Maze featuring Frankie Beverly July 10th, 09

Frankie Beverly was laughing, talkative and having a all around good time on stage with Maze at the Beacon on Friday night. This was a important show for this reviewer because the band has been playing with their funky beats for a long time. Lots of artist sample from Maze and after watching them live one can see that funk bridged the gap between R & B and Hip-Hop. Beverly and Maze are East Cost, with a upbringing in Philly, but even Frankie knows that they don't fall in to the Philly Sound. So in 1970, as other like minded young people, they went west to San Francisco. With a name Change (old name Raw Soul) and under the soul giant Marvin Gaye they landed a record deal. All this Frankie loving tells the crowed during one of the small breaks in music. They went from one smooth jam to another without pause, like others connected to San Francisco sound. Some of the seven are from the original line up but know matter what happened through the years Beverly has been the guiding light.(songwriter, producer, front man) They had many, many albums (most of them gold albums) that gave them a grand fallowing but no "hits." That said know that everyone in the the room new all the wards on this summer evening. Great songs like "Golden Time of Day" and "Joy and Pain." One of the best shows seen this year. One of the acts to tell people you saw live before it was to late.