"Maceo! Blow your horn!"

Saxophone giant Maceo Parker has been hearing that on an almost-daily basis for nearly 40 years. Back in the '60s, it was what his boss James Brown yelled to summon him to the microphone for one of his big-lunged, stabbing solos. Nowadays, it's just one of the many odd ways fans greet him in public.

"I don't get it quite as much as I used to but I still get it all the time," laughs Parker. "On the street, in the airport, wherever. People come up to me and start doing those grunts like James used to do or they start shouting, 'Good God!' or 'I feel good!' or 'Maceo! Blow your horn!' "

After all this time, you'd think Parker might want to do something else with his horn to the next fan who shouts that. But the 59-year-old musician says he never gets tired of the recognition.

"That's who I am," he says. "And I enjoy the fact that people are still in awe of who I am. I'm proud of what I do and what I've done."

He oughta be. As the highest-profile member of Brown's band during his prime, Parker contributed to a near-endless list of classic cuts: Papa's Got a Brand New Bag, Cold Sweat, Lickin' Stick, I Feel Good and Say it Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud, to name just a handful. After splitting from Brown in the '70s, Parker put in time with other legendary funk outfits, George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins' Rubber Band. These days, he splits his time between Prince's band and his own career. Trying to get him to choose his favourite is like trying to get a parent to pick between children.

"All of them are equal," he says. "I think James Brown, because it was first, sticks out a little more. It was the launching pad for me. But all of them are important because it means I have been active in every era of music, from the '60s to today."

And don't expect that to end anytime soon. When we saw Parker in a U.S. club earlier this year, he performed like a man half his age, furiously blowing his horn for nearly three hours and pausing only to introduce himself to every attractive woman in the front row. Bringing one up on stage to dance, he remarked, "People ask me how I stay so young," and then just stood back and smiled as he watched the gal gyrate.

Parker laughs at the memory. "You know, I just love working, man. Really. You know, George Clinton says funk is its own reward. I think he might be right."

To put it another way: He feels good.