do this," he says.

"I do it for the music and for the arts. I love people, and love having something to give," says Parker, by phone from home after touring Europe this summer.

Part of this weekend’s Zoophorus Festival, Parker and his band funk up the Boot Pub Fairgounds tomorrow afternoon.

Keeping the shows fresh is never a problem for Parker, whose stylish signature suits add flair from the days of the dressed-up gig.

"You get fuelled from the reaction of the crowd, you really get something from the performance. I do pretty much the same thing, but you can also make something different. It’s sort’ve hard to explain."

He calls his music "2 per cent jazz, 98 per cent funk."

"I present the talent I have. The music has a fallout kind of thing at performances."

And after 11 albums, including his top selling CD titled Life on Planet Groove (Verve/Minor Music, 1992), Parker says the proof is in the pro.

"It’s not the same as something like watching tennis or baseball. People really get something out of performing – you’re entertained because you can’t do that, and say to yourself, I don’t know anybody that can hit a ball like that or what those pros do," adds Parker, whose bio extends back to days with George Clinton and James Brown in the ’60s and ’70s.

Modern collaborations with artists like guitarist Ani DiFranco and German musician Candy Dulfer have brought Parker’s signature sound to new listeners worldwide.

He opened for 10 Dave Matthews shows in the summer of 1999.

"I was opening for Ani and noticed while I was playing, she was over there dancing in the wings and she’s performing in the next 10 minutes, but she’s over there partying," recounts Parker.

"That’s unusual, but it really showed she likes what we do, and from that we played on each other’s albums. Now it’s like a family relationship, she’s almost like a daughter to me."

Professional relationships just click at certain concerts, when all systems are go.

"Like I say, those are the times that sort’ve turn out to be magical times."

Like the Richard Conde photo of Parker backlit by a single spotlight, arms outstretched to the stadium roof.

There is a power in music.

"I love when people can have peace (through music), and one way people can get that is through performance. We all suffer (in life) to a degree, and musical performance can get you through," he says.

Parker, who once said entertainment is like a buffet, elaborates in a sing-songy rhythmic tone.

"Some people say ‘I like hip-hop, I like the opera, I like the tenors….’ You get from it what you get from it, like when you go up to a buffet and say, ‘oh I’d like that, and a bit of that, and that.’"

When asked about highlights from his European tour he mentions the fans.

"It sticks out when you have fans that come up to you and say things like ‘I’ve seen your show 13 times, at this place, and that place,’ dedicated fans," says Parker.

Of the countries toured this time around, he says the response from Spanish fans was a surprise.

"I met someone from there who said ‘You gotta play in Spain in the summer, so remember me, in Alicante!’ and sure enough that same person was at the show. Here we were talking in Minneapolis, Minnesota and then they were there," he laughs.

Raised in a musical family, he cites his uncle, who headed a band called the Blues Notes, as a major musical mentor.

By age 15 he was already developing his own signature sax style with assistance from a high school bandleader.

David "Fathead" Newman and Ray Charles were later mentors.

Confidence in his own music reflects the quiet thinking of one very brilliant horn player who at one time in his life trained in the military.

Parker’s discography includes Dial: Maceo , released in 2000, and classics like Funk Overload War (1998), Mo Roots (1991) and Doing Their Own Thing (1970). He was featured recently in the documentary, My First Name is Maceo.

"The stuff that we do carries a strength. We’re very happy to be a part of all that."

When I say I’ll be sure to shake his hand at the show, he quips "Yeah, and with a smile on your face?"

Oh, I think so.