Customer Reviews

Primal Scream

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having waited several decades for this 1976 album to appear on cd, this is a most welcome addition to the Maynard catalogue. Although from the more commercialized Maynard musical period, it nonetheless is an essential acquisition for the Maynard fan. With the legendary Bob James as producer, as well as guest musicians such as Chick Corea, Joe Farrell, Eric Gale, Steve Gadd, and Dave Sanborn, you can be assured of impeccable instrumentation/arrangements. Maynard does his own intense interpretaion of Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" from the opera of the same name, but for me, the real showpiece of the album is Chick Corea's "The Cheshire Cat Walk," written especially for this album. If you worship Chick Corea's 70's musical output, stop reading this and just go buy the cd. Chick has crafted a wonderful ten-minute Spanish-tinged tour de force just perfect for Maynard's soaring improvisation. To hear Maynard and Chick on synthesizer musically "duel" is worth the price of admission alone. Don't miss it !

Yes, I was a horn player through high school and college in the late '70's and early '80's. Everybody loves "Chameleon" and I do too, but in my opinion Primal Scream is his finest album ever.

Nobody has ever played the high register with the kind of power, intensity and flexibility Maynard did. Interestingly enough though, this album doesn't showcase that talent nearly as much as his other work does. He does of course rip off some goose-bump raising screamers as always, but they don't dominate the album.

Check out Mark Colby's monster saxophone solo in the title tune. And "Cheshire Cat Walk" is indeed a killer of a chart, although it took a while to grow on me initially. Once it did however, the Chick Corea/Maynard improvisation duel in "Cat Walk" is easily the best part of the album.

Primal Scream came out at the height of the disco craze, and "Pagliacci" is, well, pure disco. The arrangement is done so well though that you can't help but like it as you listen to Maynard's horn soar over the rest of the orchestra.

Very happy to see this album finally released on CD.

I love this one! Primal Scream really does scream. The trumpets flair from the first notes of Primal Scream all the way through to the last of the Swamp. Invitation is a pleasant driving tune, but the real peak in this album for me is Pagliacci. It's pop, but it's not. Jay Chattaway has brought the operatic classic to new heights (along with Maynard's soaring sound) and infused it with the elements of a modern classic rock opera feel.

This album is overflowing with legendary performers and composers including Bob James, Chick Corea, Jay Chattaway, Bobby Militello, Ralph Macdonald, Stan Mark, Dave Sanborn and others. This is one of Maynards best albums!

Kevin Brett
CEO, Kevin Brett Studios, Inc.
Author: "The Way of the Martial Artist: Achieving Success in Martial Arts and in Life"
The Way of the Martial Artist: Achieving Success in Martial Arts and in Life!

Producer: The Art of Intelligent Driving (DVD)
The Art of Intelligent Driving

I have had this album since it came out in 1976, I am glad it is now available on CD as well. I saw Maynard perform back in the 1970's when his popularity peaked. I'll say it right now: NOBODY can hit those high notes like Maynard Ferguson. This album has some great musicians backing him up as well- Chick Corea, Eric Gale, David Sanborn, Joe Farrell, and was produced by Bob James. My favorite cut on this album has always been Pagliacci, from the opera by Puccini.

Writing for my Husband Mike. I bought the CD for him. Outstanding CD. He has waited 20 years for this to come out in CD. Even the kids love it.

If you were like me in the 1970's you were going to every MF concert he booked locally. Between 1974 - 1977 I must have seen him live at least 7 or 8 times, in high school concert halls, in larger clubs, and even a couple time at Disneyland (back when Disney used to have an "All That Jazz" festival over Memeorial Day Weekend). After the huge success of Chameleon, and after some changes in the band, Maynard always included some new and upcoming pieces when playing in concert. For Example, one of the most popular songs he did in concert during the time between Chamelon & Primal Scream was Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and believe me, it always brought the house down. That was one of the main reasons Primal Scream was a huge disappointment when it was released. None of the new songs were included and instead we're treated to a completely different sounding Maynard album that only had 5 songs.

For me there were only 3 songs that got my interest. The title track is the first piece here and starts off with a trumpet winding up to a roar. The song then moves into a driving rhythm that gets your juices flowing. This is probably the one piece here that could be called a typical MF work. The next two songs NEVER appealed to me. "Cheshire Cat Walk" and "Invitation" would probably be decent songs for other, more traditional fusion jazz artists but they are SO out of place on an MF album. Ugh!

The final two works, "Pagliacci" & "Swamp" are also two different sounding songs but done with more flair. Pagliacci actually became one of the most popular Marynard pieces to be played in concert during this period. While on the album it's interesting and fun in a sort of disco manner, live it became this 20 minute monster that featured Bobby Militelo in a 10 minute flute condenza. All three times I got to hear him he would draw multiple standing ovations during his solo. One of the absolute masters!

If you are looking for a more traditional MF album you may want to pass on this one. While it does have some good pieces it's definitely not what we were expecting back in the mid-1970's. But it is a good addition if you are looking just to round out your MF collection.

What to say about this recording? Its just so good, I am not sure that any of my words can do it justice. In addition to Maynard and Chick; there are so many fantastic contributions that deserve mention. That of Gary King (we miss you Gary), just laying down the groove on the bass no frills style, cookin and funky over Steve Gadd's drums,(Steve are you sure you are from this planet? Those grooves are out of this world man, you can't be human ;-) imo.). Playing on the top with Maynard is Joe Farrell on the Tenor sax and David Sanborn on the Alto. Indeed, Joe would seem already to approach musical orgasm on the title track "primal scream", and indeed this tune sets the quality of the whole album that can only be described as not as good as it gets. Going further and I shall just repeat what has already been said by others.

Lastly, about the price tag of this superb CD. Well, I see only one for sale at time of writing....at ahemm....79 Dollars. Thats abuse of the supply versus demand chain, so lets hope Wounded Bird produce a few more. Myself, after an extensive hunt, i was able to pick up this CD at a very reasonable price from Dusty Groove. That said, if you see this CD, and really want it, then if you can afford it best not to count and buy it while you still can ;-).

This is one of Maynard Ferguson's best - I had the pleasure of seeing him twice in concert and he never disappointed! His talent was so unique and absolutely amazing! Pagliacci is awesome--I still get chills listening to him soar ever higher into the stratosphere! [oh, and the flute solo still amazes me-it was the first time I was ever reduced to tears at a concert because it was THAT good!)