Dial M-A-C-E-O

The artist universally known as Maceo meets the Artist Formerly Known as Prince on this new star-studded venture also featuring Ani DiFranco and Sheryl Crow. Mostly, it's the stuff Maceo does best: mid- to uptempo funk grooves that test the alto saxophonist's sharp, rhythmic approach and lift him miles above his imitators. Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering his own very ascetically produced sound, Prince's "Greatest Romance Ever Sold" isn't the most successful moment on the album. His postmodern pop doesn't suit Maceo's gutsy, natural sound the way James Brown or Bootsy Collins could. Nor does the three-way partnership with Crow on the rock-style "Baby Knows" offer the saxophonist much of an opportunity to dig dirt. But "Simply Tooley"--a horn-heavy return to something like the P-Funk sound--and "Rabbits in the Pea Patch" are two of Maceo's best tracks in years. --Linton Chiswick