The Legend Maynard Ferguson Rojo Caliente Artistry*

[STICKSWIZZARDDRAGON]

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DRUMMER ARTIST**MAYNARD FERGUSON *EXTREMMMMXXXX AWARE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1QO3nNs25E
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Walter Maynard Ferguson was born in Verdun, Quebec (now part of Montreal). Encouraged by his mother and father (both musicians), Maynard was playing piano and violin by the age of four. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church and asked his parents to purchase him one. At age thirteen, Ferguson first soloed as a child prodigy with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra and was heard frequently on the CBC, notably featured on a "Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz" written for him by Morris Davis. Ferguson won a scholarship to the French Conservatory of Music where he studied from 1943 through 1948 with Bernard Baker.

Ferguson dropped out of Montreal High School at age 15 to more actively pursue a music career, performing in dance bands led by Stan Wood, Roland David, and Johnny Holmes. While trumpet was his primary instrument, Ferguson also performed on other brass and reed instruments. Ferguson later took over the dance band formed by his brother Percy, playing dates in the Montreal area and serving as an opening act for touring bands from the United States. During this period, Ferguson came to the attention of numerous American band leaders and began receiving offers to come to the United States.

Ferguson moved to the United States in 1949 and initially played with the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet. The Barnet band was notable for a trumpet section that also included Doc Severinsen, Ray Wetzel, Johnny Howell, and Rolf Erickson. Ferguson was featured on a notoriously flamboyant Barnet recording of Jerome Kern's "All The Things You Are" that enraged Kern's widow and was subsequently withdrawn from sale. When Barnet temporarily retired in 1949 and disbanded his orchestra, Ferguson was free to accept an offer to join Stan Kenton's newly formed Innovations Orchestra.


[edit] Kenton and Hollywood
Stan Kenton had a longstanding offer to Ferguson but had temporarily disbanded when Ferguson moved to the United States. Kenton's bands were notable for their bombastic brass sections and Ferguson was a natural fit. In 1950, Kenton formed the Innovations Orchestra, a 40-piece jazz concert orchestra with strings, and with the folding of the Barnet band, Ferguson was available for the first rehearsal on January 1, 1950. While the Innovations Orchestra was not commercially successful, it made a number of remarkable recordings, including "Maynard Ferguson," one of a series of pieces named after featured soloists.

When Kenton returned to a more practical 19-piece jazz band, Ferguson continued with him. Contrary to the natural assumption, Ferguson was not Kenton's lead trumpet player, but played the third chair with numerous solo features, as noted in the scores written for the Kenton band during this period. Notable recordings from this period that feature Ferguson include "Invention for Guitar and Trumpet", "What's New?" and "The Hot Canary".

So popular was Ferguson with Kenton that for three years running, 1950, 1951, and 1952, he won the Down Beat Readers' Poll as best trumpeter.[2][3][4]

In 1953, Ferguson left Kenton to become a first-call session player for Paramount Pictures. Ferguson appeared on 46 soundtracks including The Ten Commandments. Ferguson still recorded jazz during this period, but his Paramount contract prevented him from playing jazz clubs. While he enjoyed the regular paycheck, Ferguson was very unhappy with the lack of live performance opportunities and left Paramount in 1956.


[edit] The Birdland Dream Band
In 1956, Ferguson was tapped to lead the Birdland Dream Band, a 14-piece big band formed by Morris Levy as an "all-star" lineup to play at Levy's Birdland jazz club in New York City. While the name "Birdland Dream Band" was short-lived and is represented by only two albums, this band became the core of Ferguson's performing band for the next nine years. The band included, at various times, such players as Slide Hampton, Don Ellis, Peter Erskine, Don Sebesky, Willie Maiden, John Bunch, Joe Zawinul, Joe Farrell, Jaki Byard, Lanny Morgan, Rufus Jones, Bill Berry and Don Menza. Arrangers included Slide Hampton, Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Giuffre, Bill Holman and Marty Paich.

As big bands declined in popularity and economic viability in the 1960s, Ferguson's band performed more infrequently. Ferguson began to feel musically stifled and sensed a resistance to change among American jazz audiences. According to a Down Beat interview, he was quoted as saying that if the band did not play "Maria" or "Ole," the fans went home disappointed. Ferguson began performing with a sextet before finally officially disbanding his big band in 1967.


[edit] India and England
Following the path taken by many jazz artists in the 1960s, Ferguson left the United States. Feeling that he needed a period of spiritual exploration, Ferguson moved with his family to India and taught at the Krishnamurtl-based Rishi Valley School near Madras. He was associated with the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning's Boys Brass Band, which he founded and helped teach at for several years. Whilst in India, Ferguson was influenced by Sathya Sai Baba, whom he considered as his spiritual guru.[5]

In 1969, Ferguson relocated to Manchester, England, manufacturing personally-designed trumpets and mouthpieces and performing with a variety of ensembles in Europe.

That same year, Ferguson signed with CBS Records in England and formed a big band with British musicians that performed in the newly popular jazz/rock fusion style. The band's repertoire included original compositions as well pop and rock songs rearranged into a big band format with electronic amplification. This British band's output is represented by the four "MF Horn" albums, which included arrangements of the pop songs "MacArthur Park" and "Hey Jude".

In 1970 he led his big band on UK television as part of BBC's Simon Dee Show (also known as Dee Time).[6] Ferguson often quipped with Dee,[citation needed] similar to his contemporary Doc Severinsen's rapport with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. By the end of the late sixties, Ferguson was a household name in Britain.[citation needed]


[edit] Return to the U.S.
Ferguson's new band made its North American debut in 1971. With a revived career, Ferguson relocated to New York in 1973 and gradually replaced his sidemen with American performers while reducing the band size to twelve: four trumpets, two trombones, three saxophones and a three-piece rhythm section plus Maynard. The quintessential recording of this period is the album MF Horn 4 & 5: Live at Jimmy's, recorded in 1973 in New York. Ferguson latched on to the burgeoning jazz education movement by recruiting talented musicians from colleges with jazz programs (notably Berklee College of Music, North Texas State University and the University of Miami) and targeting young audiences with performances and master classes in high schools. This practical and strategic move helped him develop a strong following that would sustain him for the remainder of his career.

In 1976, Ferguson performed a solo trumpet piece as part of the closing ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in Montreal.

1976 was also the year that Ferguson began working with producer Bob James on a series of commercially successful albums. These were complex studio productions featuring large groups of session musicians, including strings, vocalists and star guest soloists. The first of these albums was Primal Scream, featuring Chick Corea, Mark Colby, and Steve Gadd. The second, Conquistador in 1977, resulted in a top-30 (#28) pop single, "Gonna Fly Now" (from the movie Rocky), a rare accomplishment for a jazz musician in the 1970s. Aside from an exciting Jay Chattaway arrangement and dense Bob James production, the single was also helped by the fact that it was released prior to the official soundtrack album of the hit movie. Ferguson maintained a hectic touring schedule during this period, with well-attended concerts that featured concert lighting and heavy amplification.

Ferguson continued with this musical model for the remainder of the 1970s, receiving considerable acclaim from audiences but an often tepid response from some jazz purists, who decried his commercialism and questioned his taste. Ferguson reportedly also began to experience great frustration with Columbia over being unable to use his working band on recording projects and having difficulty including even a single jazz number on some albums. Ferguson's contract with Columbia Records expired after the 1982 release of the Hollywood album, produced by Stanley Clarke.

Ferguson recorded three big band albums with smaller labels in the mid '80s before forming a more economical fusion septet, "High Voltage," in 1986. This ensemble, which featured multi-reed player Denis DiBlasio and trombonist Steve Wiest among an abridged horn section, recorded two albums and received mixed reviews. The format was ultimately unsatisfying to Ferguson, who had grown up in big bands and developed a performing style most appropriate to that structure.

[RHD03]

I love MF, saw him live in 1997.

[fiacovaz]

Thank you, SWD, for "Bio" information on Maynard...

[Church Drummer]

I've seen Ferguson a couple of times in concert over the years, and have quite a collection of his albums. Always been a big fan of his. His early recordings with the Stan Kenton Orchestra were really phenomenal.

[STICKSWIZZARDDRAGON]

Thank you, SWD, for "Bio" information on Maynard...

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[PHROGGE]

Love Dem High Notes Dat Disappear!!!Back In Drum Corps Daze No Roadtrip Was Complete Wifout His Horn On Da Bus!!!!!!!!!Way Good Stuff;An Inspiration To Be Sure,PROVING ONCE AGAIN WE AS DRUMMERS CAN LEARN ALOT BY LISTENING (NOT JUST HEARING) TO OTHER MUSICIANS...SWD,THXS BRO.....

[STICKSWIZZARDDRAGON]

Love Dem High Notes Dat Disappear!!!Back In Drum Corps Daze No Roadtrip Was Complete Wifout His Horn On Da Bus!!!!!!!!!Way Good Stuff;An Inspiration To Be Sure,PROVING ONCE AGAIN WE AS DRUMMERS CAN LEARN ALOT BY LISTENING (NOT JUST HEARING) TO OTHER MUSICIANS...SWD,THXS BRO.....

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