Friday, August 25, 2006
How To Ruin My Weekend
I learn from Powerline that Maynard Ferguson died yesterday. They have a nice tribute from a reader and a YouTube video of his very powerful and popular band from the 70's. I want to share this video of Maynard leading Stan Kenton's band where he started when he was a young man.
I have chosen the older stuff because while it was that 70's band that I first discovered and grew to love - to levels I will decribe momentarily, many jazz people thought it "too commercial" and "too conventional" leaving Maynard on the fringes of the jazz world, someplace he did not belong. He brought legions, I mean legions, of fans into the world of jazz. In his younger days he was undisputely the real deal. He was unfortunate to come along as the big band form died for that was where he excelled, but there are some awsome bee-bop 4-piece jam sessions from the 50's with him and the big names, Gillespe, et. al. that just knock my socks off.
I discovered Maynard in the halls of my high school. I came around the corner and heard some high trumpet, said to the guys that were selling tickets to the band concert that I thought that sounded like Chase (a '70's jazz/rock band that had some popularity) - They informed me that it was the guy that taught Bill Chase how to play trumpet - Maynard Ferguson, I was hooked.
I own well over 50 Maynard Ferguson recordings, probably at least 30 on vinyl and I have not even scratched the surface of his recorded catalog. I have seen Maynard in concert at least 25 times, first in 1974 - in ever possible setting, from workshop performances at high schools to jazz festivals. I recount my two favorites.
One was at Cal State LA, late '80's - a weekend jazz festival dominated by latin jazz performers like Pancho Sanchez and Tito Puente. Maynard and his band did the penultimate set, followed by Puente. Then Maynard joined Puente and his band and absolutely knocked it out of the park.
My absolute favorite though was in the upstairs of the American Legion hall in Bloomington Indiana. Maynard was a good friend to the head of the music department at Indiana University and had been in Bloomington for an education workshop. The Legion hall affair was after all that ended, not widely publicized, and did not start until 11PM. There were about 10 of us in the audience, but Maynard took not one ounce of energy out of the performance. The intimate setting combined with the power of the band (largely the one you see in the video at Powerline) just was magic somehow.
The news of Maynard's death really saddens me. I wish I could take the day off and just sit and listen to records. I have more Maynard Ferguson recordings and performance memories than any other musician or band. I am grateful I do - for today the world is missing a great one, one that did not necessarily get his due. He will be missed.
Related Tags: Maynard Ferguson, music, memories
I have chosen the older stuff because while it was that 70's band that I first discovered and grew to love - to levels I will decribe momentarily, many jazz people thought it "too commercial" and "too conventional" leaving Maynard on the fringes of the jazz world, someplace he did not belong. He brought legions, I mean legions, of fans into the world of jazz. In his younger days he was undisputely the real deal. He was unfortunate to come along as the big band form died for that was where he excelled, but there are some awsome bee-bop 4-piece jam sessions from the 50's with him and the big names, Gillespe, et. al. that just knock my socks off.
I discovered Maynard in the halls of my high school. I came around the corner and heard some high trumpet, said to the guys that were selling tickets to the band concert that I thought that sounded like Chase (a '70's jazz/rock band that had some popularity) - They informed me that it was the guy that taught Bill Chase how to play trumpet - Maynard Ferguson, I was hooked.
I own well over 50 Maynard Ferguson recordings, probably at least 30 on vinyl and I have not even scratched the surface of his recorded catalog. I have seen Maynard in concert at least 25 times, first in 1974 - in ever possible setting, from workshop performances at high schools to jazz festivals. I recount my two favorites.
One was at Cal State LA, late '80's - a weekend jazz festival dominated by latin jazz performers like Pancho Sanchez and Tito Puente. Maynard and his band did the penultimate set, followed by Puente. Then Maynard joined Puente and his band and absolutely knocked it out of the park.
My absolute favorite though was in the upstairs of the American Legion hall in Bloomington Indiana. Maynard was a good friend to the head of the music department at Indiana University and had been in Bloomington for an education workshop. The Legion hall affair was after all that ended, not widely publicized, and did not start until 11PM. There were about 10 of us in the audience, but Maynard took not one ounce of energy out of the performance. The intimate setting combined with the power of the band (largely the one you see in the video at Powerline) just was magic somehow.
The news of Maynard's death really saddens me. I wish I could take the day off and just sit and listen to records. I have more Maynard Ferguson recordings and performance memories than any other musician or band. I am grateful I do - for today the world is missing a great one, one that did not necessarily get his due. He will be missed.
Related Tags: Maynard Ferguson, music, memories
