Larry Kart Posted February 16, 2008 Report Share Posted February 16, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7CC43w2hE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX24hA2Qhrs...feature=related Soloists in addition to MF are Joe Farrell, Frank Hittner (dig his Serge Chaloff lick on "Old Man River"), Willie Maiden (second tenor solo on "Old Man River"), and on alto either Lanny Morgan or Jimmy Ford (sounds more like the latter to me but someone else IDs the former). Pianist is Jaki Byard? Drummer is Rufus Jones; you'll see why his nickname was Speedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 This is really great. I know little about Ferguson and own none of his recordings, but this has got me curious about that Roulette set that Mosaic put out some time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Roulette's Message from Birdland put out by Mosaic is great! Recorded the year before this Newport appearance, it features two takes of "The Mark of Jazz", heard on the first video clip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 but this has got me curious about that Roulette set that Mosaic put out some time ago. It's Bl*$$dy fantastic ! :rsmile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr7CC43w2hE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX24hA2Qhrs...feature=related Soloists in addition to MF are Joe Farrell, Frank Hittner (dig his Serge Chaloff lick on "Old Man River"), Willie Maiden (second tenor solo on "Old Man River"), and on alto either Lanny Morgan or Jimmy Ford (sounds more like the latter to me but someone else IDs the former). Pianist is Jaki Byard? Drummer is Rufus Jones; you'll see why his nickname was Speedy. Definitely Lanny Morgan. I dig how Willis Conover understatedly calls this "an aggressive reading...." There's airshots of this band (maybe a few tears later) that are really scary, since they open up for solos & everybody comes to play. Very often hard to like Maynard, but usually not too hard (often easy, in fact) to love him. The guy did what he did, loved doing it, and encouraged his band to do the same too. What else do you really want out of anybody, really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 This is really great. I know little about Ferguson and own none of his recordings, but this has got me curious about that Roulette set that Mosaic put out some time ago. All the Roulette material I have is on LPs, so I don't know what they did to the sound on the Mosaic. But it was a top-heavy band timbrally, and the sound of the Roulettes I've got tends towards the either maddeningly brittle or maddeningly, which means that some really great writing isn't always given the chance to be heard the way it should be. This type of writing need lots of "breathing room", and the recordings don't (or didn't...) provide it, usually. Too bad for all concerned... Personally, though, my favorite Maynard big band stuff was done for Cameo & Mainstream. Great bands, great writing, great playing, and Maynard was beginning to pull back on the high notes in a bid (by all accounts, internally driven) to get away from the whole "high note specialist" bag. Fresh Sounds put out the Cameo stuff at one point, but the Mainstream, I don't know about. The album was called Color Him Wild (reissued in the 70s as Dues, I believe), and one or two "show stoppers" aside (they come with Maynard territory...) is nothing short of superb. Mainstream is also where you'll find the sextet album but out right after the big band disbanded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 These clips, and even more so a few others on YouTube from 1959, where he's leading a group of Canadian All-Stars, make it clear that MF was one hell of an in-there, body-language bandleader, a la Dizzy but in his own way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I caught Maynard a few times from the 70s on, and even "played with" his band once as a high school senior, a clinic gig, "Hey Jude", last tune of the night, that great band that was half Euro/half American, all the clinic students come up and read the chart with the band, culminating in a full scale "blow out", and yeah, I can't stress enough now much Maynard loved being in front of a band. That love was transmitted to the rest of the band too, because I can't say that I've ever seen a working big band that was less uptight. You travel with a bunch of guys of differing temperaments and "lifestyles" and yeah, things can get funky over time, and yeah, it shows to people who know what to look for. But every time I saw Maynard's bands, the vibe was way cool, and talking to people who played the gig, it all went back to Maynard himself. The thing about the earlier band was that, talking to some people older and more "inside the scene", Maynard back then was pretty much a man with a taste for the "good life" of all sorts (or so they say). So yeah he had a "lifestyle", but part of it was "staying beautiful", all of which I think you can see in the body language of those clips. After he went to India & cleaned up, he still kept the "beautiful, baby" vibe, and damned if I'm going to be one to find fault with that, at least in him. You follow your bliss, you find your bliss, you feed your bliss, and your bliss returns the favors. Lots of worse ways to lead a life, ya' know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 The Mosaic sounds good, reflecting that top heavy sound of the band (and the lps). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeCity Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 I can't stress enough now much Maynard loved being in front of a band. That love was transmitted to the rest of the band too, because I can't say that I've ever seen a working big band that was less uptight. You travel with a bunch of guys of differing temperaments and "lifestyles" and yeah, things can get funky over time, and yeah, it shows to people who know what to look for. But every time I saw Maynard's bands, the vibe was way cool, and talking to people who played the gig, it all went back to Maynard himself. When I joined the band in '88 MF had been touring for a few years with a small, electric fusion band and this tour marked a "return" to playing with a big band behind him. It definitely enrgized him to have a bunch of fellow horn players on stage with him. And yeah, the vibe was almost always very cool. For better or worse (depending on your perspective) MF openly admitted that his thing was as much about "entertainment" as it was about "THE music". He appreciated good jazz playing, and I heard him DO some great jazz playing, but he often talked about his affinity for entertainers, whether it was the 1950's Hollywood variety or even Vaudeville. So the onstage schtick was a pretty conscious part of the whole package. Loose and fun. The thing about the earlier band was that, talking to some people older and more "inside the scene", Maynard back then was pretty much a man with a taste for the "good life" of all sorts (or so they say). So yeah he had a "lifestyle", but part of it was "staying beautiful", all of which I think you can see in the body language of those clips. After he went to India & cleaned up, he still kept the "beautiful, baby" vibe, and damned if I'm going to be one to find fault with that, at least in him. You follow your bliss, you find your bliss, you feed your bliss, and your bliss returns the favors. Lots of worse ways to lead a life, ya' know? Maynard was clean of illicit substances by the time I knew him, but clearly there were lasting effects. And in addition to following his Indian guru, and doing his yoga/meditation thing, he did use more than a fair amount of wine/champagne throughout the day to...uh...enhance his bliss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 but this has got me curious about that Roulette set that Mosaic put out some time ago. It's Bl*$$dy fantastic ! :rsmile: I'll keep an eye out - probably not as expensive to obtain as some other OOP Mosaics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HolyStitt Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 but this has got me curious about that Roulette set that Mosaic put out some time ago. It's Bl*$$dy fantastic ! :rsmile: I'll keep an eye out - probably not as expensive to obtain as some other OOP Mosaics. Actually I believe it is one that consistently hits a pretty high closing bid on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Yikes, looks like the LP set goes for about $500! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 During 1962 and 1963 I attended a series of gigs (4 or 5) by the band at a ballroom in Iowa City. The owner used to get Basie, Herman and Maynard on off nights when they were on the road. Always hung around and talked to the members and took them to after hours sessions. What a great experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtiny Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 The Mosaic set of the Roullete stuff is great. The two Mainstream albums are great too - "The Blues Roar" and "Color Him Wild". I just got a copy of "Color Him Wild" the other day. Hadn't heard it in 20 years......MAN!!! Great album.... bigtiny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Late Posted July 8, 2008 Report Share Posted July 8, 2008 To quote Paris: that band is hot. Anyone else excited about the upcoming Octet reissue? I wish Dimensions could have been added. Together, I think, they'd add up to just under 80 minutes. So far, I've been avoiding the Fresh Sounds reissues in hopes of legitimate releases, but they've been a long time coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmonahan Posted July 9, 2008 Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 During 1962 and 1963 I attended a series of gigs (4 or 5) by the band at a ballroom in Iowa City. The owner used to get Basie, Herman and Maynard on off nights when they were on the road. Always hung around and talked to the members and took them to after hours sessions. What a great experience. You have a decade on me Chuck. I remember hearing Don Ellis and his big band at the ballroom in the University Union in Iowa City. I think it was around 1974. I also saw Duke Ellington at Hancher Auditorium there in 1973, Dizzy and Ella too. It's kind of amazing how many jazz greats performed in that town. I didn't see Maynard until I moved to Oregon. He brought a small version of Big Bop Nouveau to our little university a few years back. Nearly caused the plaster to come right off the wall! Greg Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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