Search - Maynard Ferguson :: Wow! The Formative Years

Essential

Michael Minn | New York City | 03/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an essential CD for Maynard Ferguson enthusiasts who do not own many examples of his work from the late 40s and early 50s or have not heard many of these early cuts. His remarkable youthful precision will be especially revelatory for those who are primarily familiar with Ferguson from his final years touring as an elder statesman with Big Bop Nouveau. While the disk is inexpensive, the sound quality is good to excellent, with the understandable exception of the first two radio transcription cuts.



Ferguson moved to the United States in 1949 and initially played with the bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey and Charlie Barnet - just as the age of the big band was passing. While there are no studio recordings from his tenure with Raeburn or Dorsey, this CD contains a couple of tracks from a live radio broadcast with Dorsey in New York during March of 1949.



The third track is Ferguson's notorious feature with the Charlie Barnet band on "All the Things You Are". This disjoint and decidedly unsentimental recording enraged Jerome Kern's widow, leading to a lawsuit threat that resulted in the record being withdrawn from sale by Capitol Records. For those that have grown used to Ferguson's flamboyant style, it does not seem as extreme as it may have in the fall of 1949, although it is still quite a hoot to listen to.



Ferguson was destined to play with Stan Kenton and the only impediment was that Kenton had temporarily disbanded when Ferguson made his move to the U.S. Ferguson finally joined Kenton when he formed the Innovations Orchestra in 1950 and Kenton featured Ferguson prominently on a number of recordings (most already out on CD). This CD contains three tracks with Kenton, the eponymously named "Maynard Ferguson" (with the Innovations Orchestra) and two cuts with the "regular" Kenton band, "Hot Canary" and "What's New". There are four cuts from 1950 recorded with Ferguson listed as leader of an orchestra comprised of Kenton sidemen - and given the quality, apparently dubbed from vinyl. There are also two cuts from 1952: an odd small-group date with Ben Webster and an orchestra cut featuring his first wife, Kay Brown, on vocals.



Ferguson left Kenton in 1953 to become a studio player for Paramount Pictures. While his contract limited his live performance opportunities, he still recorded quite regularly as a leader and sideman. The middle of this CD includes seven tracks from 1954-1956. There are a number of CDs available with additional material from this period.



The CD concludes, appropriately, with five tracks from the Birdland Dreamband, which Ferguson was tapped to lead in 1956 when he left Paramount. This aggregation would form Ferguson's core performing unit until the mid 60s, when he left the inhospitable musical climes of America for Europe and India. While the mature Ferguson would occasionally pull out charts from his early years, his second career would be based on more rock-influenced charts and a more fluid playing style to match.



It is nice to see Ferguson's early- and mid-career work finally coming out on CD, ironically just as the CD is heading into technological obsolescence. Nevertheless, even for those who have moved into the iPod age, the price is right and the screaming is timeless. Wow, indeed."

Still unbelievable

Roger C. Delaney | Frederick, MD United States | 02/27/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh, my...even after hearing the incomparable Maynard Ferguson on dozens of recordings over the years, the sheer virtuosity of his playing continues to astound me. I know that most, if not all, of the sides on this LP have already been available on CD - and the quality of some of the recordings is subpar. But the gifts that Maynard possessed, even as a very young man, were nothing short of otherworldly, and this collection showcases the early years nicely. If for nothing else but Maynard's remarkable "All the Things You Are", his restrained and lovely take on "Over the Rainbow", and, of course, "Maynard Ferguson", this disc is absolutely essential for any MF fan. Buy it now."

Awesome collection!

Kurt Schulenburg | Lake Zurich, Illinois United States | 05/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been collecting MF recordings for about 35 years... and this really is a great compilation of the Best of Maynard's Early Years. This is the stuff that won him Downbeat Awards and made him a "name" performer while still in his 20's.



The CD is well recorded, there's nothing glaringly bad as far as levels/mixing go. For vintage recordings (late 40's and 50's) these are well recorded and hold up well both from a technical and musical standpoint.



I had all but one of these tunes in my collection... but it's nice to have them all in one place on CD instead of hunting through all my old vinyl!



If you're a MF fan - or a trumpet player who wants to hear what the fuss is all about - come hear The World's Greatest Trumpet Man as he was at the beginning of his career!"