There’s more to George Clinton than many fans realize. The Kannapolis, NC-born musician is the voice and face of Parliament Funkadelic. A leading light of the music scene, Clinton brought a sensibility that—much like Frank Zappa, to whom he is often compared—combined humor with advanced musicality. Through the 1970s and ’80s, the music made by the various aggregations under the P-Funk banner delighted fans who wanted something beyond the ordinary. The space-themed outfits, high-energy and outrageous live shows won Clinton and his band mates a loyal following that continues to this day.

But Clinton didn’t appear out of nowhere. By the time Funkadelic began attracting critical attention with albums like 1970’s Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow, he had been working as a professional musician for several years. With his friend Sidney Barnes (the latter a member of another groundbreaking musical act, Rotary Connection), Clinton worked as a staff songwriter at Motown. “We wrote a hundred-and-something songs in the Jobete Records catalog over the course of a year,” Barnes recalls. At the same time, Clinton also produced many sessions for fledgling artists, honing his skills behind the recording console.

In the middle 1960s, Motown head Berry Gordy set up a New York office for the company, headed by his estranged wife Raynoma. Barnes says he and Clinton “recorded hundreds of demos of songs—our songs, other people’s songs—because everybody at that time was interested in getting a Motown song.”

Even at the height of Parliament Funkadelic’s success, Clinton was actively helping other artists. During the ’70s he worked again with Barnes and Mike Terry (billing themselves as Geo-Si-Mik Productions) at Golden World Records, working on sessions for Edwin Starr, including “Agent Double-O Soul” and “Stop Her on Sight.”

While today Clinton and his P-Funk projects are thought of primarily as live acts, all of those experiences in the studio sharpened Clinton’s approach to music. In recognition of his life of achievement, Clinton was inducted (with Parliament Funkadelic) into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; just over a decade later, his home state recognized him as well, inducting him into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Today, as he approaches his retirement from live performance, Clinton remains active; behind the scenes he has been working with Barnes on development of a docudrama focusing on the chitlin’ circuit of the mid-20th century.

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
Aug 3, 5:30p.m. $79.50 and up
Mountain Winery, Saratoga

When hip-hop heads lovingly refer to the “West Coast sound” or Prince fans regale his potent pairing of musical prowess and sartorial eccentricity—or when a kid in suburbia picks up a bass after hearing “Give It Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, or a new Talking Heads convert is pulled into the fold after watching the synth-punk-worldbeat collision in the new wave band’s seminal concert film, Stop Making Sense—it all leads back to one far-out dude from Plainfield, New Jersey. Call it the six degrees of George Clinton.

The ringmaster of a rotating collective of virtuosic musicians known as Parliament-Funkadelic, Clinton has been making music and influencing the world of pop tunes for more than 60 years. During this time he’s helped to define the genre of funk, create a sub-genre—aptly dubbed P-Funk—and provide the backbone for a sub-genre of gangster rap, known as G-Funk.

At 76 years old, Clinton is still touring and keeping his finger on the pulse of contemporary culture. That’s him performing the spoken word intro to “Wesley’s Theory,” the opening salvo on Kendrick Lamar’s blistering, jazz-infused sophomore LP, To Pimp A Butterfly. He’s partnering with Flying Lotus to release his forthcoming album on the taste-making producer’s boutique label, Brainfeeder. And he continues to tour the country—he and Parliament-Funkadelic headline the main stage of San Jose Jazz Summer Fest on Friday night.

How does the septuagenarian stay so funky fresh? A healthy lifestyle probably isn’t the answer. In a Rolling Stone interview from 2014, Clinton admitted to smoking crack well into his 60s. If you ask him, the key is that he’s always on the lookout for the next big sound.

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” Clinton says on a recent afternoon, speaking over the phone from his home in Tallahassee, Florida.

Starting his career leading a doo-wop group called The Parliaments, Clinton parlayed that into a job at Motown, where he rubbed elbows with R&B greats like Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye. But even the Motown sound got old for Clinton. When he heard Led Zeppelin and other psychedelic rock bands of the late ’60s and early ’70s, he took notes—merging their lysergic aesthetics with the new, funkier rhythms of James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. He also took a page out of the playbook of artists like Sun Ra and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, mixing a healthy dose of afrofuturism into his sound and image.

“We changed to accommodate whatever was happening,” Clinton says, explaining his general philosophy for making music.

When rap took off in the ’80s, many record labels and artists fought back against the practice of sampling—claiming that the use of repurposed snippets of recorded audio constituted copyright infringement. Rick James sued MC Hammer over the latter’s use of the “Super Freak” hook on “Can’t Touch This.” Biz Markie went head to head with Gilbert O’Sullivan in front of a judge over a sample pulled from the track “Alone Again (Naturally).” But Clinton & Co. embraced the new creative mode.

“When they started sampling us in the ’80s, with hip-hop, we put out ‘Atomic Dog,’ which was a perfect song for that genre, and then we started catering to hip-hop,” he says.

Fans of early hip-hop will find samples of Clinton’s solo work and P-Funk all over the rap world. There’s “Me, Myself and I,” by De La Soul; “Bring the Noise” by Public Enemy—and of course many of the Dr. Dre-produced G-Funk beats, starting with the The Chronic in 1992.

While East Coast gangster rap sounds during the “golden era” of hip-hop were classified largely by stark, hard-chopped jazz samples and so-called “boom-bap” beats, there was something decidedly more funky going on in Southern California.

The G-Funk sound featured snaking monosynth leads, often referred to as the “G-Funk whistle,” buoyant bass lines performed on electric bass guitars (as opposed to the more muted sound of the upright acoustic jazz bass).

There are the direct samples, like on Snoop Dogg’s “Who Am I (What’s My Name)?,” as well as textures inspired by Clinton, such as the whistling monosynth lead deployed on “Gin and Juice,” and the computerized vocal hook on Tupac’s “California Love,” which comes courtesy of onetime Parliament-Funkadelic member Roger Troutman.

Scott Fulton, who works for San Jose Jazz coordinating the High School All Stars program and managing the SJZ Boom Box Project, says Clinton and P-Funk are easily one of his “all-time biggest influences.”

“To this day, there’s not another group that sounds the way they do,” he adds.

Clinton and his entourage truly excel at creating a festive atmosphere—through their stage show and their innovative approach to crafting party anthems consisting mostly of choruses, which allows audiences to sing along more easily and lose themselves in the experience. “You just can’t help moving your feet,” Fulton says. “It’s pandemonium.”

Which isn’t to say the music is simplistic. Fulton was inspired to pick up the bass after hearing the virtuosity of P-Funk bassist Bootsy Collins.

“Bootsy’s space bass was very unique,” he says, recalling the juicy auto-wah effect Collins often applied to his instrument. Additionally, Bootsy’s bass was often placed high up in the mix, where it worked as a sort of lead instrument, while a synthesizer played a simpler sub-bass line underneath it all.

The idea of a bass working as a lead is nothing new today, though back in the ’70s it was a revelation, Fulton says. “If you listen to (Primus bassist) Les Claypool’s bass, it is very related to Bootsy’s—the nastiness of it.”

And it was, in part, due to Clinton’s progressive stance on sampling that Fulton found his way to hip-hop, while the musicianship of Parliament-Funkadelic sent him digging up older jazz records. Fulton remembers the feeling of coming full circle when he realized the squiggling synth sample on “Me, Myself and I” was taken from Funkadelic’s “(Not Just) Knee Deep.”

“Connecting the dots on that was amazing,” he says.

Clinton’s acceptance of sampling, Fulton adds, was more than a savvy business move—it was a way of ensuring his legacy. “If a Parliament songs gets new life via a sample, then a whole new generation gets to participate.”

The legacy of Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic is preserved by the Smithsonian Institution, which recently acquired the “Mothership”—a stage prop the group toured with during the ’90s. The original Mothership from the ’70s could not be located, according to Kevin Strait, curator for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Part of the museum’s exhibit titled “Musical Crossroads,” the Mothership, Strait says, served as a visual representation of freedom and the potential of African Americans, which was at once forward looking as well as a tribute.

“The Mothership owes a nod to Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix and other avant garde musicians who imagined space as a metaphor for freedom for African Americans beyond earthly constraints,” Strait says. “And it helped the audience understand that this was a new era of music making in general.”

George Clinton
Aug 11, 9:30pm, $20+
Main Stage, San Jose Jazz Summer Fest

Winter Fest is barely in the rear view mirror, but San Jose Jazz is already announcing it’s preliminary lineup for its flagship Summer Fest. This year, things are gonna be funky; George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic are topping the bill, along with Chris Botti, Maceo Parker, and The Whispers.

Tickets for the festival—which runs from Aug. 11-13—will unfold across 10 stages, with more than 120 performances at venues all over San Jose and around Silicon Valley. Early bird tickets are on sale now through April 24. For more details, read the press release below:

San Jose, Calif. — Silicon Valley’s premier annual music event, San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017 returns for its 28th festival season from Friday, August 11 through Sunday, August 13 in and around Plaza de César Chavez Park in downtown San Jose, Calif. A showcase for jazz, blues, funk, R&B, salsa and related genres, SJZ Summer Fest is also nationally recognized as one of the biggest Latin festivals in the country. A standout summer destination for music lovers, concert-goers and families alike, the three-day event features 120+ performances on 10 stages, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to downtown throughout the weekend.

Three-day passes and single tickets are on sale at Early Bird prices now through April 24. Four distinct levels of access are offered to best experience SJZ Summer Fest. VIP, Priority and All Stages levels allow access to all outdoor stages plus four indoor venues: the beautiful Hammer Theatre, intimate Cafe Stritch and Jade Leaf Lounge, plus iconic Club Regent at the Fairmont San Jose, offering many of the festival’s premier world-class jazz and global artists indoors in air-conditioned, acoustically-rich environments. General Admission (GA) gives basic access to all outdoor stages only. Three-day passes: GA: $45 early bird through April 23, $60 advance April 24-July 31, $70 gate; All Stages (includes all indoor venues): $70 early bird through April 23; $90 advance April 24-July 31, $100 gate; Priority Access (skip-the-line privileges and more): $140 early bird through April 23, $160 advance April 24-July 31, $170 gate; VIP (exclusive main stage seating, complimentary food and wine, garage parking): $285 early bird through April 23, $325 advance April 24-July 31, $345 gate. Single day tickets, ranging from as low as $15 to $150 for a VIP experience advance, April 24-July 31; see website for benefits and pricing. All ticket prices will increase to Gate Price on August 1.

For nearly three decades, San Jose Jazz has embraced its steadfast commitment to presenting today’s most distinguished acts from around the world and homegrown Bay Area talent at one of North America’s foremost festivals: GRAMMY® Award-winning artists, the hottest salsa and Latin bands, classic jazz pioneers, world music stars, top local emerging musicians, and genre-busting hip-hop, R&B, and soul artists.

The 28th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017 features an acclaimed lineup, and today San Jose Jazz announces its initial round of confirmed artists including Main Stage headliners: Chris Botti; George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic; Maceo Parker; The Whispers; Angélique Kidjo’s Celia Cruz Tribute with Pedrito Martinez; Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio; Jazz By Five with Javon Jackson, George Cables, Randy Brecker, Eddie Gomez & Jimmy Cobb; San Francisco String Trio with Mimi Fox, Mads Tolling and Jeff Denson; Cyrille Aimée; The Seshen; Pacific Mambo Orchestra; Danny Green Trio; Carmen Lundy; Sasha Masakowski; Emilio Solla Quartet; Dmitri Matheny Jazz Noir; Tia Brazda; Gregory Page; Kavita Shah; Ray Obiedo; Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy; Brian Andres Afro Cuban Cartel; Somos el Son; and additional artists to be announced!

Not only will SJZ Summer Fest 2017 transform downtown San Jose into an explosive hub of jazz, it’ll be the nation’s epicenter of Latin jazz, drawing on both a mix of internationally renowned Latin artists and top Bay Area salsa bands, co-curated by Mister Latin Jazz. The 2017 Salsa Stage includes featured sets by Pacific Mambo Orchestra, Brian Andres Afro Cuban Cartel, Somos el Son, and many other acts to be announced in the coming weeks.

Brendan Rawson, executive director of San Jose Jazz, comments about this year’s Summer Fest: “Summer Fest 2017 is gearing up to be an incredible weekend celebration of jazz in all its forms as well as jazz’s influence on so many contemporary styles of music including R&B, Latin, electronic, world and funk on 10 different stages. In addition to the outdoor Plaza Park setting for our Main Stage and the shady San Fernando and Post streets for our Salsa and Blues/Big Easy stages, we also have a couple of excellent new indoor venues involved this year including the newly revitalized Hammer Theatre. We’re also excited to welcome back the JazzWeek Summit conference (Aug 10-11) on the front end of Summer Fest that will bring broadcasters, artists, agents and label representatives together for two days of industry meetings before the Fest kicks off.”

Bruce Labadie, one of the founders, is the Artistic and Festival Director, and with the help of locally-based co-curators programs the artists for the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.

Highlights of Confirmed Artists @ 28th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017
Among the very few American trumpeters who’ve garnered the status of becoming a “household name,” Chris Botti won a GRAMMY® Award for his latest album, Impressions. Winning the GRAMMY® for “Best Pop Instrumental Album,” Impressions features Botti with special guest artists Andrea Bocelli, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, Mark Knopfler, and others in a warm, intimate celebration of melodic balladry. Botti is one of the world’s largest selling jazz instrumentalists; he has had four albums reach the No. 1 position on the Billboard jazz albums chart.

From revolutionizing R&B during the ’70s with three platinum albums and over 40 R&B hits to performing on Kendrick Lamar’s 2016 GRAMMY®-winning album To Pimp A Butterfly, George Clinton has remained a constant musical icon. He has received an MTV Music Video Award, a Gospel Music Association Dove Award and has been recognized by BMI, the NAACP Image Awards, and Motown Alumni Association for lifetime achievement. Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

It’s nearly impossible to separate which came first, Maceo Parker or the funk as he’s played with each and every leader of funk, including James Brown, George Clinton and Prince. He’s collaborated with Ray Charles, Ani Difranco, James Taylor, De La Soul, Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2012, Maceo Parker was presented with Les Victoires du Jazz in Paris: Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to music and with an Icon Award at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.

As one of R&B’s most beloved vocal groups, The Whispers produced a string of hits throughout the ’70s and ’80s. Their biggest hit, “And The Beat Goes On” was featured on their most successful album, The Whispers, which went double platinum. The Whispers’ 1987 release, Just Gets Better With Time, went platinum and featured R&B number one hit and US Top 10 pop entry, “Rock Steady.” The Whispers were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003 and were presented with the prestigious Governors Award by the San Francisco Chapter of the GRAMMY® Awards in 2005.

GRAMMY® Award-winning singer Angélique Kidjo is a definitive 21st century world artist who’s come to world acclaim through her recorded catalogue and collaborations with the likes of John Legend, Lionel Loueke, and Dianne Reeves. At Summer Fest 2017, Kidjo alongside Latin jazz percussionist phenom Pedrito Martinez pay tribute to the Queen of Salsa, Celia Cruz. The BBC included Kidjo in its list of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures, and she’s the first woman to be listed among “The 40 Most Powerful Celebrities In Africa” by Forbesmagazine.

With a career spanning over five decades, Dr. Lonnie Smith is an unparalleled artist who stands as the preeminent Hammond B-3 organist in jazz today. At the age of 73, he’s still growing as an artist, as witnessed by his remarkable new Blue Note Records album, appropriately titled Evolution. The New York Times recently wrote that Smith “really seems to be up to something bigger than music, and older, and deeper.”

The quintet Jazz By Five is made up of established jazz musicians Javon Jackson, George Cables, Randy Brecker,Eddie Gomez, and Jimmy Cobb. Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson has been a highly sought out composer, live performer and jazz educator since coming into international prominence through his work with the legendary Art Blakey. As a major voice in modern jazz, George Cables has performed and recorded with many jazz greats including Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson and more. Jazz trumpeter and composer Randy Brecker has helped shape the sound of jazz, R&B and rock for more than four decades and his music has graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists such as James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan and Frank Zappa. Legendary bassist and two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning Eddie Gomez has performed and recorded with artists in all genres including Art Garfunkel, Jennifer Holliday, McCoy Tyner, and Nancy Wilson. Jazz drummer and elder statesman of all of Miles Davis’ bands, Jimmy Cobb has collaborated with an array of musicians and is an active performer in New York City, Japan, China, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and South Africa with his group Jimmy Cobb’s Mob.

Two-time GRAMMY® winner violinist Mads Tolling, six-time DownBeat Magazine International Critics Poll Winner guitarist Mimi Fox, and internationally acclaimed bassist and composer Jeff Denson, have forged their musical talents in a new group, the San Francisco String Trio. An all-acoustic ensemble defying categorization, the San Francisco String Trio provides its audiences with a poignant and compelling musical experience. Together, these singular artists have developed The Sgt. Pepper Project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the groundbreaking Beatles album.

French-Dominican vocalist and actress Cyrille Aimée and winner of the Montreux Jazz Festival’s Vocal Competition, the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocal Competition and finalist in the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, she is – in the words of Will Friedwald of The Wall Street Journal – “one of the most promising jazz singers of her generation.” The New York Times?referred to Aimée’s major label release, It’s a Good Day, as “a bravura turn, presented with a smile.”?Featuring originals as well as covers of classics, the band is the result of Aimee’s unique musical vision: bass, drums and three guitars (Brazilian, gypsy and jazz).

The San Francisco Bay Area-based six-piece, The Seshen, released their debut studio album, Flames & Figures, in 2016. They’ve garnered the attention from OkayPlayer, The Fader, and EarMilk. The Seshen remains in high demand and has performed alongside Hiatus Kaiyote, tUnE-yArDs, Thundercat, and Petite Noir.

The GRAMMY® Award winning 20-piece band hailing from San Francisco, Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO) is known for leading the rebirth of the Latin Big Band sound. Band members and contributors bring forth decades of collective experience playing with a variety of musical greats, from Dizzy Gillespie, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock and Tito Puente, to Art Garfunkel, Blood Sweat and Tears, Jerry Garcia and Mariah Carey.

Canadian-born Tia Brazda has a sparking presence on the jazz scene in Canada and beyond through performances in major international cities and at notable festivals including Bestival, Toronto International Jazz and Vancouver International Jazz. Her debut album, Bandshell, debuted at #1 on the iTunes Jazz Chart in Canada, was ranked #5 by Jazz FM 91 in Toronto on their list of Top 10 Canadian jazz albums of 2015, and it ranked at #24 on the CMJ national jazz radio chart in the U.S.

Pianist and composer Danny Green‘s music engages listeners with evocative melodies and infectious rhythms. Hailed as “one of the important up-and-comers on the scene today” by All About Jazz, Green hails out of the San Diego area and he’s performed at The Blue Whale, The Blue Note (NYC), TEDxUCSD and KSDS Jazz 88.3 Ocean Beach Jazz Festival.

Highly regarded for her innovative musicianship and songwriting, jazz singer Carmen Lundy has received noteworthy praises from The New York Times, Village Voice, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. As a composer, Lundy’s music has been recorded by artists Kenny Barron, Ernie Watts and Straight Ahead (with Regina Carter), among others. On her 2009 release, Solamente, Lundy arranged, produced, recorded, mixed and played every instrument on the entire album.

Listed as one of Vanity Fair’s top jazz musicians in the world, Sasha Masakowski‘s music is playful, charismatic and as spontaneous as her personality. She has earned a reputation internationally as a fearless improviser working often alongside other progressive musicians such as Jason Lindner, Zach Danziger, Cliff Hines and Aurora Nealand. She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival consecutively for five years and has toured across the United States, Asia, Europe and Central America.

GRAMMY® Award-nominated Argentina born and NY based pianist and composer Emilio Solla‘s first band Apertura was praised by Astor Piazzolla as “one of the most interesting sounds in the Buenos Aires scene since 1986.” Solla has arranged for and performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo O’Farrill, Edmar Castañeda, Pablo Aslan and Cristina Pato. In addition to touring worldwide with his Barcelona based quartet, Emilio Solla & Afines, he is currently a faculty member at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and has given clinics in Jazz Composition at Emory University, Gotemburg Music School (Sweden), and Jazz & Pop Conservatory (Helsinki, Finland).

All About Jazz notes the Dmitri Matheny Group as, “an all-star jazz band featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in the western United States.” Matheny became the protégé of the legendary Art Farmer, and it was Farmer who encouraged him to devote himself exclusively to the “Big Horn.” Matheny has toured extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and has performed with The Temptations, Martha Reeves, The Four Tops, Frankie Avalon and the O’Jays.

Songwriter and producer Gregory Page was born into a family of musicians in London, England. Page has worked with an eclectic array of artists such as Jason Mraz, John Doe, Jewel, Tom Brosseau and more. He has earned love from audiences from California to the Southern Hemisphere and throughout Europe. Mraz praises Page by saying, “He’s the real deal, a rare gift.”

Praised by NPR for her “amazing dexterity for musical languages,” native New Yorker of Indian origin Kavita Shah is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French. She incorporates her in-depth knowledge of diverse cultural traditions into her jazz-based repertoire, placing seemingly dissimilar songs, instruments, and artists in dialogue with one another. She is a member of the Steve Newcomb Orchestra, and has collaborated with Lionel Loueke, Wilson, Greg Osby, Peter Eldridge, Yacouba Sissoko and others.

Contemporary jazz guitarist Ray Obiedo has steadily emerged as a standout Bay Area talent. He has played with many of the jazz community’s most celebrated musicians, including legendary jazz organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith, trombonist Julian Priester, Azteca featuring Pete & Sheila Escovedo and Fourplays’ Harvey Mason, and performed on a world tour with jazz superstar Herbie Hancock.

The son of acclaimed big band drummer Sonny Igoe, Tommy Igoe has worked with an impressive range of artists including Dave Grusin, Art Garfunkel, the New York Voices, Stanley Jordan and more. His most recent project, Tommy Igoe Groove Conspiracy, boasts many of the Bay Area’s finest instrumentalists, including Pacific Mambo Orchestra leader Steffen Kuehn, Tower of Power’s tenor saxophonist Tom Politzer, and Doobie Brothers’ alto saxophonist Marc Russo. The group’s self-titled debut features guest artists Randy Brecker, Carlos Santana’s Karl Perazzo, and Snarky Puppy’s Michael League.

Brian Andres has shared the stage with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Little Anthony and the Imperials, Tony Award winning Broadway star Faith Prince, Leroy “Sugar” Bonner from The Ohio Players, blues greats Sam Myers and Lonny Mack, and television and movie star Woody Harrelson. His interest in Latin music and culture brought him to the Bay Area. Not only does he perform with Dr. Loco’s bands The Rockin’ Jalapeño Band and Los Tiburones Del Norte, but in 2007 he stepped into a new role as bandleader for the Afro Cuban Cartel.

Since it’s inception in 2013 by Peruvian percussionist, singer, composer and dancer Braulio Barrera, Somos el Sonis quickly becoming one of the Bay Area’s hottest salsa orchestras. As a self-taught percussionist and drummer, Barrera has composed jingles for various Peruvian commercials, toured with Cecilia Barraza’s ensemble through Europe, Costa Rica and the U.S., and performed with various Peruvian dance companies and salsa bands including Chino Espinoza, Tabaco Eron and the GRAMMY® Award-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra. His work can also be heard on the Motorcycle Diaries soundtrack and in the 2007 NBC film, Cane.

Get ready for an electrifying lineup of acclaimed artists appearing at the 28th San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017! Additional artists will be announced in the coming weeks.

28th Annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest 2017
When: August 11 – 13, 2017
Where: Plaza de César Chavez Park, San Jose, CA
Admission: summerfest.sanjosejazz.org/buy-now
More info: summerfest.sanjosejazz.org; 408.288.7557

The latest edition of SXSW closed Sunday in Austin, leaving behind massive mounds of Lone Star empties, sleepless nights for thousands of music fans, chance encounters with greatness and missed opportunities.

It’s a festival that’s a blessing and curse. There’s no other place in the world where you can find as many people involved with music in one place—from icons to no-name bands camping out in their van just for a chance to perform—but it’s also impossible for one person to see every act on their wish list. There is just too much going on and too many people trying to get into venues much to small for the talent inside.

PHOTOS: View the complete Metro photo gallery from SXSW.

A short list of the numerous icons to touch down in Austin over the weekend: Prince played for about 300 people to close the festival, Depeche Mode debuted new songs and Iggy Pop nearly had to be pulled from the stage after his set with the Stooges. Rap superstars Snoop Dogg, T.I., 50 Cent, P. Diddy and Kendrick Lamar also performed. A rumored Daft Punk show never materialized, but DeadMau5, Flying Lotus, Baauer and Skream were among the many electronic artists.

Below are highlights from the big-ticket acts we caught and bands we’re looking out for in 2013 and beyond:

Sound City Players
After delivering an 11 a.m. keynote speech (early morning in SXSW hours) Dave Grohl kept the party going late into the night at Stubb’s with his own little music festival featuring a cast of characters mostly from his new Sound City documentary. It was essentially a soundtrack that you might hear at a dive bar on any given night, but only played live in front of a few thousand fans. Stevie Nicks started the all-star lineup, followed by Lee Ving of Fear and Rick Springfield with Grohl and the Foo Fighters backing.

Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen made an appearance with Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor belting out “Surrender.” The set ended with Bay Area icon John Fogerty running through Creedence Clearwater Revival, including “Born on the Bayou” and “Proud Mary,” before closing with Grohl swapping versus on “Fortunate Son.”

T.I. at Fader Fort during SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

T.I., Usher and the Afghan Whigs
With stylists giving out free mohawks and an open bar with Whiskey-laced lemonade and beer, Fader Fort drew huge crowds and a 100-yard line of hopefuls looking for access to the party. The pop-up venue lived up to its reputation for surprises on Friday starting with an unannounced performance by Houston rapper Trae The Truth. The venue was packed early with mostly Texas locals rapping with him word-for-word before the place went nuts with a surprise appearance by T.I., who plowed through a few of his hits with Pharrell and B.o.B among the performers crowding the stage.

After more than two hours of hip hop (Future performed after Trae), the scene flipped to the opposite side of the musical spectrum with indie rock vets the Afghan Whigs. The band played tracks of their own before working into a verse of Usher’s Diplo-produced track “Climax.” The crowd erupted again as the R&B vocalist stepped out from backstage to finish the song and the rest of the set with the band. Brooklyn artist Sinkane also made a cameo and traded vocals with Usher on his afrobeat-influenced track “Runnin’.”

Scarface of the Geto Boys at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Geto Boys
Legendary Houston rap crew the Geto Boys brought a night of twisted hip hop nostalgia to a few hundred people lucky enough to get into an exclusive show hosted by Red Bull. The gangsta rap OGs came out of semi-retirement and brought classics to the stage like “Mind Playing Tricks Me” and “Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta” along with deeper tracks from their catalog. Potential good news for Bay Area fans: At the end of the show Willie D announced the group will go on tour later this year.

George Clinton at the Finding the Funk Panel at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Finding the Funk Panel
With live shows going from noon into the early-morning hours every day during SXSW, it’s easy to overlook some of the panel discussions and performances planned at Austin’s convention center. We caught what is probably the funkiest panel in SXSW history with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist Bernie Worrell discussing the origins of funk and their music, along with VH1 producer Nelson George, Soul Rebels drummer Lumar LeBlanc and Sly Stone’s daughter Novena Carmel.

The exchange between Clinton and Collins during a Q&A session that ended the panel was full of laughs as the two cracked jokes with each other and shared war stories about taking acid, groupie love and buying the Mothership (it’s now parked at the Smithsonian) for the Mothership Connection tour in the 1970s.

Never short on one-liners, Collins offered this nugget when asked about what he thinks about modern funk musicians: “Every generation will have their own angle on the dangle.” Will Clinton, Collins and Worrell share the stage again for a show? “I’m horny for that,” Clinton replied.

Bands to Watch this year:

John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees at SXSW. Photo by Matt Crawford.

Thee Oh Sees
It’s already been a big year for Thee Oh Sees, the San Francisco band with the most momentum going into SXSW. They’ve mastered the art of throwing a blazing rock ’n’ roll party, and the crowd that arrived in Austin to see them clogged the bar patio and stage area where they played a late afternoon set on Saturday. Fans closest to the action onstage were covered in sweat, beer and crowd surfers while the band worked through its set with few pauses. Thee Oh Sees are off to Coachella next before heading to Europe.

Thurston Moore with Chelsea Light Moving at SXSW. Photo by Jennifer Anderson.

Chelsea Light Moving
With Sonic Youth on indefinite hiatus after his marital split with bandmate Kim Gordon in 2011, Thurston Moore introduced his new band, Chelsea Light Moving, at SXSW to a few hundred people at Thrasher’s Texas Style Death Match party. Sonic Youth probably won’t get back together anytime soon, but this is the closest of the group’s various solo projects to the Sonic Youth sound—heavy riffs from Moore that channel the early punk energy of the band with references to mellower more recent releases.

Eric Victorino of the Limousines at SXSW. Photo by Jennifer Anderson.

The Limousines
The Limousines always draw big crowds in San Jose, but it was also great to see a large following show up for their final show in Austin this year. After a break from SXSW last year, they were back with three shows and finished with a short Saturday night set that forced a line outside to stretch down the street from the full venue. It should also be a big year for the South Bay favorites, who left their label and are working independently on a new album due out this summer after raising $75,000 on Kickstarter. Expect darker undertones on the new release and enhanced production visuals at the band’s next Bay Area shows.

Metro Executive Editor Dan Pulcrano contributed to this report.

Maceo Parker has played with some of the most iconic and eccentric personalities in music history. As James Brown’s sax man, he helped write the rules of modern R&B. As the musical director of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic, he led a sonic revolution in the ’70s. As part of Prince’s band, he’s helped him become one of the most in-demand live acts of this century. He’s worked on projects with everyone from Keith Richards to Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction.

The question is: how does he do it? How does he collaborate with pop’s oversized personalities without setting off a war of egos?

Duh, he’s Maceo.

“I’m easygoing,” said Parker by phone after winding up his extended New Year’s Eve duties. “I’ve got a real long, long, long, long chain before you get me out of my thing. I’m just one of those guys, I’ll open the door for you, you can go in the elevator first. If there’s a long line of cars, I’ll stop and let you in. I just do that.”

If Parker’s cool runs deep, it has also spread wide. “One of the things I never envisioned really is so many parents naming their kids Maceo,” he says. “Man, all over the world, I’m telling you. It’s crazy, really crazy. There was one time I had three little Maceos on stage. One of the left side of the stage, one in the center, one on the right. None of them knew each other, but they were all Maceo because of me.”

Parker has been recording with his own various bands off and on since the early 70s, winning a “Jammie” for Best Jazz Album in 2009 for his most recent album, the Ray Charles tribute Roots & Grooves.

When he comes to Montalvo in Saratoga on Wednesday, he brings a reputation for transcendent live shows that can stretch on for hours. He’s so known for epic partying he had to do four straight nights through New Year’s Eve last month, at Yoshi’s in San Francisco.

“People know what we’re going to bring, they know what we do. You’re going to get your party on, your dance on. That’s what we’re about,” says Parker. “I’m there for the people. They made a choice to come where I am, and I want to make it really worth their while. I’m there trying to give one hundred percent.”

It’s a work ethic that was certainly impressed upon him at a young age; he was only 21 when he started playing with Brown in the ’60s. Though the soul and funk icon was a careful arranger, he also relied on his legendary sidemen like Parker and trombonist Fred Wesley to keep his sound cutting-edge.

“When it came to ‘Maceo, time for you to blow,’ then I had to play what I hear, which is what is inside of me,” he remembers. “It was exciting, it was a little challenging. But then again, it wasn’t that much, because I was just playing me. Fred used to say ‘Man, I never seen anybody wake up out of a deep sleep and play as funky as Maceo.’ It’s all natural.”

It was a bit of a culture shock when he hooked up with Clinton’s spaced-out, psychedelic P-Funk crew, but he quickly made his mark.

“I really cherish the time I was with him. It was like a cult kind of thing, the following. It was cool, but coming from James Brown it was like ‘Whoa! Whoa! No, you can’t say that! No, you can’t do that! You can’t dress like that! You have to wear some kind of shoes. C’mon!’ I’m telling you, man, I was really thrown. Like, ‘what in the world is going on?’”

Parker has drawn from all of those experiences, but when he got the chance to set his own musical agenda, he discovered as a bandleader that the sound he really wanted to channel wasn’t so different from the one he had started out with in the first place.

“I’ve always had my concept of how I want to do it. It sort of resembles James Brown a little bit, because let’s face it, that turned out to be me, too,” he says. “It was James Brown, but it was also me.”

Rather than end up what he calls a “jack of all trades, master of none, “ he pushed his funk-based sound as hard and far as he could.

“That’s what I set out to do, and that’s what I did,” he said. “I guess it shows.”

Maceo Parker plays Wednesday, Jan. 11, at Montalvo Arts Center at 7:30pm; $44/$49.