I LOVE a band..there called Maze..and his name is Frankie Beverly..

[bubinga5]

I think this band are sooo underated.. i have listened to this band for many years, and love there mix of funk and soul..its the best there has ever been IMHO..my perfect band you could say..

Easily as good as Earth wind and Fire, Rufus And Chaka, Change...

Frankie B is da man.with a great band band behind him with Robin Duke on bass..

I was allways amazed as to why there not as famous as other greats?

Check this out , one of my favorites...Amazing.. if you like soul funk, it doesnt get any better than this!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt3u6fYoSJU


this is special..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph4hY...eature=related

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by bubinga5

I think this band are sooo underated.. i have listened to this band for many years, and love there mix of funk and soul..its the best there has ever been IMHO..my perfect band you could say..

Easily as good as Earth wind and Fire, Rufus And Chaka, Change...

Frankie B is da man.with a great band band behind him with Robin Duke on bass..

I was allways amazed as to why there not as famous as other greats?

Check this out , one of my favorites...Amazing.. if you like soul funk, it doesnt get any better than this!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt3u6fYoSJU

Robin Duhe on bass, very solid player. While I like Maze and here in DC Frankie Beverly probably qualifies for sainthood, I wouldn't put the group on the same level as what EWF & Rufus were doing during the same time period.

Excellent group.

[bubinga5]

Originally Posted by Brad Johnson

Robin Duhe on bass, very solid player. While I like Maze and here in DC Frankie Beverly probably qualifies for sainthood, I wouldn't put the group on the same level as what EWF & Rufus were doing during the same time period.

Excellent group.

Excuse my erm...spelling... i guess what im saying is IMHO i think Maze came out with great songs on many occasions, but for some reason didnt seem to have chart topping records..

with all due respect, there is nothing i can see, that sets Rufus, EWF apart from Maze, i guess they were more layed back, but the writing of great songs is there, unless im missing something, apart from commercial success..i have listened to various soul funk soul jazz groove for 25 years and i can listen to EWF, Ohio Players etc, and get the same consistent joy from Maze.of course this is just my opinion

Can you explain why you dont consider them on the same level as the said bands? Do you think Rufus and EWF were doing something very different? Are you a man of these times, interesting to know something of the impact that EWF had over other bands of the time?

Thanks..

[JimK]

I'm with Brad.
...and we are both from that era.

EW&F has roots in the Chicago Free Jazz scene. Their earliest albums sometimes contained an instrumental track where this influence can be heard.
On top of that, their debut evoked Sly & The Family Stone...who's badder than Sly?

Rufus or Maze?
Maybe it's me...I was more into Rufus; they Rocked, they Funk'd, & they could put out some smooth ballad-type material. IMO, their tunes were deeper & better composed.

I recall having more difficulty copping EW&F & Rufus tunes vs. Maze tunes.

Again, maybe it's because I only have 2-3 Maze albums? So I am claiming to be a little less versed on Maze than yourself.

Another group from that era I liked a lot was Brick...and I would not put them in either EW&F or Rufus' league.

[Dr. Cheese]

I have to admit that I don't put Maze in the category with EWF either, but Maze is an institution. IMO, Maze is like the Grateful Dead of r&b because they are one group that needs no hit to fill out an auditorium every time they come to town. Maze followers are supere dedicated, and Maze always puts on a great show.

[RBrownBass]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I have to admit that I don't put Maze in the category with EWF either, but Maze is an institution. IMO, Maze is like the Grateful Dead of r&b because they are one group that needs no hit to fill out an auditorium every time they come to town. Maze followers are supere dedicated, and Maze always puts on a great show.

Ab-so-lute-ly.

While I agree that Maze isn't quite on EWF level, they are a huge draw even today. And Happy Feelings is a slow jam classic easily on the level of Reasons or That's The Way Of The World.

Duhe's been tasteful as long as I've been listening.

[Terry Funk]

Maze is definitely that middle of summer, family reunion barbeque music that puts a smile on the face every time ("Joy & Pain", anyone?). Frankie Beverly has one of the smoothest voices that you will ever hear, and the band is about as tasteful and funky/soulful as they come. I don't know about the EWF or Rufus w/ Chaka comparisons, but they are certainly a fantastic act in their own right. Good Call.

[tommy gilstrap]

I believe it was the summer of '77 in Huntsville, Al. Brothers Johnson with opening act Maze. Went to check out the Brothers, left a huge Maze fan!

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by bubinga5

Excuse my erm...spelling... i guess what im saying is IMHO i think Maze came out with great songs on many occasions, but for some reason didnt seem to have chart topping records..

The only reason I put in the correction is, should someone be interested in finding out more about Duhe, they'd instead get info about a female comedienne who was on Second City TV and Saturday Night Live.


I agree they came out with great songs and didn't see a ton of chart success. You're answering your own question

with all due respect, there is nothing i can see, that sets Rufus, EWF apart from Maze, i guess they were more layed back, but the writing of great songs is there, unless im missing something, apart from commercial success..i have listened to various soul funk soul jazz groove for 25 years and i can listen to EWF, Ohio Players etc, and get the same consistent joy from Maze.of course this is just my opinion

The only reason I mentioned EWF and Rufus was as a counterpoint to what you said. I disagree. I wouldn't put Maze up with the groundbreaking Ohio Players either. I've listened for far more than 25 years, I've listened since the inception of each of these groups. So while I have live memories of these groups from the beginning, you don't.

Can you explain why you dont consider them on the same level as the said bands? Do you think Rufus and EWF were doing something very different? Are you a man of these times, interesting to know something of the impact that EWF had over other bands of the time?


Thanks..

Yes, I am a man of those times. I started gigging in the 1970's and some of the earliest music I played was by a new band called Earth, Wind & Fire. I don't know of many musicians back then who weren't in awe of what they could do.

Yes, I do think they're very different. Rufus was a pretty amazing hybrid of music. They didn't fit in one box. They had Chaka Khan in her prime. That alone would seal the deal ()but then they also had one of the tightest rhythm sections around, anchored by a one-two punch on bass and guitar, the highly underrated Bobby Watson and one of the sweetest rhythm guitarists around, Tony Maiden. Andre Fischer and later John Robinson on drums. The band was a groove clinic. The writing was excellent.

EWF was a phenomenal group. While Maze was a band with some great songs, EWF was a live band with a ton of genre defining songs. EWF had Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Al McKay, Larry Dunn, Johnny Graham and Fred White at the top of their collective game. If you can actually look at their body of work and see it as comparable to Maze, cool. I can't, not by a country mile. And as I said, I like Maze. I still play their music in local bands on a regular basis and people love it. Bands love it because, no offense, it's nice, easy grooves that are relatively easy to play and people recognize. OTOH not many bands would try to hit "Mighty Mighty", "In The Stone", Fantasy" or any number of EWF songs.

They don't attempt many Rufus songs either

hth

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by JimK

I'm with Brad.
...and we are both from that era.

EW&F has roots in the Chicago Free Jazz scene. Their earliest albums sometimes contained an instrumental track where this influence can be heard.
On top of that, their debut evoked Sly & The Family Stone...who's badder than Sly?

Rufus or Maze?
Maybe it's me...I was more into Rufus; they Rocked, they Funk'd, & they could put out some smooth ballad-type material. IMO, their tunes were deeper & better composed.

I recall having more difficulty copping EW&F & Rufus tunes vs. Maze tunes.

Again, maybe it's because I only have 2-3 Maze albums? So I am claiming to be a little less versed on Maze than yourself.

Another group from that era I liked a lot was Brick...and I would not put them in either EW&F or Rufus' league.

Excellent example. Brick was another one of those bands that was very good but not on the level of EWF or Rufus.

I guess it would be fun to put those groups into tiers and see where everyone agreed or disagreed. Back in the day the subject didn't even come up... people just seemed to know the pecking order. There were bands that could play and then there were bands that could PLAY.

For the kind of smooth, silky soul Maze was known for, Maze was right up there. But there were bands that did a lot more than that. I wouldn't put Maze in the same leaque with pre-"Word Up" Cameo. Those guys were straight up funk monsters and did killer ballads too.

Maze always had their audiences feeling good. These other groups had their audience in a frenzy.


Obviously this is all opinion.

[JimmyM]

A long time ago (1981), Maze did a signing at a record store I worked at, and they were terrific guys. It was the first I ever heard of them, and the live album they were promoting was great and they were so cool that I left work that day a fan. I'm not as into them as I once was, but I still like to trot out their 81 live album out now and then.