 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
Maynard Ferguson, 1928 - 2006
Maynard Ferguson was a gem of a human being.
I remembered when I had been on the band just a short while - we would do these hit-and-run gigs where we would play a venue at night, finish the job, load up the equipment and the bus and drive all night to the next location and check into the hotel first thing in the morning.
One night we did a particularly brutal hit-and-run after a tough gig, we were in the bus all night. We arrived at the hotel completely exhausted, and all I remember is that as we were walking into the doors of the hotel there's Maynard holding the door open for us saying to each of us, "Good night, gentlemen. Good night".
He was a consummate showman. One of the big things I learned from him is to always be aware of "where the show is". Sometimes the show is the ensemble. Sometimes it's a soloist or a vocalist. No matter where the show was, Maynard was always focused on it, reacting to it. When a soloist was playing he was always visibly and emotionally connecting with what was going on.
In the course of each concert, he would always program a couple of his
more popular tunes (e.g. Chameleon, Birdland, Hey Jude, etc.). Over
the years, Maynard had performed these war horses untold hundreds of
times. And yet each night he would approach them with the same
relish and energy and excitement that he did newer or hipper
material. That indelibly impressed me, and to this day has a big
impact on the way I approach programming and performing in the Airmen of
Note.
And what a great player. He has always been lauded for his high notes, his acrobatics. But while his sound in the middle register may have wavered from time to time, the musicality and emotional content of his ballad playing was always there. I always looked forwared each night to hearing him do his solo ballad spot, moreso than any other part of the gigs.
And finally, he was a wonderfully quirky, upbeat and funny man. As I said, he would rarely break his focus on a member of the band soloing on the front of the stage. But one night during an extended solo, Maynard walked all the way around the side of the rhythm section stage right, behind the bass and drums, eventually arriving behind the brass riser apparently with something to say.
The brass section, consisting of Pete Olstad, Craig Johnson and myself, all knelt down to hear what was on his mind. The boss walked up to us, and half laughing went into his usual talking style: "Yeah.. heh, uh... and the thing is... ha ha, um, and... uh, and he said, uh, year, hah hah, um, I have no idea..." and turned and walked all the way back around the band to the front of the stage.
Priceless
Rest in peace, boss.
©2003, Joe Jackson. All rights reserved.