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"Maceo! Blow your horn!" That's how James Brown would dynamically signal his favorite horn player to take another stinging sax solo -- and Maceo Parker never once let his boss down. Parker's jabbing workouts in the midst of "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "Cold Sweat" made him a household name among '60s funk fans -- not bad for a kid fresh out of college who got the gig primarily because Brown coveted his brother Melvin's drumming chops. Now Parker is a star in his own right. His Verve albums Roots Revisited and Mo' Roots impeccably spotlight his soul-drenched alto sax on a sizzling hybrid of funk, R&B, and jazz. And he's brought along his ex-section mates from Brown's band -- trombonist Fred Wesley and saxist Pee Wee Ellis -- to stoke the almighty groove. The North Carolina product quit Brown several times. Along with his bandmates, Parker mutinied in 1970 to form Maceo & All the King's Men, only to return to the fold three years later; later in the decade, he worked with Parliamen...