[Trombone-l] Maynard

[Stan Brager]

I'm surprised that none of these obits which I've read make any mention of
Maynard's superbone work. Only one obit which I've read notes that Maynard's
mother was a violinist.

"Maynard Ferguson" with Stan Kenton's orchestra is available on Kenton's
Capitol CD "The Innovations Orchestra".

Stan
Stan Brager
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Dinwiddie" <billdin at comcast.net>
To: "List Trombone" <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 10:41 AM
Subject: [Trombone-l] Maynard


> Maynard Ferguson, 78; Trumpeter, Big Band Leader Achieved Pop Success
>
> By Jon Thurber
> Times Staff Writer
> Published August 25, 2006
>
>
> Maynard Ferguson, the big band leader and trumpeter whose screaming,
> high-register solos and pop-tinged arrangements thrilled his fans and
> sometimes appalled his critics, died Thursday. He was 78.
>
> Ferguson died of kidney and liver failure, brought on by an abdominal
> infection, at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, said Steve
Schankman,
> his manager.
>
> An active musician, Ferguson recorded 60 albums in his long career and
> generally played about 150 annual engagements up until last year,
Schankman
> said.
>
> He had a weeklong run at the Blue Note in New York City last month, which
he
> followed up by recording a new album with his Big Bop Nouveau band. He was
> due to begin a tour of Japan with the band in mid-September.
>
> He started experiencing health problems on his return to his home in Ojai,
> Schankman said, and was hospitalized as his condition deteriorated.
>
> Schankman said he spoke to Ferguson by phone on Monday and the musician
told
> him, "Don't cancel anything . we are going to beat this."
>
> Ferguson was nominated for a Grammy award in 1978 for his soaring
recording
> of Bill Conti's composition "Gonna Fly Now," the theme from the film
> "Rocky." The song, on Ferguson's album "Conquistador," was one of his few
> chart-hitting recordings. It reached No. 22 on the pop album charts in
1977.
>
> He also made commercially appealing recordings of the Jimmy Webb tune
> "MacArthur Park" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude."
>
> His success with pop tunes was unusual for a player who cut his teeth on
the
> classic jazz ensemble: the big band.
>
> Ferguson was born May 4, 1928, in a suburb of Montreal. A child prodigy,
> Ferguson was playing violin and piano at age 4. At 13, he was soloing with
> the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Orchestra. By 16, he was playing trumpet
and
> leading a dance band that featured a young pianist named Oscar Peterson.
>
> His band was often the opening act for visiting American big bands,
> including those led by Count Basie and Stan Kenton. The Americans were
> impressed with Ferguson's trumpet.
>
> "I got a lot of offers to go out on the road," Ferguson told The Times
some
> years ago. "Kenton told me I had a place as a featured trumpet player any
> time I wanted it."
>
> By 1949, Ferguson had moved across the border, but Kenton was taking a
break
> from touring and recording. So Ferguson made his U.S. debut in saxophonist
> Boyd Raeburn's big band. He also played in Jimmy Dorsey's band and Charlie
> Barnet's band before Kenton went back to work in 1950 with Ferguson in the
> trumpet section.
>
> >From 1950 to 1953, Ferguson was arguably the hottest trumpeter in jazz.
His
> screaming, high-register trumpet was the cornerstone of Kenton's noted
brass
> section. His dramatic style is featured on the tune "Maynard Ferguson,"
> written by Ferguson, Kenton and Shorty Rogers and featured on the
> now-classic album "Stan Kenton Presents."
>
> Ferguson was taking individual honors as well as being named best
trumpeter
> in Down Beat magazine's annual poll for three consecutive years starting
in
> 1950.
>
> After leaving Kenton in 1953, he set out for Hollywood and got a job with
> Paramount Pictures playing on soundtracks. But he quickly found that work
> unsatisfying and returned to jazz. He led the Birdland Dreamband in New
York
> and then formed what would be one in a series of 13-piece touring bands
> known for their biting brass sections.
>
> His bands also would be known as great training grounds for some noted
> players. Over the years, his alumni would include saxophonist Wayne
Shorter
> and keyboardist Joe Zawinul, who were founding members of Weather Report;
> pianist Chick Corea, trumpeter Chuck Mangione and arrangers such as Don
> Sebesky and Don Menza.
>
> By 1967, however, big bands took a sharp dip in popularity and Ferguson
> disbanded his group.
>
> His life took some sharp turns as well.
>
> He moved his family to India on a spiritual quest and then lived in
England.
> He began forming bands that used more pop-oriented material. This paved
the
> way for his success in the 1970s with the theme from "Rocky."
>
> And though this formula proved commercially viable over the next two
> decades, it often didn't play well with critics, who faulted the lack of
> subtlety in his playing and some dubious material.
>
> Reviewing a 1979 performance at the Roxy, critic Leonard Feather wrote
that
> "Ferguson's audiences, seeking the ultimate in pyrotechnical displays by a
> trumpeter with chops of steel, need look no further. On the other hand,
> music lovers searching for taste, dynamic contrast and sensitivity will
have
> to look elsewhere."
>
> Critics had a generally more sympathetic view of his later ensembles,
> notably the Big Bop Noveau band, which focused on straight-ahead jazz.
>
> The spiritual quest Ferguson started in India in the 1960s led him to move
> his family to Ojai, then the base of operations for the Indian philosopher
> J. Krishnamurti.
>
> Ferguson was also a noted jazz teacher at the high school and college
> levels.
>
> He is survived by his daughters Kim, Lisa, Corby and Wilder.
>
> A memorial service, to be held in St. Louis, is being planned for
> mid-September. Memorial contributions may be made to the Maynard Ferguson
> Scholarship Fund at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
>
>
>
>
>
> Copyright © 2006, The Los Angeles Times
>
>
>
>