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OT: Memorial: Maynard Ferguson


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Hey Chez...did you ever happen to work with him?

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Gabriel is now playing 2nd.

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In 1977, a at least three corps did jazzy arrangements of Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci. I know Maynard preformed that piece, I don't know when, but the recording has that 70s sound. :worthy:

It was on the Primal Scream album ... '75 or '76, I think.

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He was a one of a kind fabulous player, probably the most incredible high note player ever, and also a good person......I saw him many times in concert....I thought I would share one that stuck out for me......He was scheduled to play a weeknight concert at a small restaurant in rural Pa., and we decided last minute to go. The place was not a typical concert place, and the restaurant owner took his banquet room and filled it to the gills with chairs, and it was full. Just before the show, I heard someone say "I wonder if he is even going to show"....I was a bit confused. Then, I heard that Maynard had tripped and fallen shortly after lunch, and went to the hospital. He had a broken leg and was there all afternoon. I figured "game, set, match...this show is over...". Minutes later, the band comes out and plays a warmup tune. I figure that maybe just the band will play and they will give refunds to those who gripe. Next thing I know, they are bringing a bar stool onto stage. A guy comes out with a horn....Maynard suddenly appears, on crutches no less....makes his way to the stool as the audience can't believe it.....sits down on the stool and the guy hands him the horn...he has a smurk on his face, puts the horn up to his face, sitting down, and plays a solo that hardly anyone could play standing up, and he's sitting on a stool, absolutely screaming......then, he jokes that if he talks kind of funny tonight to please forgive him, as "those painkillers are really kickin' in" (lol).....He could have easily cancelled, and most would have, but he came out in this condition and absolutely wailed for the fans there...one that I will treasure.............GB

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Back in high school, our band was extremely lucky to have Stan Mark teach our brass section. Stan played lead trumpet in Maynard's band for most of the 1970s, so he was there for the glory days of the "Conquistador" album ("La Fiesta!"), "Gonna Fly Now" and "Battlestar Galactica." Well, maybe "Battlestar Galactica" isn't the best thing to remember Maynard by, but we were all so stoked to have Stan teaching us back then. He also brought Maynard to our school for a concert and clinic (though the clinic was run mostly by his band). Before the concert, we all got to meet Maynard backstage (e.g. the boys' locker room) for a quick "hello." The high point of the concert was Stan reuniting with Maynard for "McArthur Park." When the two held this ridiculous double-A in unison, all of us trumpeters just about creamed in our jeans.

Later on in life, one of my favorite memories as a music journalist was interviewing Maynard. It was just a phoner, but I still felt like the giddy trumpeter watching him back in 1987 at my high school. It was really a treat. I saw Maynard's show when he came to town a week or so later, and it was a great time. Maynard did seem kind of winded and deferred most of the highest notes to his current lead trumpeter (can't remember his name, but holy beejeezus could this guy scream!). But Maynard was such a great showman and his wild lip trills still gave me the best kind of shivers.

Thank you Maynard for your tremendous spirit and energy! So many of us trumpeters probably came close to getting a hernia from trying to hit those same high notes, but we always kept reaching because of you.

RIP Maynard!

Edited by mello916
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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.

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I responded in the "Off Topic" section of the Forum, but I'll comment here, as well.

I just about wore out my MF albums in high school. MF was the coolest guy and man, could he play!

What a trumpet player!

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