Woody Shaw and Maynard Ferguson

[Brent]

From 1977.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOH1_hvxtic&feature=youtu.be
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Brent

[Benge.nut]

It's always cool to see new/old MF stuff. But maybe Maynard should have laid out on this one. Woody sounded killin!! Great lines and interesting stuff.

Maynard played a couple double Cs and some rehashed blues scale riffs he's played a zillion times and those silly chromatic lip trill things....kinda stale.

Still cool to see a vid w MF sharing the bandstand with Woody!! Thanks for sharing!

[Jon Arnold]

Great clip. Thanks for sharing!!!

[deleted_user_02066fd]

Most anyone would have sounded second best next to Woody, especially at that period. Woody was at his peak in the mid late 70's to early 80's. I saw Woody and Dexter Gordon that summer at Yale University. Unreal. Dexter had only recently come back to the USA and he and Woody fronted a quintet for awhile. I saw Dexter again later that summer with Jackie McLean in Hartford.
Woody had recently begun to record for Columbia and was hot property. The man was an incredible trumpeter and composer.
I always felt that Maynard's playing began to decline around this time. Too many years on the road had taken their toll. I once asked Maynard how much he practiced and he replied that he didn't.
I had the pleasure of meeting both Maynard and Woody a few times. Both were very down to earth guys. I still have an autographed program from the Woody and Dexter performance at Yale. Both were kind enough to autograph it for me. Meeting Dexter was also a thrill. He was a giant of a man, must have been 6 foot 7. He was very eloquent and had the coolest baritone speaking voice.

[Benge.nut]

Yeah, sadly I agree about Maynard's decline in the 70s. I also met him a few times and he was always humble, friendly and made time to speak personally to everybody I was with.

His late 50s and 60s jazz stuff is some of my favorite recordings of al time. Especially his west coast smaller bands. He could do ANYTHING at that stage. GREAT bebop style, lines, ideas, and choices, and his unparalleled use of otherworldly high notes. Just the best. Plus the writing from that era?!?! Killin!!

After he came back to the States and he left the U.K. and really got his fame going again with the rock stuff, and his major dental work, and lonnnnnngggg road gigs all took a toll on Maynard's playing and probably interest in doing much creatively beyond just getting through the day.

Man I LOVE me some Woody though. Lines and ideas for days. Super slick post bop stuff with out being to heady. Glad I saw this post as I've been listening to Woody all afternoon in the car.

[HERMOKIWI]

I wish I could "decline" to the same level to which Maynard "declined."
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HERMOKIWI

[deleted_user_02066fd]

[Benge.nut]

Maynard's party lifestyle I'm sure also took its toll. I don't know how much of those stories are sure though.

After one show I was at, I got to hang with the trumpet section and Maynard. He went into great detail talking about his altered perceptions and mind expansion stuff from his religious studies in India, and his friendship and time spent with Timmothy Leary. I believe Maynard, by the stories he told, took an awful lot of LSD.

That coupled with his liking and daily copious amounts of champagne I'm sure had much to do with his state of mind and health.

Back to Woody, what was that funky looking flugelhorn shaped object he played on?? Always thought it looked like some kind of hybrid cornet/flugelhorn. Man he made it sing though!! Looks like a Bach on the record covers, just never seen one shaped like that.

[Larry Smithee]

Look folks. It's not pot or LSD or listening to the philosophy of Timmothy Leary. It's age. You're not going to play the trumpet at age 80+ the way you did when you were 21. I'm only 74. But there is no way I can play like I did when I was 29 or whatever. No. Way. Age will happen to all of you. Doesn't matter what level you achieve. How much you practice. You won't beat age. It will take its toll. You're body just gets old. You're chops will stretch only so far over time. They begin to loose their elasticity and agility. It's age. It doesn't mean you can't play at all. Maynard and a lot of other great players found a way to achieve great things despite age. But, there is no way Maynard could play All The Things You Are at his advanced age the way he did when he was 21. It's age.

[bach_again]

Man Woody killing it!!!
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Maestro Arturo Sandoval on Barkley Microphones!
https://youtu.be/iLVMRvw5RRk

Michael Barkley Quartet - Portals:
https://michaelbarkley.bandcamp.com/album/portals

The best movie trumpet solo?
https://youtu.be/OnCnTA6toMU

[EdMann]

Not sure where all this negativity is coming from. MF adjusted to his age and health very well as time went on. Doc, same thing. He doesn't crush high As anymore, but plays with more soul than he did at 40. Drugs? Please. Tons of cats were doing drugs and were fine, it's the ones that weren't though, that seem to be around now: Sonny, Shorter, Doc.

ed

[Larry Smithee]

[Benge.nut]

I wasn't even talking about high notes really. I was talking about Maynard's soloing and how after he moved to the rock stuff in the 70s his solos got very stale and boring harmonically compared to the stuff he was playing in the 50s and 60s.

And in the 1970s Maynard wasn't super old either. But by that point I think the road, drugs, alcohol, dental work etc all took its toll and that period was the start of his decline in playing in my opinion. I still saw him play and was in awe every show, but playing Rocky and Birdland and all the pop stuff I assume was boring night after night and I think he got kinda lazy too.

He was a heck of a showman. But in the late 1980s-death his PHYSICAL health was a bigger factor in his decline in playing. Again I'm comparing all this not to just high notes but what he was playing in his solos and his musicality in the 1950s and 1960s.

That's all. I love so,e of the 70s stuff for funzies and nostalgia. MF Horn 1-2 and that British album with Stoney End and Your Song, etc, are so,e of my favorites. But I'd rather ...MUCH rather listen to his west coast cool jazz stuff with his 9 piece and smaller ensembles. That's my favorite Maynard.

Nothing said is negative, just speaking realities of what I noticed through out his career. Which was larger than life. A real "rock star" amongst trumpeters, and influenced probably more than any other trumpet hero.

[spitvalve]

[EdMann]

[Benge.nut]

[deleted_user_02066fd]

[jazz_trpt]

[area51recording]

Love love LOVE Woody. When I was a kid, and really to this day, guys like Woody, Freddie Hubbard etc spoke way more to me than Maynard, especially late period Maynard. I caught him live a few times and by then (late 70's early 80's) he and his band reminded me more of those "strongman" type shows where guys blow up hot water bottles, tear up phone books and bend horse shoes on stage. Early Maynard.....now that WAS a different story!

[hback9]

Very interesting to hear Woody hit with Maynard! He sounds great!