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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jazz trumpeter and big-band leader Walter "Maynard" Ferguson, famed for his screaming solos and ability to hit blisteringly high notes, has died at age 78, associates said on Thursday.

The Montreal-born Ferguson died on Wednesday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection.

His four daughters and other family members were at his side when he died.

Ferguson started his career at 13 when he performed as a featured soloist with the Canadian Broadcasting Co. Orchestra.


He played with several of the great big-band leaders of the 1940s and '50s, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton, with whom he was a featured performer.

He became known with the Kenton band for being able to hit "ridiculous high notes with ease," according to jazz critic Scott Yarnow.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz says of Ferguson: "There are few sights more impressive in animal physiology than the muscles in Maynard Ferguson's upper thorax straining for a top C.

"... Putting a Ferguson disc on the turntable evokes sensations ranging from walking into a high wind to being run down by a truck," according to the Penguin Guide.

Among Ferguson's best known and most commercially successful recordings were "MacArthur Park" and the "Rocky" movie theme, "Gonna Fly Now."
In 1957, Ferguson formed a regular big band that lasted until 1965. It included a Who's Who of jazz greats as sidemen, including Slide Hampton, Don Ellis, Don Sebesky, Willie Maiden, John Bunch, Joe Zawinul, Joe Farrell and Jaki Byard.

After the band broke up, Ferguson spent time in India and Britain, where he formed a new ensemble. He returned to the United States in 1974 with yet another group often panned by jazz critics for its commercialism.

His later work was praised for its return to the jazz mainstream.

Step aside, Gabriel!

Maynard was amazing!

May he rest in peace.

Another instrumental giant felled by the "Grim Reaper."(no relation)

One of the great characters of Jazz. Like Buddy Rich an amazing talent who kept on playing till the end. He will be missed.
Play on Maynard!

Sat in the front row of a Maynard college campus concert in the mid-70's. My ears rang for a week. What a performer and great spirit.

When I was in jr. high school, every one in the section listened to Maynard. This is a sad day. Think I'll go play "Over the Rainbow" about a dozen times. Someone post that clip that Bloke hates so much. I need a pick me up.

Tubaryan12 wrote:When I was in jr. high school, every one in the section listened to Maynard. This is a sad day. Think I'll go play "Over the Rainbow" about a dozen times. Someone post that clip that Bloke hates so much. I need a pick me up.

Well said. Maynard was a force. Love him or hate him, you could not deny the guy was one of the greatest brass players ever.

I'm really bummed right now.

The 'louder and higher' club from our community band are probably holding a wake tonight!

(sigh) Sad day.

I know it had to happen sooner or later, but the man was such a force, you'd swear he could put it off.

And if he'd've invented the supertuba instead of a superbone, I'd've had one...

You gotta watch those guys who start out on the violin. Saw the nice writeup below in the Chicago Tribune.
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Jazz Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson Dies

By JEFF WILSON
Associated Press Writer
Published August 24, 2006, 7:07 PM CDT

VENTURA, Calif. -- Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson, known for his soaring high notes and for his recording of "Gonna Fly Now," a hit version of the theme from the "Rocky" movies, has died. He was 78.

Ferguson, who lived in nearby Ojai, died Wednesday night at Community Memorial Hospital of kidney and liver failure due to an abdominal infection, friend and manager Steve Schankman said Thursday.

Ferguson's four daughters, Kim, Lisa, Corby and Wilder, and other family members were at his side when he died, he said.

"Someone just said, `Gabriel, move over to second trumpet,'" Schankman said from his St. Louis office. "He was the last of the greats. That era is closed. There is no Kenton, no Basie, no Ellington, and now, no Ferguson."

Born into a musical family in Montreal, Ferguson began playing the piano and violin at age 4, took up the trumpet at 9 and soloed with the Canadian Broadcasting Company Orchestra at 11, then quit school at 15 to pursue a career in music.

The next year he was leading his own dance band, the first of a number of big bands and smaller ensembles he eventually fronted in a career that produced more than 60 albums and three Grammy nominations.

Ferguson, also a much admired teacher, became identified with ear-piercing power and dizzying high notes that he was still able to play with precision. He was named Down Beat magazine's "trumpeter of the year" three times.

"My instrument is a thing of pleasure, and I play it only because I enjoy it," he once said. "The most important thing is doing what feels right for me."

The trumpeter -- who stood just 5 feet 9 -- credited yoga with enabling him to harness the full capacity of his lungs and routinely hit a double-high-C.

"He will be remembered for his soaring high notes, he'll be remembered as Stan Kenton's lead trumpet player and he'll be remembered for movie soundtracks like `The Ten Commandments,'" Schankman said. "But what they should remember him for is his work as an educator.

"He played for students, visiting high schools, to raise money for instruments and music programs. And he left them with an inspiring remark."

As with many esteemed jazz players, mainstream success largely eluded Ferguson. But he scored a Top-10 hit with his cover of "Gonna Fly Now," and the single spawned a gold album and a Grammy nomination in 1978.

"I knew it was going to be a hit," he once said of the Bill Conti composition. "Sylvester Stallone was in the studio when we recorded it," punching a speed bag to the rhythm of the song.

"If you listen very close to the original recording, you can hear in the mix the sound of him hitting the small bag," Ferguson said.

Ferguson moved to the U.S. at age 20, playing in big bands -- including Jimmy Dorsey's -- and performing solo in New York City cafes. He then joined Stan Kenton's orchestra, where his shrieking, upper-register trumpet formed the backbone of the group's extensive brass section.

In 1956 he formed the first of several 13-piece orchestras known for the crisp vigor of their horns. They helped launch the careers of such jazz notables as Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Bob James, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul.

As the popularity of jazz declined in the 1960s, Ferguson was forced to scale down his big band, touring less frequently and favoring a smaller sextet instead.

He moved his family to India, where he absorbed Eastern music and philosophy, then to England. He later moved back to the U.S., settling in California.

But he returned almost yearly to India.

"I go to teach, but I always end up learning more," he said.

In the late `60s and `70s, he created a musical niche by rearranging pop and rock songs -- "MacArthur Park" and the Beatles' "Hey Jude," for example -- for big bands.

Meanwhile, "Conquistador," the album that included "Gonna Fly Now," reached No. 22 on Billboard's charts and helped rekindle the public's interest in big bands.

Born in Montreal on May 4, 1928, Ferguson said his most important musical influences were Louis Armstrong and his mother, a violinist with the Ottawa Symphony and later a school administrator.

He remembered being about 9 when he fell in love with the horn.

"I went to a church in Montreal, sort of like a Sunday school get-together," and had a chance to put a cornet to his lips, he told the St. Cloud (Minn.) Times in 2003.

"It was my first time playing the instrument," Ferguson said. "My parents were really surprised when I said, `I have got to get me one of these.'

"I remember having the feeling after I played it that the trumpet was the instrument for me."

Schankman said a memorial service will be held later in St. Louis.

* __

Associated Press Writer Mike Stewart in New York contributed to this story.



Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press

I get to listen to lots of young trumpeters these days, and they don't even know who Maynard is. When I was a kid, it was Maynard and Bill Chase that we had for playing inspiration. Every trumpet kid I knew was working hard to have that sound and that range. There are no real trumpet inspirations for kids outside the classical realm anymore. None with that kind of panache, anyhow. Maurice Andre said that Maynard was the best trumpeter that he knew! Say what you will about MF, but his legacy is long, and he will be missed!

TonyZ wrote:I get to listen to lots of young trumpeters these days, and they don't even know who Maynard is. When I was a kid, it was Maynard and Bill Chase that we had for playing inspiration. Every trumpet kid I knew was working hard to have that sound and that range. There are no real trumpet inspirations for kids outside the classical realm anymore. None with that kind of panache, anyhow. Maurice Andre said that Maynard was the best trumpeter that he knew! Say what you will about MF, but his legacy is long, and he will be missed!

Nice writing Tony. I know this is a tuba board and all.......and I know I have already replied on this thread........BUT, this news really stinks.

May Maynard's music live on. And to all trumpet players - keep trying. Maybe some day there will be another. HA.

Man, sad, sad day...I was lucky to see and meet Maynard earlier this spring when he and his big band came through Arkansas. Man, I was blow away even though Maynard wasn't like he used to be...but, he still could squel and play loud. I skipped orchestra rehearsal to go see it and I really made the conductor mad...I told him "this is probably the only time in my life that I'll get to see/meet Maynard..." I just never thought that I would be right so soon though.......

Well, at least I got to see the man play a couple of years. I remember it being a great concert. It was the first time I had seen a real professional big band. I guess it's fitting that the shirt I bought that night, (and still wear,) is black.

Maynard was one of my heroes along with Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt.
All three of these guys never stopped playing in their old age but found a way to press on. Good for them. Good for us.