Len Maynard

Maynard Ferguson Octet is an album by Canadian jazz trumpeter/trombonist Maynard Ferguson featuring tracks recorded at Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA. (tracks 1-5) April 25th 1955, (tracks 6-8) April 27th 1955 and originally released on the EmArcy label 1955. This early triumph from the solo career of the brilliant trumpeter remains bewilderingly rare - it's an avowed West Coast-jazz classic but it's been out of print for years. Verve Originals re-issued this 2008.

Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson leads his big band in a fiery date recorded in 1958, not at the Newport Festival but in New York. He was playing no-holds-barred, straight-ahead jazz at this time, and doing it with gusto. The band included Bill Chase in his pre-fusion period, Slide Hampton, and Carmen Leggion, and had a good mix between veterans and emerging youngsters.

Maynard Ferguson, passed on 14 years ago, regarded as a one off, there will never be another musician like him with his power and incredible high note technique on the trumpet. This is his Greatest Hits from his time with Columbia, Big Band Pop/Jazz/Disco like never hear before, some are rare mixes never available on CD before. In 1977, resulted in a top-40 (#22) pop single, "Gonna Fly Now" (from the movie Rocky), a rare accomplishment for a jazz musician in the 1970s. Film and television themes figured prominently in the surging popularity of MF. On this CD the "Theme from Star Trek," and "Main Title from Star Wars," Bernstein's "Maria" from West Side Story, "Scheherazade" from the classical music realm, " Dorothy's "Over The Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz. For the first time anywhere, on any format, we bring you the previously unreleased, "Shanti Mantra." Now, we leave you to the music and to your Memories Of Maynard.

In May 1967, when Maynard Ferguson was invited to appear at the Expo 67 Canadian Pavilion in Montreal, his Roulette period was behind him but his style and musical tastes had not really changed. Although he did not appear on record at all in 1966 (other than the soundtrack of a television show) and would not have a regular orchestra until 1970, the music on this CD sounds very much as if it were being played by an edition of the Maynard Ferguson Big Band. The obscure sidemen (all local players gathered together for the occasion) boast high musicianship and a few excellent (but unfortunately unidentified) soloists. MF is the main star throughout, showing off his remarkable technique and coming up with consistently exciting and generally creative solos in addition to enthusiastically leading the shouting ensembles.

Lord Berners was essentially self-taught as a composer, profiting from experiences gained while travelling in Europe, and receiving advice and encouragement from Stravinsky. A tone of wit and humour is established in his masterful settings of Heine in the Lieder Album, and his subtle touch with the French language is well represented in the Trois Chansons. The Fragments psychologiques is a piano cycle that is both virtuosic and expressive. From mock parlour-song parodies to a poem about a dejected goldfish, Lord Berners’ keen sense of observation and ironic view on life is here in abundance.