I had a sad celebration on my ride into work this morning. As I
pulled out of my driveway I turned on the radio and the first thing I
heard was an announcement that Maynard Ferguson passed away.
For those of you who don?t know Maynard?s music, he was a big band
trumpeter that in his youth played with all the greats. But he really
made his mark in the 50s, 60s and 70s when he was the pioneer of
?screech? trumpeting. For me, as for many teenagers and college
students playing in high school and college big bands in the late 60s
and early 70s, Maynard was our introduction into contemporary jazz. He
was much hipper than some of the ?old school? big band musicians like
Glenn Miller or the Dorsey Brothers and, for the uninitiated jazz ear
just learning to understand the idiom, he was easier to listen to than
people like John Coltrane or Miles Davis, especially given what these
guys were doing at the time (Miles? ?Bitches Brew? for example).
Anyway, Maynard?s brassy high-energy drive just sucked a lot of us in.
But back to my celebration. When I heard the announcement on the radio,
my first thought after coming to grips with my sadness was that I had
one of Maynard?s albums in the car, ?MF Horn 2,? which probably came
out in about 1971 or 72. I say album because I burned this particular
CD myself from my vinyl record. It has all the scratches and even
a couple skips. I?m sure I wore out more than one needle playing this
album. During the 70s Maynard put out several albums featuring very
high-energy big band versions of pop music. This album has great
renditions of ?Country Road,? ?Hey Jude? (with notes that one would
think only a dog could hear), ?Spinning Wheel? and several others
including a beautiful rendition of ?The Summer Knows? (Theme from
?The Summer of ?42?). Every song brought back great memories. Probably
one of the most obnoxious things I ever did as a college student
centered around this album. I remember one afternoon listening to this
album in my dorm room, I was so pumped that I decided I really must
share it with the rest of campus. So I opened the window of my 4th
floor room, which overlook the main commons area at the University of
Hartford, put my Lafayette Electronics speakers in the window facing
out, put on ?Hey Jude? and cranked it way up for all to hear. The funny
thing is, 20 years later I published a book on externalities theory.
There must be connection.
But the greatest memories were those many, many times when I heard
Maynard in person. And the most memorable of those came right at the
peak of this particular album?s popularity when I trekked up to
Boston to hear him and his band at Paul?s Mall, which at the time,
along with the Jazz Workshop which was right next door, was not only
the hottest jazz club in Boston but probably the hottest jazz club
north of NYC. Hearing Maynard?s 18-piece band with 5 trumpets all at
the top of their range in a tight jazz club setting was amazing
(although it probably it didn?t do much for my hearing). And to top it
off, because of the nature of the venue it was full of great Boston
area jazz musicians and hard core jazz fans. (Most other times I went
to hear Maynard he was playing at either college campuses or high
school auditoriums, where he was catering to a very different kind of
audience.) The energy and excitement was indescribable.
Anyway, thank you Maynard for all the memories and especially for all
the great music. By the way, despite my nostalgia for Maynard?s early
70s albums, his best work is on his albums from the 50s and early 60s,
all loaded with great renditions of both popular and jazz standards. As
a suggestion, if you can find it, Maynard?s rendition of ?Hey There? a
beautiful balled from the musical ?The Pajama Game? is highly
recommended, especially with a glass of wine, a lighted candle, and
your sweetheart next to you.