Rodney "Skeet" Curtis as he appeared in Missoula during the
spring of 1998. He was dressed UP with Maceo's band in 1999!

January '99 had just become February '99 as Maceo Parker's band was setting up in the Zephyr.
I had previously contacted Rodney Curtis via Melissa Weber's One Nation P-Funk fan site on the Internet, and Skeet promised to help get me "on the list" for their sold-out show. In return, I wrote an online review (long-gone from the Web by now) and made some computer graphics of Curtis, Parker, and ex-P-Funk trombonist Greg Boyer.
Maceo Parker was frankly a hero of mine since he'd played all those fabulous solos for James Brown.
He was one of the few musicians in that top-flight band who Brown called out for by name. Maceo's brother Melvin played drums, with legendary bassist Bernard Odom, on Papa's Got A Brand New Bag while Parker dominated side B with his saxophone.
I was equally impressed when I learned how much he'd worked with the various P-Funk bands over the years -- especialy in Bootsy's Rubber Band with several other ex-JB's.
Fred Wesley told me later how Parker had toured with BOTH P-Funk and James Brown for in the late 70's and early 80's. Wesley didn't mention that Maceo was also there whenever the JB horns recorded on their own. My own research also told me about Parker recording live with the P-Funk All-Stars in the late 80's too.
Maceo's solo career seemed to have been hastened by James Brown's all-too-famous car chase and subsequent incarceration -- I started to hear records on the radio with Parker's name on them from about 1990 forward -- usually on Jazz stations. I was thrilled when I saw Bootsy Collins and he in Dee-Lite's memorable Groove Is In The Heart video.

When I first got to the Zephyr, I asked for Skeet Curtis, and he came to the front to meet me -- he is a sober, but fun-loving man who was completely devoted to making music.
When I asked about scoring his new job, he reminded me that he had known Maceo Parker for over twenty years.
Since he'd done a long, eloquent Bass solo the last time I saw him, I asked about the possibility of hearing another, and he said he'd see what he could do. I then sought out trombonist Greg Boyer -- I didn't know him at the time, but he was of the most-mentioned musicians on Melissa Weber's One Nation site and, like Skeet, an ex-member of George Clinton's band.
Greg enjoyed hearing about Bernie Worrell's show and made an observation about P-Funk having a great many hours of good material. I steered him to the nearby Oyster Bar, one of Salt Lake's best restaurants, and went home to get ready for their show. (I wore the P-FUNK 1 jersey, of course.)
The Zephyr Club was packed, and I was grateful to Skeet for getting me in. I brought my neighbor Sherri along, and she joined her posse of dancin' fools right up front, while I mixed and mingled around the place.

Maceo Parker's performance was, simply said, wall-to-wall funky jamming for hours on end. He sang and played his Alto Sax with never-ending passion and inventiveness. Greg stood right next to him and supported everything he played or sang with a strong singing voice and powerful trombone -- playing high or low, whatever the jam demanded.
Jamal the drummer and Skeet had perhaps the toughest roles of all -- underpining that fine, spontanious music, but they seemed happy generating snappy, shifting rhythms in the back as Maceo punctuated the show with his refrain of Ooh Yeah!
Maceo's son Cory stood up front as a rapper now and then, or sung in the back with William -- designated hitter -- uh, singer on Mustang Sally. Bruno played an easy, stylish guitar, and John leaned on the keys of his classy antique Hammond organ. Skeet threw in a short solo or two, but the gig was was a GROUP affair -- which shook that two-story club from top to bottom.
The crowd was hypnotised by the masterful union of sound and rhythm known as FUNK, played by men who had perfected the art over decades. Maceo reached out, took a lady's hand, and allowed her onstage. It may have been an old trick, or maybe not -- but she was a TERRIFIC dancer -- graceful, beautiful, well-trained, and riveting to watch. (I later saw her perform in Steven Brown's Scampdance -- her name is Megan Brunsvold.) The horns paraded upstairs into the dressing room when the show ended, but there was one HELL of an encore too!
Maceo signed autographs afterwards, and we talked with Greg and Skeet a little -- the band was on its way to play at the Mangy Moose in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I would see them later that year on tour with Ani DiFranco, but this is THE END of this story!

Members of the P-Funk are friendly to their fans -- at least that's been my experience. Other meetings at the Zephyr included: The great Fred Wesley, who laughed about how little he had actually done in Parliament/Funkadelic, but accepted how important his contributions had been.
Dennis Chambers liked hearing about Skeet, Greg, and other Baltimore musicians like Greg Thomas, Bennie Cowan, and ex-Zappa drummer Chester Thompson.