Maynard Ferguson R.I.P.

[bob knack]

LEGENDARY MUSICIAN MAYNARD FERGUSON DIES
Grammy Nominated Trumpeter Known for "Gonna Fly Now"
Theme To Movie "ROCKY" was 78

Ojai, CA (August 24, 2006) - Walter "Maynard" Ferguson, one of the most influential musicians and band leaders in the history of Jazz, passed away August 23rd at 8:00 pm Pacific Time at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California. He was 78 years old. His death was the result of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection. Mr. Ferguson's four daughters, Kim, Lisa, Corby, Wilder and other family members were at his side when he passed away after this brief illness. He spoke by phone with his friend and manager Steve Schankman from St. Louis, longtime tour manager Ed Sargent, and friend, and fellow trumpeter Arturo Sandoval.

Mr. Ferguson had recently returned home to California from New York after several sold out performances in July at the famed Blue Note Club. During this time, Ferguson and his Big Bop Nouveau band also recorded a new album at Bennett Studios in Englewood, New Jersey.

Maynard Ferguson, born May 4th 1928 in Montreal, started his career at the age of 13 when he performed as a featured soloist with the Canadian Broadcasting Company Orchestra. He played with some of the great Big Band Leaders of the 1940's including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton. In 1945, at age 17, Ferguson became the leader of his own Big Band. The 78-year old musical phenomenon went on to record more than 60 albums, receiving numerous honors and awards including the GRAMMY® nomination for "Gonna Fly Now." In 2005, Ferguson was awarded Canada's highest civilian honor, the "Order of Canada" from the Right Honorable Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. In addition to those accolades, Ferguson has been the recipient of DownBeat Magazine's prestigious "DownBeat" Award.

"The Boss," as Ferguson is known, has been performing for packed houses for decades. His recent DVD release, "Live at The Top," captures one of his most memorable performances, a concert held at the Plaza Hotel in Rochester New York in 1975, with Ferguson performing alongside fellow music pioneers Stan Mark, Ernie Garside and Bruce Johnston. Most recently, Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau Band had been touring the United States. He was preparing for a Fall Tour beginning mid-September in Tokyo, Japan. He had also been invited to play for the King of Thailand's 80th birthday in January.

Mr. Ferguson's body will be cremated in his hometown of Ojai, California. Memorial contributions can be made to the Maynard Ferguson Music Scholarship Fund at University of Missouri - St. Louis, which was established by Steve Schankman at Maynard's 75th birthday celebration. Mr. Schankman and the Ferguson family are planning a memorial concert to take place in St. Louis which will feature many of the band's alumni and friends who Mr. Ferguson performed with during his more than 60-year musical career.

Mr. Ferguson's latest, and last, recording will be released later this year as a legacy to the life of Maynard Ferguson.

 

[Bullish '84]

One of the many colors of trumpet greats out there, now gone.

In this forum maybe too bombastic for some. Maynard was for
some of us trumpet guys that "next" level of player, for many
an "ultimate" level of player. An original who pretty much did
it all. Phenomenal featured sideman, solid studio/soundtrack man,
Leader & showman. Like Herb, his own distinct personal sound.
Hearing him "live" at his peak was never forgotten.

His legacy, like Woody Herman's or Stan Kenton's of giving a lot
of young musicians a chance will continue on from those who
played for him or were simply inspired by his stratospheric playing.
Sadly, as with Maynard and someday a Herb or Doc, there is no
one to replace them.

Herb is my everyday guy and the TJB always makes me feel great
as they are a soundtrack to my life. But there are times I simply
want that macho adrenaline rush that playing the "MF Horn 2" or
"Chameleon" albums deliver. The more straight ahead jazz sounds
of his late 50's Birdland Dreamband also amazing.

For me today is on a par with the day 1986 I heard Benny Goodman
had passed away. Another king not replaced.


Now playing: "Give It One" from MF Horn 2 (WOW!)

Long live Herb!!

 

[bob knack]

The line that's going around is:

"Gabriel is now playing second."

 

[Rudy]

Damn.

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This is truly a sad day for jazz fans. MF's bands in the 60's & 70's were incredibly explosive and a true joy to listen to. I had the pleasure of meeting MF in the mid-80's when he played a rather small venue here in Austin. I was kind of a "go-fer" for him that particular day, getting him some sushi and Chinese food before the gig. Then I got a front row seat afterwards. Believe me, he did NOT need any kind of microphone. Back then my hair was rather long, down to my shoulders, and I swear it felt like my hair was flowing straight back every time Maynard started blasting out those double-high C's! He always had a killer band, with the likes of Slide Hampton, Bill Chase, Peter Erskine, Bobby Militello coming through his bands. Always great charts to play as well. I have a ton of his albums, many of which have yet to be on CD. It's kind of ironic that his version of "Gonna Fly Now" was popular, as that particular album was one of MF's worst. But that's the music biz.



Capt. Bacardi
NP: Maynard Ferguson - A Message From Newport

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I see that Maynard was on the soundtrack to The Ten Commandments movie, which is probably the only time there was a Maynard Ferguson/Herb Alpert connection.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike]

Adios Amigo.

Now playing: Superbone Meets The Bad Man

Regards,
Mike

 

[Captaindave]

Maynard was indeed one of the all time great icons of trumpet playing specifically and instrumental music in general.

He was an huge inspiration/idol for thousands of trumpet players who regarded him as the ultimate trumpet player; especially in regard to playing in the extreme high register.

It is very sad when someone of his legendary stature for so many years is gone.

 

[Bullish '84]

The Captain brought up a Maynard-Herb Alpert connection.

I just imported the new Maynard CD combining his first CBS album
from 1968 "The Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson" and "MF Horn 2"
(Both finally on CD for the first time!). "Ballad Style of MF" has a
version of "Girl Talk." Herb did a superb version the same year on the
"Warm" album. MF's is a tad more jazzy but nice, I always wanted
this album for MF's version of the Bond theme "You Only Live Twice."
The "Ballad Style" album also was never released in any form in the US.

The CD is on the Vocalion label with great liner notes and mastered
from the original British CBS tapes. Released in July in UK.

A sequel to Bob Knack's post about "Gabriel's move to 2nd," the other
quote I've seen today was:

"Maynard's now playing God's Lead book, only up an octave!"

Doc and His Big Band are coming to my area in February, this is a
message to me to go see him and cherish every moment. And I
like a lot of you hope Herb gets the inspiration to be out there in
front of people who would love to hear his horn and see his smile in
person. I hope 2007 brings us that chance, and a chance to hear
"The Sea Is My Soil" open a particular CD.

 

[Rudy]

For me, his finest recordings were on the Roulette label in the late 50s and early 60s. Lately, too, I've been discovering him on recordings by Stan Kenton and even further back, on a Shorty Rogers date or two, which gives us another Herb Alpert connection. Shorty's "Cool & Crazy" 10" LP from the early 50s has some clearly recognizable horn parts featuring MF blowing up an octave. He also appears on a Perez Prado album or two (especially the Voodoo Suite, which features Shorty Rogers' big band combined with Prado's rhythm section).

I like his MF Horn series on Columbia (we were just discussing it here a day or two ago, in fact), and some of his post-Columbia albums are good as well. "Live From San Francisco" has been a favorite of mine for years.

I should also point out that in our big band classes, MF's charts were always among our favorites. His contribution to and support of music education throughout the schools of the U.S. was exemplary. The music world lost one of its greatest.

R.I.P.

 

[seashorepiano]

I freely admit that I am in need of Maynard's Recordings 101. Can anyone recommend some good albums to start with?

 

[bob knack]

I always liked "Live in London", "One More Trip to Birdland", and the new one, "MF Horn Six". Anything by the 1950's Birdland Dream Band will give you an idea of his earlier playing. The "best of" on Columbia will give you all of his Disco days, but I didn't care for that period too much.

Get some things while he was with Kenton and you'll understand why he was destined to be a legend...especially the song written for him, "Maynard Ferguson".

I'm very down today. I was looking forward to hearing him again when he came through in October. I feel like I've lost a family member.

 

[LPJim]

This is a terrific loss to the music world. I was fortunate that Maynard and his band came to our high school in March of 2005 to perform for a fund raiser. At age 76 he gave a rousing performance and never missed a high note.
Nearly 30 years after "Gonna Fly Now" had become a hit he traveled across the country by bus to appear at local schools and inspire band students. This is a tremendous legacy.
JB

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

Some friends of mine were going to see him in Vegas this last week but it was cancelled. They figured something serious was up. Then he passed shortly after that.

Ellis, Rich, Herman, and now Maynard. It's the end of the hip modern celebrity based big band. It is the end of an era.

 

[CherryStreet]

Felt very priviledged to see one of his last shows in LA in May. He still "had" it!!!!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I just imported the new Maynard CD combining his first CBS album from 1968 "The Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson" and "MF Horn 2" (Both finally on CD for the first time!).

This will be released in the US on September 12th. I really don't understand why these two albums are being combined. M.F. Horn Two should be released by itself, as should all of the M.F. Horn series. But I see it's being reissued on the Dutton Vocalion label (whoever they are). I'll buy this just to get M.F. Horn Two, but I just can't see the reasoning for this kind of packaging.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Bullish '84]

Thanks to the Captain for the note on the US release of the MF Vocalion release.

A heads up on the UK release of the"Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson/MF Horn 2" CD: Beware that the nice Fender Rhodes piano intro to "Country Road" is only partly there, sounds like a botched mastering job. It comes in a an uncomfortable place chopping off most of that intro. Other than that it sounds great.

With this disc almost every MF Columbia-CBS release is on CD domestically.

Now available:

"Ballad Style Of Maynard Ferguson"(1968)
"MF Horn"(UK: "The World Of Maynard Ferguson"(1970)
"Maynard Ferguson"(UK: "Alive and Well In London"(1971)
"MF Horn 2"(1972)
"Chameleon"(1974-5)
"Primal Scream"(1976)
"Conquistador"(1977)
"New Vintage"(1978)
"Carnival"(1979)
"HOT"(1980)
"It's My Time"(1981)
"Hollywood"(1982)

Yet to come:

"MF Horn 3"
"MF Horn 4 & 5: Live at Jimmy's"


"Ballad Style & MF Horn 2" are on the UK Vocalion label double cd until the US release, which I hope fixes the "Country Road" intro problem.

"Chameleon" & "Conquistador" were re-released and remastered in the last year or two by CBS/Sony with better sound and superior packaging to their early 90's Columbia Jazz Masterpiece editions which sounded horrible. There are unreleased songs from the "Chameleon" sessions
rumored to be in a possible CBS/Sony box set. Jay Chattaway's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" arrangement was recorded as well as possibly two others. There is a left over from "MF Horn 3" as well.


The remaining titles were released by specialty label Wounded Bird Records licensed as a Sony Special Products release. They all sound
good with good reproduction of the original covers.

"MF Horn 4 & 5: Live at Jimmy's" is the MF LP that I put on the same list
with Herb Alpert's "Warm." It's on my "Where the heck is the CD list!!!"
Most Maynard fans want it as bad as Herb's fans want "Warm," and
since I am both it hurts real bad. Made myself real good CD's until then though.

I have all of these MF CD's and do recommend them, even the least of the later ones have some great moments amongst the fluffy stuff:

"Airegin" & "Maria" from New Vintage, "Stella By Starlight" & "Birdland" from Carnival, "Dance To Your Heart," "An Offering of Love" and "Everybody Loves The Blues" from It's My Time.

Scream on!

NP: "Eli's Coming" from "MF Horn(1)"

 

[Rudy]

I always liked "Live in London", "One More Trip to Birdland", and the new one, "MF Horn Six". Anything by the 1950's Birdland Dream Band will give you an idea of his earlier playing. The "best of" on Columbia will give you all of his Disco days, but I didn't care for that period too much.

For the Columbia years, I'd probably recommend a compilation--maybe the "Essence of MF" disc if it's still available. Grabbing "Conquistador" might also be a good bet.

It's a shame there are very few of his Roulette recordings available. Mosaic had the 10-CD box set, and scattered titles have been in print, but not even "Si! Si! M.F." (my favorite album title ) remains available. IMHO he hit his stride at Roulette--he did hit the high notes, but they were not in excess as they'd sometimes become on later albums.

Of his post-Columbia recordings, I have always liked "Live from San Francisco".

Speaking of high notes, the highest I've ever heard him play was an F# above his trademark high C, on Perez Prado's "Voodoo Suite". If I can extract a sound clip of it, I'll post it here.

 

[Dave]

A 25¢ copy of Primal Scream was all I have ever had by Ferguson, and tellingly, in condition which really didn't do justice...

Unusual cover songs like the Yes song, Roundabout, were what Maynard could not only play, but always justify... From what a couple of you have said about his concerts--being in a Small, Intimate Venue where he was easily accessible to his audience or playing a Benefit in a High School gymnasium, I really missed out on some good Jazz and in a good, Live experience...

Farewell, Maynard; I feel encouraged to finally get into your works...



Dave

 

[jazzdre]

i can't believe this!!! just a few weeks ago,maynard played here in town a the blue note!!!another legend gone!i was never a big fan of maynard's,but i respceted him just the same.i believe(and correct if i'm wrong folks)that when herb's fame started to dwindle,he became one of the star trumpeters of the early 70s.his style was imitated by a lot of high school kids who wanted to play in the high note registers. again,my sympathies on his passing.

 

[Rudy]

Actually from what I once read, some fans considered Maynard to NOT be a "great" trumpet player. I mean, it's not like he was *bad* or anything, but he wasn't as prominent or proficient a soloist as the musicians in his band. He was the "glue" that made the ensemble (esp. the trumpet section) stick together, was there to punctuate many of the trumpet sections' lines with the high notes, and and was the one to "bring it on home" at the end of the song with the melody. This is in addition to his role as a mentor, a nurturer of new and upcoming talent, and a bandleader who used the strength of his musicians and arrangers to create the band that played under his name. The hardcore fans, yes, expected Maynard to squeeze out a few good high notes, but they were there even more so for what the ensemble did as a team. That's what I get out of listening to his recordings but, sadly, will never get a chance to see in concert.

 

[Nathan Strum]

I've got Maynard recordings from 1950 on up, and I can tell you - he was a fantastic soloist. Some of the work he recorded in the 50's and 60's is especially astonishing. Innovative, creative, technically brilliant, artistically beautiful, powerful, and yes... occasionally tastefully questionable.

But he could solo with the best of them. In his later years, I agree that he backed off a bit and provided more showmanship and musical punctuation, allowing the soloists in his band to really shine while he served as a master of ceremonies (a role he seemed to relish with great joy). Of course, Maynard always featured talented musicians in his bands throughout the years anyway. It was always as much about them as it was about him. He loved talent, loved music, and loved entertaining people. That always came through.

A few CDs worth having:

Band Ain't Draggin' - Great early 50's work.
Hollywood Jam Sessions - Maynard with a small combo, 1954.
I Have But Two Horns - Fantastic two-disc set from the mid-50's.
Maynard Ferguson Orchestra 1967 - The end of Maynard's "classic" big-band era.
M.F. Horn - One of the earliest and best of his Columbia albums.
Live at the Great American Music Hall Part I and Part II - Amazing two-disc set of a live 1973 concert (not a great recording, but a killer performance).
Brass Attitude - One of his best later-years albums, from 1998.

And a few YouTube clips...

Here's a 22-year-old Maynard with Stan Kenton in 1950. (Poor video quality, but amazing playing.)

Maynard in the 60's.

And in the 70's.

Sadly, most of his recordings from the 60's (on Roulette) are out-of-print. But there's still a lot of good stuff out there.

 

[Jay Maynes/Juan Oskar]

I had always wished that MF would have done a Christmas CD.

 

[Bullish '84]

Maynard did kinda recently participate in a Christmas album when he was on the Concord label. He is on a compilation album "Concord Christmas Vol. 2" or a title close to something like that. MF and His Big Band do a medley of songs. Haven't heard it, but I've been told it is nicely done and arranged.

Hope that helps. I'll find some more info and post it for you.

 

[Rudy]

I had always wished that MF would have done a Christmas CD.

He recorded a medley during his Roulette era (it's on the 10 CD box set) entitled "Christmas For Moderns", which almost sounds like something Stan Kenton would have done.