Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register. Encouraged by his parents, he started playing piano and violin at the age of four. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church and asked his parents to buy one for him. When he was thirteen, he soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra. He was heard frequently on the CBC, notably featured on a "Serenade for Trumpet in Jazz" written for him by Morris Davis. He won a scholarship to the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he studied from 1943 to 1948 with Bernard Baker.

Ferguson dropped out of the High School of Montreal when he was fifteen to pursue a music career, performing in dance bands led by Stan Wood, Roland David, and Johnny Holmes. Although trumpet was his primary instrument, he also performed on other brass and reed instruments. He took over the dance band formed by his saxophonist brother Percy, playing dates in the Montreal area and serving as an opening act for touring bands from Canada and the U.S. During this period, he came to the attention of American bandleaders and began receiving offers to go to the U.S.

In 1948, Ferguson moved to the United States,

Kenton and Hollywood

In January 1950, Kenton formed the Innovations Orchestra, a 40-piece jazz orchestra with strings. He appeared on 46 soundtracks, including The Ten Commandments. He also played on several other non-Paramount film soundtracks, usually those with jazz scores. Ferguson can clearly be discerned on several soundtracks from the time, including the Martin and Lewis films Living It Up and You're Never Too Young. He still recorded jazz, but his Paramount contract prevented him from playing in jazz clubs. This was sometimes circumvented by appearing under aliases such as "Tiger Brown" or "Foxy Corby". Although he enjoyed the steady income, he was unhappy with the lack of live performance opportunities and left Paramount in 1956.

The Birdland Dream Band

Ferguson played with the Pérez Prado Orchestra on the LP Havana 3 A.M., recorded in February and March 1956. In 1956, he joined the Birdland Dream Band, a 14-piece big band formed by Morris Levy as an "all-star" line-up,

Millbrook, India, and psychedelics

After leaving his long-time recording contract and the end of his main club gig, Ferguson moved his family to the Hitchcock Estate in Millbrook, New York in November 1963 to live with Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and their community from Harvard University. He and his wife Flo used LSD, psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs. They lived at Millbrook for about three years, playing clubs and recording several albums. Ferguson was mentioned in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which detailed the psychedelic scene.

In 1967, as the Millbrook experiment was ending, Ferguson moved his family to India and taught at the Krishnamurti-based Rishi Valley School near Madras. He was associated with the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning's Boys Brass Band, which he founded and helped teach for several years. While in India, he was influenced by Sathya Sai Baba, whom he considered as his spiritual guru.

England and jazz rock

As a Canadian in England, Ferguson avoided the union's ban on American musicians.

Return to the U.S.

thumb|Ferguson in San Francisco, 1978

Ferguson moved to New York City in 1973, then relocated to Ojai, California less than two years later. He replaced the British band members with American musicians while reducing membership

Versatility

thumb|Ferguson was guest star in Italy on TV show with the orchestra conducted by [[Pino Presti in July 1977.]]

Although his principal instrument was the trumpet, Ferguson frequently doubled on other brass instruments, Ferguson incorporated Indian instruments and influences in his music.

Ferguson was not the first trumpeter to play in the extreme upper register (which had been employed by performers such as Cat Anderson), but he could play high notes something he discovered in his youth in Montreal. He attributed the longevity of his technique to the spiritual and yoga studies he pursued in India.

Ferguson brought charisma to a musical genre that is often seen as cold and cerebral. His obituary in The Washington Post stated:

<blockquote>Ferguson lit up thousands of young horn players, most of them boys, with pride and excitement. In a (high school) world often divided between jocks and band nerds, Ferguson crossed over, because he approached his music almost as an athletic event. On stage, he strained, sweated, heaved and roared. He nailed the upper registers like Shaq nailing a dunk or Lawrence Taylor nailing a running back – and the audience reaction was exactly the same: the guttural shout, the leap to their feet, the fists in the air. We cheered Maynard as a gladiator, a combat soldier, a prize fighter, a circus strongman – choose your masculine archetype.

</blockquote>

Awards and honors

Ferguson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003.

In 1950, 1951, and 1952, Ferguson won the DownBeat Readers' Poll for best trumpeter. In 1992, he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame.

Maynard Ferguson played a special solo trumpet piece as part of the closing ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, the XXI Olympiad, 1976.

In 2000, Ferguson was initiated as a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi at the Gamma Xi Chapter (University of Maryland at College Park). In 2006, he was presented with Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award at its national convention in Cleveland, Ohio. He had been initiated as an honorary member of the Fraternity's Xi Chi Chapter at Tennessee Tech University in 1976.

The "Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz Studies" at Rowan University was created in 2000, the same year Rowan bestowed Ferguson with his only Honorary Doctorate degree. The institute, under direction of Ferguson's friend Denis Diblasio, supports the Rowan Jazz Program in training young jazz musicians.

In 2000, he was given an Honorary Doctorate Degree by Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and created the Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz Studies under the direction of Denis DiBlasio in their College of Performing Arts. The Sherman Jazz Museum in Sherman, Texas opened in 2010 and houses the extensive memorabilia of Ferguson's estate.

Maynard Ferguson band alumni regrouped for a memorial concert soon after his death, led by trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Patrick Hession, and Eric Miyashiro.

Discography

As leader

  • 1955 – Jam Session featuring Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy)
  • 1956 – Maynard Ferguson's Hollywood Party (EmArcy)
  • 1956 – Around the Horn with Maynard Ferguson (EmArcy)
  • 1956 – Dimensions (EmArcy)
  • 1955 – Maynard Ferguson Octet (EmArcy)
  • 1957 –&nbsp;Maynard Ferguson and His Birdland Dream Band
  • 1957 –&nbsp;The Birdland Dream Band, Vol. 2
  • 1957 – Boy with Lots of Brass (EmArcy)
  • 1958 – Swingin' My Way Through College (Roulette)
  • 1958 – A Message from Newport (Roulette)
  • 1959 – A Message from Birdland (Roulette)
  • 1959 – Maynard Ferguson Plays Jazz for Dancing (Roulette)
  • 1960 – Newport Suite (Roulette)
  • 1960 – Let's Face the Music and Dance (Roulette)
  • 1961 – Maynard '61 (Roulette)
  • 1961 – Double Exposure with Chris Connor (Atlantic)
  • 1961 – "Straightaway" Jazz Themes (Roulette)
  • 1961 – Two's Company with Chris Connor (Roulette)
  • 1962 – Maynard '62 (Roulette)
  • 1962 – Si! Si! M.F. (Roulette)
  • 1963 – The New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson (Cameo)
  • 1963 – Message from Maynard (Roulette)
  • 1963 – Maynard '63 (Roulette)
  • 1964 – Maynard '64 (Roulette)
  • 1964 – Come Blow Your Horn (Cameo)
  • 1964 – Color Him Wild (Mainstream) – Reissued as Dues
  • 1964 – The Blues Roar (Mainstream) – Reissued as Screamin' Blues
  • 1965 – The Maynard Ferguson Sextet (Mainstream) – Reissued as Six By Six and as Magnitude with bonus tracks
  • 1966 – Ridin' High (Enterprise)
  • 1967 – Trumpet Rhapsody (MPS) – Reissued as Maynard Ferguson 1969
  • 1968 – The Ballad Style of Maynard Ferguson (CBS)
  • 1968 – Maynard and Gustav (Supraphon)
  • 1970 – M.F. Horn (Columbia) – also released as The World of Maynard Ferguson
  • 1971 – Maynard Ferguson (Columbia) – also released as Alive and Well in London
  • 1972 – M.F. Horn Two (Columbia)
  • 1973 – M.F. Horn 3 (Columbia)
  • 1974 – M.F. Horn 4&5: Live At Jimmy's (Columbia)
  • 1974 – Chameleon (Columbia)
  • 1976 – Primal Scream (Columbia)
  • 1977 – Conquistador (Columbia)
  • 1977 – New Vintage (Columbia)
  • 1978 – Carnival (Columbia)
  • 1979 – Hot (Columbia)
  • 1980 – It's My Time (Columbia)
  • 1981 – Hollywood (Columbia)
  • 1983 – Storm (Palo Alto)
  • 1983 – Live from San Francisco from the Great American Music Hall (Palo Alto)
  • 1986 – Body and Soul
  • 1987 – High Voltage (Intima)
  • 1988 – High Voltage 2 (Intima)
  • 1990 – Big Bop Nouveau (Intima)
  • 1992 – Footpath Cafe (Avion)
  • 1994 – Live from London
  • 1994 – Live at Peacock Lane Hollywood 1957 (Jazz Hour)
  • 1994 – These Cats Can Swing (Concord)
  • 1995 – Live at the Great American Music Hall Part 2 (Status)
  • 1996 – One More Trip to Birdland (Concord)
  • 1998 – Brass Attitude (Concord)
  • 1999 – Big City Rhythms with Michael Feinstein
  • 2001 – Swingin' for Schuur with Diane Schuur (Concord)
  • 2006 – M.F. Horn VI: Live at Ronnie's

Posthumous releases

  • 2007 – The One and Only

Selected film soundtracks

  • The Wild One (1953)
  • Living It Up (1954)
  • Rear Window (1954)
  • You're Never Too Young (1955)
  • Oreste (short) (1955)
  • The Man With The Golden Arm (1955)
  • Blackboard Jungle (1955)
  • The Ten Commandments (1956)
  • Crime in the Streets (1956)
  • The Proud and Profane (1956)
  • Hot Rod Girl (1956)
  • Dino (film) (1957)
  • The Delicate Delinquent (1957)
  • Hot Rod Rumble (1957)
  • Singin' and Swingin' (short) (1961)
  • Urbanissimo (short) (1966)
  • Indian Summer (1972)
  • Uncle Joe Shannon (1978)

As sideman

With Harry Belafonte

  • Belafonte (1955)
  • Calypso (1956)

With Buddy Bregman

  • Bing Sings Whilst Bregman Swings (Verve, 1956)
  • Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Songbook, (Verve, 1956)
  • Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers and Hart Songbook (Verve, 1956)
  • Jerry Lewis Just Sings (Capitol, 1956)
  • Swinging Kicks (Verve, 1957)
  • Boy Meets Girl (Verve, 1957)

With Russ Garcia

  • Four Horns and Lush Life (Japan) (Bethlehem, 1955)
  • Russ Garcia and his Four Trombone Band (Fresh Sound)

With Stan Kenton

  • Innovations in Modern Music (Capitol, 1950)
  • Stan Kenton Presents (Capitol, 1950)
  • New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm (Capitol, 1953)
  • Popular Favorites by Stan Kenton (Capitol, 1953)
  • Sketches on Standards (Capitol, 1953)
  • This Modern World (Capitol, 1953)
  • The Kenton Era (Capitol, 1940–54, [1955])
  • Kenton in Hi-Fi (Capitol, 1956)
  • The Innovations Orchestra (Capitol, 1950–51 [1997])

With Perez Prado

  • Voodoo Suite (1955)
  • Havanna 3 A.M. (1956)

With Shorty Rogers

  • Cool and Crazy (RCA Victor, 1953)
  • Shorty Rogers Courts the Count (RCA Victor, 1954)
  • Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers (RCA Victor, 1957)

With Pete Rugolo

  • Something Cool (Mono) with June Christy (1954)
  • Introducing Pete Rugolo (Columbia, 1954)
  • Adventures in Rhythm (Columbia, 1954)
  • Rugolomania (Columbia, 1955)
  • New Sounds by Pete Rugolo (Harmony, 1954–55, [1957])
  • Music for Hi-Fi Bugs (EmArcy, 1956)
  • Out on a Limb (EmArcy, 1956)
  • An Adventure in Sound: Brass in Hi-Fi (Mercury, 1956 [1958])

With others

  • Skin Deep, Louis Bellson (Norgran, 1953)
  • Dinah Jams, Dinah Washington (1954)
  • Jam Session with Clifford Brown and Clark Terry (EmArcy, 1954)
  • In the Land of Hi-Fi with Georgie Auld and His Orchestra, Georgie Auld (EmArcy, 1955)
  • The Swingin'st, Vido Musso (Crown, 1956)
  • Spanish Fever, Fania All-Stars (1978)
  • Chicago 13, Chicago (Columbia, 1979)
  • Special Delivery Featuring Maynard Ferguson, Tito Puente (Concord, 1996)
  • Indian Express/Mani & Co, L. Subramaniam (Milestone, 1999)
  • BeBop Your Best, Red Grammer (Red Note, 2005)
  • Plays Well with Others, Wayne Bergeron (Concord, 2007)

As producer

  • Maynard Ferguson Presents Christian Jacob (Concord, 1997)
  • Maynard Ferguson Presents Tom Garling (Concord, 1997)

See also

  • Music of Canada
  • Canadian Music Hall of Fame

References

  • Interview – NAMM Oral History Library (1977, 2006)
  • Jazz History Database
  • Review of Ralph Jungheim's book Maynard! at JazzTimes
  • One of the last Maynard Ferguson concert reviews at JazzChicago.net
  • Tribute at International Trumpet Guild
  • Obituary