Thanks for your wonderful appreciation of Maynard Ferguson. In many ways, Ferguson transcended jazz and big bands. His high-octane enthusiasm and optimism captured the spirit of an entire generation of post-war Americans who believed anything and everything was possible and that the only way to go was flat out. Despite Maynard’s massive musical ego, he never made anyone feel badly and encouraged everyone he encountered to be better–as a person and as a musician.
One of my favorite Maynard appearances wasn’t an appearance at all. That’s Ferguson (and Sal Salvador) playing on Kenton’s “Invention for Guitar and Trumpet” in the film Blackboard Jungle (1955), which is heard just before the high school thugs smash their teacher’s prized jazz platters. The clash between the generations in this camp film was somewhat prescient given that the rock culture ultimately would wind up “smashing” the entire jazz scene some 10 years later. What’s especially fascinating is that Maynard’s energy level and prowess in “Invention” and Bill Haley’s intensity in “Rock Around the Clock” (the film’s opening theme) aren’t that different. Both are generational clarion calls. Here, in this film, you can actually hear the continental divide where jazz and rock/r&b met, and Maynard was there. There, before your eyes, the adult appreciation of virtuosity gives way to the teenage demand for a big beat. I often wondered what Maynard thought of Blackboard Jungle.
Regarding the “hen’s teeth” Maynard Ferguson Mosaic box and the entire Roulette catalogue, it almost seems as if some entity is sitting on the re-release of the catalogue to keep eBay auction prices high. Perhaps Michael Cuscuna at Mosaic can shed light on why Maynard’s Roulette catalogue is not in print and when that might be changed. Those babies could use a CD remastering.
Marc Myers
Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
Thanks for the great appreciation of Maynard. The newest episode of The Jason Crane Show features a 2004 interview I did with Maynard. The interview covers quite a bit of his career. Your readers might like to check it out at thejasoncraneshow.com.
When I was growing up in Toledo (Ohio) and playing lots of jobs in
high school and college, the myth about MF that was passed along in
our brass-playing circles was that he had some freak accident when he
was growing up which damaged his chops. So it was that the story came
to be that MF had some weird “nerve damage” which allowed him to
“punish” his chops in such a way that he could play in the
stratosphere without end.
A grain of salt here to be sure but we should remember that MF was a
wonderful valve-trombone and bass trumpet player and that he could
switch to the lower instrument (s) and larger mouthpiece in mid-
sentence/mid-phrase so to speak. It always seemed that he could do
this seamlessly and that there was never an embouchure adjustment.
The reality is that MF was a wonderful brass player and that he
understood the nature of the instruments he was playing…and that
his understanding and his deep sense of how the instruments worked
and should be approached, always carried him.
Let’s give the guy his due. He did so many things well–and he cared
so deeply about young musicians–it’s almost hard to believe. But
believe we should because he did all of it and more.
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