Maynard Ferguson

Clarion Wind · Veteran Member Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 141

Well, saw his band recently for the like 30th time. Boy, what do you guys think, should he call it quits? I have always been a huge fan, I own all his recordings, and have all the out of print ones on LP. I have always enjoyed his live concerts too, except this last one. Let me just say, this is not a very healthy band he has right now. All the players in it are individual badasses, but they are pretty rough sounding as a group. Also, Maynard only played on 3 tunes the whole concert. When he did play he missed two major licks, and it looked so painful to him(he's always been kinda bunched up, but OH MY GOD!) But what he did play still had that energy that you can't get many other places. He still has his spunk.

One side of me says, he should throw in the towel, because its only gonna go downhill from here. Also, why would he still do this? I guess after a life of it from age 14 it is hard to let go, but doesn't he just wanna take it easy for a bit and not kill himself on the road till the day he dies??? Take a break man, you deserve it and even Dizz retired.

The other side of me says, he is still the undisputed king of scream trumpet overall(you heard Arturo try play MF on Trumpet Evolution( which you should buy by the way)??? There is a reason Maynard is Maynard and no one else.), and one of the biggest contributors to jazz trumpet ever, and damn it, if he wants to keep playing he can do whatever the hell he wants and he has earned that right, and every better just keep going to his concerts until he says its time to stop.

Well anyway, he deserves a lot of respect still at any rate. I doubt I'll play anything close to that **** when I'm his age or at any age for that matter, so he already has me beat by a long shot, and I mean a LONG SHOT. What do you guys think??

elbobogrande · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 12:01 am Post subject:

He deserves a break if he wants it. If he wants to keep touring, though, more power to him. I think we should just leave it up to The Boss to decide if he ever wants to retire. Of all the people I've known in my life, the happiest ones are the ones who never retired and died doing what they loved, no matter how past their prime they were.

I know that Maynard has turned on more people to the trumpet than anyone else on earth. Sure, a lot of us don't play lead or even jazz, but I know I'm far from alone in saying that Maynard Ferguson is the reason I wanted to become a good trumpet player.
God bless him,
John
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Pete · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 3:01 am Post subject:

It could have been a bad night. It could be that the boys were tired. Who knows. Maynard is essentially a Jazz musician, and musicians need to play to an audience. As long as he has one, he should play.

Too much scrutiny is given to perfection, and range with any trumpet player. Not enough scrutiny is given to the perfomance in the moment. You can say what you will, but I'm sure Maynard still has better nights than bad ones. Don't we all wish we could say that. Listening without a scorecard really helps the overall appreciation of a musical presentation.

Pete

Batmann · Veteran Member Joined: 29 Dec 2002 Posts: 112

PETEY BABY,

The BOSS will always be The Boss no matter what! The question raised here is not a new one as I am sure you are aware. Yes he has good nights and he has bad nights, nothing wrong there, it happens to all of us. In the same breath there is nothing wrong with Clarion Wind's post. Nothing wrong with going to hear a performance and actually listening to what is going on. The Wind was simply paying attention to The Boss. Maynard tours ALOT and anyone who has tried to keep a schedule like his knows how hard it can be both physically and mentally but........... if the trend is toward a lesser performance over an extended period of time it may be wise to trim back the gigs so the people get what they are paying for. Maynard is not washed up and should play until he's ready to quit but like all of us know his limits.

trumpetteacher1 · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 5:43 am Post subject:

I've heard Maynard twice in the past 6 months. Hadn't heard him since about '98.

He nailed everything in both gigs. Didn't much care for the charts, but the band was tight. The seven or eight students who I convinced to attend the concert were mighty impressed.

You may have caught him on an off night. Also, he may have just brought in some new guys.

In my opinion, there is consistantly more attention to detail put into a Maynard concert - including lights and sound - than any other big band I've ever heard.

As far as I'm concerned, he can keep going as long as he wants. Just seeing him walk (waddle) onto the stage makes me feel good.

Jeff
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dbacon · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 8592

[ This Message was edited by: dbacon on 2003-11-15 23:30 ]

trumpet112002 · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 9:37 am Post subject:

I'll second to that.....

Kenman · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2003 10:12 am Post subject:

May he die on stage playing with that energy he always gives..

gsman · Regular Member Joined: 31 May 2003 Posts: 26

Everytime somone mentions that maybe Maynard should hang it up I laugh. Probably the next time you catch him in concert he will knock your socks off and them remember why he is the "Boss". I'm 43 and am planning for a retirement at 55. Hate the corporate rat race, politics..... Maynard is doing what keeps him going and loving every minute of it! May he keeping playing till he takes his last breathe!!

Clarion Wind · Veteran Member Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 141

Well, I just wanted to clairify that I didn't mean my post to mean "he sucks, he should hang it up." or to be degrading to Maynard in any way. I meant it more from the prospective of, I practically worship the guy, and if you look at his face, he just doesn't look like he is having the fun up there like he used too, he looks like he is just suffering through it sometimes, although what he DOES play(3 tunes only that night as I mentioned) it did sound good. I hope for his sake he really does still enjoy it, and he is still doing it for his own sake. It would be sad for a man of his stature to be in a bad position in his age, and not be doing what he wants to be doing with his music and his life after all those years of hard work. Some of the venues he plays now, and how disrespectful the audiences are towards him. Ugh. Maynard should be in Carnegie Hall with a full band. I wonder how much of his personal money he dumped into keeping the band going during some of the years where he hung onto the full band, it obviously isn't his choice to only have a 9 piece band behind him now.

bluenote · Veteran Member Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Posts: 366

I heard Maynard play at the Taste of Minnesota on the 4th of July. I didn't even know he was scheduled to play, but the second I heard him when I got there I knew who it was. He was still hitting the double B flats and C's that night. Yeah, the music he plays is sometimes pretty corny, but if that's what turns people onto jazz, then so what? I remember hearing some of those records he made in the 70's, and although I now wouldn't consider some of that to be jazz, it sure was cool to hear. Like many others, that's what got me into trumpet playing.

By the way, I asked my wife what she thought. She said, "he's really into playing high notes. Maybe you should do that, too." Um, well . . .

MikeZ · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 4:32 pm Post subject:

I'm a trumpet player that was very influenced to play my best by Maynard's great (and sometimes horribly corny) 70's albums on Columbia Records.

I've seen him perform about 6 times between 1983 and 2002 - He sure doesn't play as much as he used to, but I'm still blown away by his power.

I have been reading his biography for the last week or so and it's been such a pleasure to read the history of this trumpet icon.

I was honored to have been able to sign a birthday card that was presented to him on his recent 75th birthday. Although I only had a small number of words I could write to him, I did the best I could to let him know how important his music has been to me.

Cripes! I know he's not able to play as long as he used to, but I'd encourage him to keep touring as long as he wants to.

By the way, the band just got a brand new piano player and drummer last week. They may need a little time to get "broken in".

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[ This Message was edited by: MikeZ on 2003-07-09 17:02 ]

mustbflat · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 4:51 am Post subject:

I saw Maynard at his 75th. Birthday Bash in Boston back in May. He didn't play all that much, but when he did, it was quite obvious why he's the boss. He was right on target that night. Maybe he was also a little pumped up because of his Birthday and all of the theatrics.

At any rate, I'm sure if Maynard wanted a rest he'd take it. I think he loves to play on the road. It's what he does. I hope he comes around here again next year. I'll see him every chance I can.
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PhxHorn · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 2:41 pm Post subject:

I came in late here, but while MF doesn't play as much now, he's still got a double-C as big as a truck if he's feeling good. I saw him in Scottsdale, AZ in June of '98, and he and the whole trumpet section sounded weak. Then again, it was 110° outside. At the time, I wondered if he'd lost it.

Then, I caught him in Vegas in 1/2000 when he opened up his tour. He was phenomenal....double-Cs and Ds throughout the show. I've seen him several times since then, and it's always been the same--his double-C is still as big as a truck, even though he's playing less than the old days. Currently, at the end of the shout chorus on Ain't No Sunshine, he usually runs up to a double-Eb before coming down to a mere double-C. Really. Sounds like you caught him on an off night.

BeboppinFool · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 6:51 pm Post subject:

I did one tour with Maynard, from September 2001 through November 2001. When you hear what he does night after night, and understand (and mutually experience) the conditions he does it under, you'd be whistling a different tune.

I didn't get to talk with the Boss much one-on-one, but once at an airport I got to sit and talk with him for 15-20 minutes. He told me about his brother Percy, and how Percy had quit playing hockey, and within a year had all kinds of health problems. Maynard told me that he was afraid to leave the road, because he feared that the same thing might happen to him.

Now, I've gotta tell you that about 3-4 weeks into the tour he was playing about twice as good as he had been playing at the beginning of the tour. And there was one night that we played in Jersey (Denis DiBlasio was there and sat in with the band) he played so great that I soiled my diaper.

That's pretty amazing when you consider that I had never been much of a Maynard fan . . . didn't own any of his albums, and hadn't listened to him in my "youth." I was into Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, Tom Harrell, Fats Navarro, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and cats like that. To me, Maynard wasn't playing the way I wanted to play, even though I had a healthy respect for his ability on the horn.

Maynard is really an awesome force on the trumpet and in jazz. He's the Art Blakey of today as far as being the "finishing school" for up-and-coming jazz players. The roster of cats who've been through his band is absolutely incredible, and he will surely go down in history as one of the most formidable forces in jazz in the 20th century (and beyond).

He will also be remembered for paying his sidemen so meagerly, but that's a different story. Hell, many cats would pay to play on his band, and he knows that. You pay to go to school, after all. I didn't even come close to breaking even (I was still living in NYC at the time), but I'm so glad I didn't turn down the gig because of the short bread.

As somebody said, it's worth it to go see him even if all he does is walk out on stage and introduce the cats. He's a living institution, and I give him kudos for all the positive things he's done for jazz.

Rich

P.S. Jazz is definitely not noise. Posts from trolls are noise . . . jazz isn't.
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Trumpet Guy · Regular Member Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 14

I think his music is what keeps him alive. Keeps his hart pumping. Why stop?

Jarrett Ellis · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 649

Last time I saw him I was sure throughout the whole concert he was gonna croak on stage.. man he doesn't look too good nowadays
-J
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Castle Bravo · Heavyweight Member Joined: 13 Apr 2003 Posts: 542

The Boss is a lot like the pope...they are both gonna kick the bucket on the job, doin what they do best.

fuzzyjon79 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2003 8:53 am Post subject:

Maybe he will have a career like Strom Thurmond... play until he's 100... retire and then a few short months later... kick the bucket...?
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Clarion Wind · Veteran Member Joined: 23 Jun 2003 Posts: 141

Well, unlike Strom, we will all be very sad to see Maynard go. Well, I hope what you say is true John, and that Maynard actually likes being on the road still. I just couldn't see how it could be fun anymore, but to each his own. Maybe that strength of personality is what helped Maynard be so successful(in addition to being able to play so well of course).