Customer Reviews

This Is Jazz 16

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am aware that these recordings are all originally from other albums, but regardless, this is still in my opinion Maynard's best. His playing on this album is absolutely beautiful on every song, his high register as powerful as ever, and there are some great solos. All of the bands sound extremely tight and good. I never grow tired of listening to this album, every single song is amazing and significant to Maynard's career. "Birdland" is the perfect opening, a high energy Joe Zawinul composition arranged for big band. What an arrangement. The saxophone soloist sounds great, and Maynard tears it up at the end with some amazingly controlled high notes. The band is in nearly flawless unison. Then comes probably one of my all-time favorites, "Everybody Loves The Blues", written by Maynard and Nathan Lane. Maynard opens on a slow blues playing some beautiful, melodic flugelhorn and then the piece goes into a straight playthrough of Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo" for a bit, and then speeds up and the alto saxophone soloist makes a wonderfully constructed solo full of quotes, he quotes "Blue Monk", and another song I am not familiar with as well. They even quote "Chameleon" in the ensemble. Then Maynard comes with a great, screaming solo for the next two to three minutes and ends this classic heroically. He interacts great with the band. Next is yet another eye-opener, his amazing remake of Jimmy Webb's odd "MacArthur Park" (which was also recorded by Donna Summer and others later on). The lyrics to this song are absolutely horrible and stupid, however Maynard turns it into a stupendous, heroic trumpet feature. Then it goes into a straight ahead jazz tune and features an alto sax solo, a piano solo, a tenor saxophone solo and Maynard screaming away at the end. This jazz part is actually based on the changes of Miles Davis's "So What" and has a flavor similar to John Coltrane's "Impressions". Some of MF's best work. Next is Mike Abene's "Fox Hunt", a famous trumpet duel where the Clifford Brown-influenced Bob Summers actually gives Maynard quite a run for his money. The pace is extremely fast, they both sound quite good on this song. The trade-offs at the end are great, and Maynard can bend notes like no other. New ground is explored on Chick Corea's "Cheshire Cat Walk", where Chick himself is also featured on electric piano. Maynard plays an amazing, long solo and plays high in it practically the whole time. Then he trades parts with Chick on electric piano, who imitates Maynard's sounds and it gets a bit hard to tell which is which at times. Their interaction is impressive. The sound drifts off after that but then is brought back when MF, Bernie Glow, Marvin Stamm and Jon Faddis scream back. What a trumpet section. "'Round Midnight", the famous Thelonious Monk tune is a cool, laid-back piece. Maynard takes a nice flugel solo here and soars above the band in multiple shout choruses. The whole group sounds spectacular here. I had never heard a big band do this tune besides Michel Legrand's. It's great. "Gospel John" is another famous Maynard tune with the church-like intro, and although the tune itself is a bit corny, the band plays it so convincingly that you can put that past yourself. The final song is the infamous "Rocky Theme", titled "Gonna Fly Now". Everyone knows this tune, and Maynard screams above it. There's a nice guitar solo too, and a lot of big name people are in this band. A great way to end. If you're a new fan of Maynard, or an older fan trying to retrieve more great MF stuff, this is the album to have. A classic.

Out of all of my Maynard CD's, this is probably the one that keeps going in the CD player. This CD is a perfect mix of his stuff. It's got great tracks that show some of his big band stuff, but mostly his funky disco/jazz fusion. He screams so high on this cd! I can't tell you how many times I almost got into a car accident from listening to him. If you've never listened to Maynard, this cd is for you, it was my first taste, and I've been hooked since. If you've heard him before, this is a must for you collection.

I always love to hear one of his albums. I remember that "Round Midnight" was really a great smooth jazz piece that was written and arranged by Thelonious Monk from the album I got was called "M.F. Horn 3" I hear he's doing a great job working on "Birdland" He can blow that trumpet real high and like "Gonna Fly Now" is probably one of my great favorites I have in my first CD "Conquistador" I will be glad to pick up that CD right on time!

Maynard Ferguson is sure is my all-time favorite trumpet player since high school. I was the 1 that got introduced to him in '98 or '99 since I check the first album "Conquistador" (which is sure my fav from him), I'd always wanted to hear him play and see in concert in all that. But anyway I'm a professionally trumpet player myself that used to play in the jazz band, concert band, honor band, marching band and all of that you name it.

Ok back to the album, everytime time I play that disc, I hear it sounds good than his previous albums he put out back then incl. 1's he did w/ the Stan Kenton Big Band (sure of heard of him he's good). The best songs to date from him are: Everybody Loves the Blues, MacArthur Park, Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky"), Birdland (which made him famous), Gospel John, among others.

If u luv sum high-note cats that play well from Arturo to Cat Anderson to Roy Roman to name a few, then u must-have Maynard or MF for short if u wanna hear more from the legend himself. He'll stand in from the top point of all trumpet players all around the world (young and old). He sure is definitely a hero to me and mostly my teacher, role model, and mentor.

Maynard Ferguson is a very good trumpet player and this collection of previously unreleased material mixed with some other out of print/hard to find material is a worthy buy. Obviously his claim to fame is his range, which stretches to double C and beyond which is quite interesting to hear. Maynard's problem on his later albums was that he had trouble getting good material and therefore just relied on his superb chops to get noticed. However, most of the material here is very strong and showcases Maynard at his screaming best. The listener knows what to expect from this album and they get it. This album was also a pleasant surprise because it had a couple of very nice tracks where Maynard proved he's more than just a one-dimensional high-note specialist. There are also a couple mishaps on this album, but the great tracks will let you forgive that.

The album opens up with the poppy Joe Zawinul tune "Birdland", which is a catchy little song and full of high notes and alto saxophone. This rendition isn't bad, although Maynard doesn't really improvise much on it, but the unknown sax player shines. "Everybody Loves The Blues" is actually a composition Maynard wrote, and is an instant classic. He really mixes up his soloing well which helps the piece out a lot. The big band arrangement is excellent, and the whole track remains exciting the whole seven and a half minutes. A great song. "MacArthur Park" is a remake of a Beatles song (at least I think it is), and, contrary to what the previous reviewers said, it isn't the best track. Actually I didn't enjoy it much at all, it's too poppy/70's for my taste, sounding like a desparate plea for radio attention, although the ensemble playing is good. In the middle of the piece it switches into a more straight ahead jazz track, which is a lot better although still the track is only decent. "Fox Hunt" is a classic live performance. A real swift hard-bop tune, Maynard and another unidentified trumpeter (Walter White perhaps?) solo easily and swiftly over the beat. The ensemble playing is perfect and everyone swings. This one is among the best on the album. "Cheshire Cat Walk" is a nice track to sit back to, and has an Egyptian flavor with a slight Spanish tinge. Chick Corea actually appears on this one and contributes some nice electric keyboard playing, and Maynard does his usual. This is a nice laid-back tune. "'Round Midnight" is the Thelonious Monk classic, a very slow song, and Maynard and company treat it nicely with a good arrangement and tasteful playing. Maynard plays this challenging tune pretty well. "Gospel John" is a good track, but I already owned it before I bought this album on the Chameleon LP, which is a drag man. Still, Maynard's opening solo is impressive, although I'm kind of sick of this song. "Gonna Fly Now" is the closer, it's actually the Theme From Rocky, and features a lot of big names like Patti Austin, George Benson and Jon Faddis to name a few. However it becomes disappointing because this remake is a terrible commercial attempt, and although Maynard's high notes echo with charisma, this track is so corny you won't notice. At least it's at the end of the album so it's easier to avoid.

Aside from the Rocky remake, this album is very good and definitely a worthy buy for any fan of good trumpet playing, or just a Maynard fan. "Fox Hunt" and "Everybody Loves The Blues" are reasons alone to buy this album, those are classics, and there's a lot of other good material on here as well. Recommended if you like good big band playing with a bit of commercial appeal.

I always love to hear one of his albums. I remember that "Round Midnight" was really a great smooth jazz piece that was written and arranged by Thelonious Monk from the album I got was called "M.F. Horn 3" I hear he's doing a great job working on "Birdland" He can blow that trumpet real high and like "Gonna Fly Now" is probably one of my great favorites I have in my first CD "Conquistador" I will be glad to pick up that CD right on time!

This is one of Maynard's best. McArthur Park is perhaps the best jazz tune ever recorded. The contrast between the unbelievable high register trumpet work and the lazy sax is unbelievable. I could listen to this cd over and over again

This CD offers a great introduction to the very talented Maynard Ferguson. Those who haven't heard him before will be amazed at his range. Listen to MacArthur Park. It will send shivers down your spine!

From the opening measures of Birdland to the closing sting of Gonna Fly Now, Maynard Ferguson shows he is simply the best. I swear I almost wore out this cd the day I bought it. MacArthur Park is truly the top track on here. You'll get goosebumps on your goosebumps.

I always love to hear one of his albums. I remember that "Round Midnight" was really a great smooth jazz piece that was written and arranged by Thelonious Monk from the album I got was called "M.F. Horn 3" I hear he's doing a great job working on "Birdland" He can blow that trumpet real high and like "Gonna Fly Now" is probably one of my great favorites I have in my first CD "Conquistador" I will be glad to pick up that CD right on time!