Bubba

Jazz trumpeter extraordinaire Maynard Ferguson dies in Southern California at 78 By: Jeff Wilson The Associaed Press Issue date: 8/25/06 Section: News Ferguson, who lived in nearby Ojai, died Wednesday night at Community Memorial Hospital of kidney and liver failure due to an abdominal infection, friend and manager Steve Schankman said Thursday. Ferguson's four daughters, Kim, Lisa, Corby and Wilder, and other family members were at his side when he died, he said. "Someone just said, `Gabriel, move over to second trumpet,'" 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." Born into a musical family in Montreal, Ferguson began playing the piano and violin at age 4, took up the trumpet at 9 and soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Company Orchestra at 11, then quit school at 15 to pursue a career in music. The next year he was leading his own dance band, the first of a number of big bands and smaller ensembles he eventually fronted in a career that produced more than 60 albums and three Grammy nominations. Ferguson, also a much admired teacher, became identified with ear-piercing power and dizzying high notes that he was still able to play with precision. He was named Down Beat magazine's "trumpeter of the year" three times. "My instrument is a thing of pleasure, and I play it only because I enjoy it," he once said. "The most important thing is doing what feels right for me." The trumpeter - who stood just 5 feet 9 - credited yoga with enabling him to harness the full capacity of his lungs and routinely hit a double-high-C. "He will be remembered for his soaring high notes, he'll be remembered as Stan Kenton's lead trumpet player and he'll be remembered for movie soundtracks like `The Ten Commandments,'" Schankman said. "But what they should remember him for is his work as an educator.