GA Russell Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 I have the honor of picking the next two AotW's, and the first (for the first two weeks of March) will be The Maynard Ferguson Orchestra's A Message from Birdland on Roulette. I want to give you a heads up so that those who are interested will have time to order it. It is available from BMG/Your Music; and from CD Universe (using the Big O Link!) for $13.59. All of it was included in the Mosaic box, if you have that. I'll plan to start the discussion March 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 I have the honor of picking the next two AotW's, and the first (for the first two weeks of March) will be The Maynard Ferguson Orchestra's A Message from Birdland on Roulette. I want to give you a heads up so that those who are interested will have time to order it. It is available from BMG/Your Music; and from CD Universe (using the Big O Link!) for $13.59. All of it was included in the Mosaic box, if you have that. I'll plan to start the discussion March 1. Great choice. I hope some members will take up the opportunity to order this. This has some smokin' big band music for sure. It's ranked as one of Maynard's best by Maynard experts. I have the music as part of the Mosaic set and look forward to giving it another listen. The last time I listened to the Ferguson Mosaic set was right after Maynard died in summer of 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted February 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 John, I'm jealous that you have the Mosaic! Quite some time ago there was a thread which asked, Which Mosaic do you most regret not buying before it went out of print? At the time, I answered the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis. But today it would be the Maynard Ferguson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I just read the review of this. Normally I don't worry too much about big band albums - not really my scene - but there's something about MF's music from this time that I find hard not to like. Gonna have to get it before very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rep Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 I have not bought a Maynard Ferguson in a few years but do play his stuff often. I keep meaning to get this one and shall do so next week, thanks for the reminder. I would like to say one of my favorites is Maynard ,61. It has a really good sound and some great musicians. The Rep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted February 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 (edited) I'm going to be away on business next week, so I thought I would jump the gun and start the discussion tonight. Two things struck me about this album. The first was how much the band sounded like Buddy Rich's PJ band. Very brassy. This was recorded in June of 1959, and Rich's first PJ album was recorded in September of 1966. Do you notice how many different arrangers there are on this album? Slide Hampton did two standards and an original, Willie Maiden did two, Benny Golson two, and one each by Marty Paich, Don Sebesky and Jimmy Giuffre. I compared that to Rich's first PJ album, and saw that Oliver Nelson did the majority of those. So I wonder if Rich asked Nelson to give him a sound like Maynard's. The second thing I noticed here was Freddie Dunlop. I'm not particularly familiar with Dunlop's work with Monk (or much of Monk's Columbia recordings for that matter), but Dunlop plays here in a much more showy manner than what I expected. In fact, I would say that Maynard and Dunlop are the two stars of the band. Maynard was famous for his ability to hit the high notes, but I don't think that what he does here in that regard comes off particularly well. His mid-range playing is much more articulate and pleasant to listen to IMO. It's interesting that Joe Zawinul got the gig with Maynard just a month after arriving in the US. I wonder if the band's Mosaic box constitutes Joe's first American recordings. edit - You know I mean Frankie Dunlop! Edited March 6, 2008 by GA Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 It's interesting that Joe Zawinul got the gig with Maynard just a month after arriving in the US. I wonder if the band's Mosaic box constitutes Joe's first American recordings. I think that Zawinul's first American recording session was w/Dinah Washington, on the session that produced "What A Difference A day Made". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 (edited) The Marty Paich composition "Lonely Time", which here features Willie Maiden, was recorded by a previous Ferguson orchestra on Live at Peacock Lane three years earlier as "Velvet" with Richie Kamuca taking the solo. Both are 13-piece bands, with identical instrumentation, but the only survivor from the Peacock Lane band who's still there at Birdland is Willie Maiden, apart, of course, from Maynard! Edited March 3, 2008 by BillF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland? there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland? there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for the info, Niko! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niko Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 (edited) The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland? there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for the info, Niko! another boring day at work... Edited March 5, 2008 by Niko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The similarly-titled A Message from Newport has been for me an elusive Ferguson album. I've heard tracks from it on jazz radio shows, but have never owned, or even seen, a copy. Has it ever been issued on CD? Anyone own it? How does it compare with the following year's A Message From Birdland? there are some copies of this on ebay, mostly vinyl but also a pricey copy of a 1985 cd... http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Message-From-Newport...1QQcmdZViewItem Thanks for the info, Niko! another boring day at work... Retired. Hooray! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapscott Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 The second thing I noticed here was Freddie Dunlop. I'm not particularly familiar with Dunlop's work with Monk (or much of Monk's Columbia recordings for that matter), but Dunlop plays here in a much more showy manner than what I expected. In fact, I would say that Maynard and Dunlop are the two stars of the band. Maynard was famous for his ability to hit the high notes, but I don't think that what he does here in that regard comes off particularly well. His mid-range playing is much more articulate and pleasant to listen to IMO. I would have to name Slide Hampton as one of the stars of the band too (I dig his "Mark of Jazz"). The band was in good form and the writing is very good. Benny Golson's piece "Starfire" is a beauty as is his "Night Life". The trombone section is excellent (Hampton and Don Sebesky) and it's good to hear altoist Jimmy Ford getting lots of solo space. The overall thing I noticed was the "boppish" nature of the music, which is not surprising given that by 1959 bop was the common language of jazz. But I think this is an important point in assessing Maynard's own playing on this album. Maynard played things on the trumpet and played them in a way that no one else could (or at least couldn't before him). Maynard leading a trumpet section (as he does here on Lonely Time) is a thrilling one of a kind sound. But if there's one area where Maynard was more middle-of-the pack it would have been as a bop soloist - certainly good enough but not really in the class of Clifford or Dizzy or Fats. That's why I think Maynard doesn't come across quite as well here as on some other recordings - the best things to showcase his playing are the showpieces like "Ole" and "Maria" rather than the bebop things, on which he is fine, but not really outstanding. In fact, on a piece like "Three More Foxes" I find the playing of the other trumpet soloists, Jerry Tyree and Don Ellis, as effective, if not more so, than MF's. On "Oleo" Maynard spends too much of his solo wailing around in the high register, and it might have been fine to hear live, but gets a bit wearing on disc, especially given the "hot" nature of the recording. Better and more coherent, I think, is his solo on "Sea Isle Stomp". Both Ferguson and his fellow Canadian Oscar Peterson (both born in Montreal 3 years apart) had their roots in the swing era and I think that both had established their basic styles before they really had much exposure to bop. Bop was something they both "grafted on" to their styles rather than the style that they grew up with. Maybe that's why both struggled a bit to feel at completely at home in bop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted March 8, 2008 Report Share Posted March 8, 2008 (edited) Did anyone hear Maynard during the period of this record? I heard him ten years later - in 1969 when he was resident for some time here in Manchester, having formed an alliance with local promoter, club owner and trumpeter, Ernie Garside. Maynard even set up a business manufacturing trumpets and mouthpieces during his stay here! He took over a twelve-man rehearsal band which Garside had formed and I saw them one evening at the Manchester Sports Guild. Maynard's showmanship was sensational and electrified the band, who played like men possessed! I believe they made several records, I think with nationally-known British jazzmen included. Edited March 9, 2008 by BillF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 What a great disc! Thanks for the recommendation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted March 29, 2008 Report Share Posted March 29, 2008 I rarely listen to big bands but Ferguson's band of this period is something else. Fine arrangements by the band members and some pretty good soloists. Big band bop with the much same level of excitement of the Gillespie Big Band imo. If pressed I'd say I prefer Message From Newport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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