Search - Maynard Ferguson & Big Bop Nouveau :: One More Trip to Birdland

Maynard still ROCKS!

J. Bentley Creighton | California, USA | 03/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This has become one of the most prized CD's in my collection. One quick correction of a previous reviewer : Larry Foyen does not play lead on this CD, Scott Englebright does. And man, does he have the chops! This whole album is nicely woven and tightly played, with plenty of stratospheric trumpet for the true Maynard enthusiast. Scotty is one of the very best lead players MF has ever had, even going back to the Stan Mark days. Sorry Matt Wallace, but I could do without "She was too good to me" and the bad vocals, but the rest of this compilation is A ++. And at 70 + years old, all I can say is.. You GO, Maynard!"

Pretty good, Maynard still has it for sure!

JetTone12 | USA | 09/28/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"*Special Note: I'm reposting this under my own name since the original was mistakenly posted under a different one, I did in fact write this review myself. My mistake for putting in the wrong name.*Maynard has to be the coolest Canadian ever. Such an enthusiastic player, even at age sixty-eight, when this performance was done. "You Got It" is a pretty nice opener, it's energetic to say the least. However, the best performance on the album is easily the following track (in my opinion) Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca". What a great rendition, Maynard goes absolutely nuts! There is also great trombone and alto saxophone soloing. "The Vibe" is a hint at laid-back Maynard, he plays with a flugelhorn here and sounds nice, using his upper register effectively in the places it's best suited to be. "Cajun Cookin'" is a cool Denis DeBlasio arragement but honestly I'm not really wild about it. It's nice but not my favorite. The chart of "Milestones" was the huge disappointment, however. I had played through this chart and loved it, but this recording was sub-par. The saxophone solo is too long and Maynard should've done a lot more with this tune than the short harmon mute solo and screaming at the end. I expected a lot more. However, the lacking of the "do" at the end is great, look at the liner notes for reference on that. Matt Wallace also comes up with a nice vocal on "She Was Too Good To Me", and the trumpet section comes with some nice screaming headed by Larry Foyen. The new "Birdland" is decent, although not on the level of the original, but you have to love the ESPN Sportscenter ending. "Blues From Around Here" is a classic. The whole band swings like crazy on this tune, which sounds like it's based on the changes to "Watermelon Man". Maynard goes crazy on here, and Don Zank swings on piano. The performance ends with a fast remake of "It Don't Mean A Thing", the famous Duke Ellington classic. This was a good way to end the album.Overall, if you're a Maynard fan, this is one that is worth picking up. Maynard is playing amazingly well, especially for someone of his age. Whoever said he sounded terrible is totally wrong! I'll admit Maynard had some tone trouble on Live In London but none here. However, as an overall product, this album is not as good as Live In London, in my opinion. However, these are both worthy buys. If you're new to Maynard, get acquainted with some of his work with the Kenton band, and then some of his 60's and 70's bands."

Pretty good, Maynard still has it for sure!

marymagdalengot it | usa | 09/25/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Maynard has to be the coolest Canadian ever. Such an enthusiastic player, even at age sixty-eight, when this performance was done. "You Got It" is a pretty nice opener, it's energetic to say the least. However, the best performance on the album is easily the following track (in my opinion) Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca". What a great rendition, Maynard goes absolutely nuts! There is also great trombone and alto saxophone soloing. "The Vibe" is a hint at laid-back Maynard, he plays with a flugelhorn here and sounds nice, using his upper register effectively in the places it's best suited to be. "Cajun Cookin'" is a cool Denis DeBlasio arragement but honestly I'm not really wild about it. It's nice but not my favorite. The chart of "Milestones" was the huge disappointment, however. I had played through this chart and loved it, but this recording was sub-par. The saxophone solo is too long and Maynard should've done a lot more with this tune than the short harmon mute solo and screaming at the end. I expected a lot more. However, the lacking of the "do" at the end is great, look at the liner notes for reference on that. Matt Wallace also comes up with a nice vocal on "She Was Too Good To Me", and the trumpet section comes with some nice screaming headed by Larry Foyen. The new "Birdland" is decent, although not on the level of the original, but you have to love the ESPN Sportscenter ending. "Blues From Around Here" is a classic. The whole band swings like crazy on this tune, which sounds like it's based on the changes to "Watermelon Man". Maynard goes crazy on here, and Don Zank swings on piano. The performance ends with a fast remake of "It Don't Mean A Thing", the famous Duke Ellington classic. This was a good way to end the album.Overall, if you're a Maynard fan, this is one that is worth picking up. Maynard is playing amazingly well, especially for someone of his age. Whoever said he sounded terrible is totally wrong! I'll admit Maynard had some tone trouble on Live In London but none here. However, as an overall product, this album is not as good as Live In London, in my opinion. However, these are both worthy buys. If you're new to Maynard, get acquainted with some of his work with the Kenton band, and then some of his 60's and 70's bands."