Americans Love Maze featuring Frankie Beverly

In September 2009, the COTTON CLUB performances by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly finally became a reality.

What is "Maze featuring Frankie Beverly"
The conscience of the American soul scene, Maze feat. Frankie Beverly, returns to Japan for the first time in 15 years. While they perform in arenas in their home country, they will appear in a small venue with a capacity of just 170. Their silky voice, inherited from Marvin Gaye, their sincere soul spirit, and their impeccably stable performance will send us into a frenzy.
— Those who do not know MAZE cannot speak of soul.

Americans love Maze featuring Frankie Beverly.
However, their performance history in Japan is sparse, with only one show each in the 80s and early 90s, meaning the name "Maze" might only be familiar to core soul music fans.

For instance, Michael Jackson, who recently passed away, was known as the "King of Pop," and James Brown is the "Godfather of Soul." As for Maze, they are apparently known as the "Best kept secret in the industry."
In simpler terms, should we interpret this as "the industry's hidden gem"?

Headlining the final day for over a decade at a black music festival drawing 270,000 attendees

Even now, their concerts, for which they are not associated with Grammy awards or other music accolades, are always sold out. Their electrifying 1980 live performance in New Orleans, captured on DVD, led to Maze being completely embraced by the city and its people, securing their unwavering popularity there ever since.

Maze has been headlining the final day for over a decade at the "Essence Music Festival," one of America's largest black music festivals, which started in 1995 and is now celebrating its 15th anniversary, drawing a total of 270,000 attendees over three days.

Incidentally, the 2009 lineup featured Beyoncé, Al Green, Ne-Yo, and a reunion of Lionel Richie with the Commodores to celebrate Motown's 50th anniversary – always generating buzz for black music fans. It's said that many fans from Japan also travel to New Orleans for this Independence Day weekend.

And all Frankie can do is embody True Soul

According to Philip Woo, who was in the band as a keyboardist in the 80s, the reason Maze has garnered so many followers, particularly among soul fans across America, is precisely their live performances, where one can experience their unique charm and incredible power.

And all Frankie can do is embody "True Soul." This has remained unchanged since his childhood, growing up with his feet on the ground, and stepping onto a professional stage for the first time at age 12. He dislikes flashy productions and stays true to the music he believes in. When he moved to San Francisco and was discovered by Marvin Gaye, Marvin actually asked him to join the band. However, Frankie replied that he wanted to perform his own songs and asked to be an opening act. Indeed, Frankie performed his own songs on stage as an opening act for Marvin. It wasn't arrogance; Marvin likely didn't hesitate to have him open because of who Frankie was.

This leads me to a personal speculation: perhaps Frankie, a true soul man who steadfastly believes in his own music and refuses to pander to fans or the market, secretly felt that he didn't need to be commercially successful? Pondering this, I asked Philip Woo a direct question: how could he be such a humble person, continuing to make music only he could create?

"He was okay with not being successful, right? He wanted to remain true to himself, not necessarily achieve million-selling records or fame like Marvin Gaye, was that it?"

The answer was no. "It's not that beautiful a story." Frankie likely wanted to sell more than anyone and be successful. And he continued to strive for that. However, he couldn't create music that sold. In those days, selling meant creating music that could be heard by white audiences as well. It was an era when radio stations divided music by race. Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross managed to cross that line. But Frankie couldn't.
Philip continued: "The harder he tried, the more his music became distinctly Black, the deeper and more profound soul music it became, and the further it moved away from 'selling' music. Simply put, it's all he knows how to do."

One of the few soul men currently embodying the "Truth" of soul music

A club performance, unavailable even in their home country, is realized!

I felt compelled to interpret for myself why Maze fans call them their "hidden gem."

Beyond the joy of seeing Maze live in Japan, the realization of a club performance, something unavailable even in their home country, must surely leave fans in mainland America feeling uneasy.
After all, they can have an exclusive experience of Maze's live performance, which they've only ever seen in arenas and festivals, within the intimate, limited 170-seat space of the Marunouchi COTTON CLUB.