Posted on 08/24/2006 11:55:51 AM PDT by lunarbicep
Jazz trumpeter and big-band leader Walter "Maynard" Ferguson, famed for his screaming solos and ability to hit blisteringly high notes, has died at age 78, associates said on Thursday. The Montreal-born Ferguson died on Wednesday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection.
His four daughters and other family members were at his side when he died.
Ferguson started his career at 13 when he performed as a featured soloist with the Canadian Broadcasting Co. Orchestra.
He played with several of the great big-band leaders of the 1940s and '50s, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton, with whom he was a featured performer.
He became known with the Kenton band for being able to hit "ridiculous high notes with ease," according to jazz critic Scott Yarnow.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz says of Ferguson: "There are few sights more impressive in animal physiology than the muscles in Maynard Ferguson's upper thorax straining for a top C.
"... Putting a Ferguson disc on the turntable evokes sensations ranging from walking into a high wind to being run down by a truck," according to the Penguin Guide.
Among Ferguson's best known and most commercially successful recordings were "MacArthur Park" and the "Rocky" movie theme, "Gonna Fly Now."
In 1957, Ferguson formed a regular big band that lasted until 1965. It included a Who's Who of jazz greats as sidemen, including Slide Hampton, Don Ellis, Don Sebesky, Willie Maiden, John Bunch, Joe Zawinul, Joe Farrell and Jaki Byard.
After the band broke up, Ferguson spent time in India and Britain, where he formed a new ensemble. He returned to the United States in 1974 with yet another group often panned by jazz critics for its commercialism.
His later work was praised for its return to the jazz mainstream.
Too bad the university library only has one MF work on CD : Message from Newport
I wanted Horn but they only have it in vinyl. I love the way he played Eli's Coming.
Awww, geez. He was one of the greats.
Gonna go put on Primal Scream now...
He was one of the greatest. I have seen him live. God Bless and keep him.
Maynard Kicked Ass. No doubt about it. :~)
We saw him live at our high school, and it was a terrific show. A great moment in the concert was a return ovation where the trumpets all appeared from various entrances at the back of the auditorium playing Hey Jude.
Yup, most jazz musicians used drugs. However, for pure unalterated greatness (amongst jazz trumpeters), there was Clifford Brown. He was "straight edge" before there was even such a term! I could listen to his music for hours (it also helps that we share the same hometown: Wilmington, DE).
I agree with you. And many of the best jazz guys were junkies, especially that 40s-50s generation. Some kicked it (Miles), some didn't (Chet Baker), and some it killed (Bird). Armstrong was a pothead his whole life. But Ferguson's cocaine intake was legendary, even among jazz musicians.
Personally, I'm a Monk guy.
Jazz is "classical music"? LOL, that'll upset some purists! ;-) Then again, I don't think Stravinsky is "classical" either. Anything after Chopin, for the most part, isn't classical.
Dear Pyro7480,
We've often pinged the list for music issues that didn't quite fall into a strict definition of "classical music."
As far as I'm concerned, after Beethoven, it's all downhill. ;-)
sitetest
I recently discovered that one of my favorite TV themes featured a Ferguson solo. The short-lived 1973 series "Roll Out!" was created by the men who brought M*A*S*H to the small screen; it was about the exploits of the Red Ball Express, a 75% black convoy unit serving the Allies in WWII. It starred the late Cleavon Little of Blazing Saddles fame.
Dave Grusin is credited with composing the theme, found on this page, but Ferguson's amazing range and accuracy are like a fingerprint, and I have no doubt it's him.
(((.)))
We're in general agreement then, though I have a great soft spot for Chopin.
I met him twice, I remember that red ruby ring.
We have that in common ;)
I was in the band in HS we were competing in a national competition and we got to see him in concert Atlanta GA in 1983. I went out and bought his stuff right away and have loved his music ever since.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
RIP, he was among the best.
Ack!
Put on a little Birdland for me, if you would... :-)
Maynard was a real inspiration to millions of high school jazz bands. He made a point of touring high school band programs. There won't be another one like him for a long while.
Used to really enjoy Maynard's concerts at the Summerfest Miller Jazz Oasis in America's drunkest city.
I love this line:
"Someone just said, `Gabriel, move over to second trumpet,'" [friend and manager] Schankman said from his St. Louis office. "He was the last of the greats. That era is closed. There is no Kenton, no Basie, no Ellington, and now, no Ferguson."
Heh. "Gabriel, move over to second trumpet." Even God will chuckle at that one.
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