Maynard Ferguson歌手资料

外文名 : Maynard Ferguson

别名 : 梅納．佛格森

国籍 : 美国

逝世日期 : 2006 年 8 月 23 日

When he debuted with Stan Kentons Orchestra in 1950, Maynard Ferguson could play higher than any other trumpeter up to that point in jazz history, and he was accurate. Somehow he kept most of that range through his career and since the 1970s has been one of the most famous musicians in jazz. Never known for his exquisite taste (some of his more commercial efforts are unlistenable), Ferguson nevertheless led some important bands and definitely made an impact with his trumpet playing.

After heading his own big band in Montreal, Ferguson came to the United States in 1949 with hopes of joining Kentons orchestra, but that ensemble had just recently broke up. So instead, Ferguson gained experience playing with the big bands of Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet. In 1950, with the formation of Kentons Innovations Orchestra, Ferguson became a star, playing ridiculous high notes with ease. In 1953, he left Kenton to work in the studios of Los Angeles and three years later led the all-star Birdland Dreamband. In 1957, he put together a regular big band that lasted until 1965, recorded regularly for Roulette (all of the bands recordings with that label are on a massive Mosaic box set) and performed some of the finest music of Fergusons career. Such players as Slide Hampton, Don Ellis, Don Sebesky, Willie Maiden, John Bunch, Joe Zawinul, Joe Farrell, Jaki Byard, Lanny Morgan, Rufus Jones, Bill Berry, and Don Menza were among the more notable sidemen.

After economics forced him to give up the impressive band, Ferguson had a few years in which he was only semi-active in music, spending time in India and eventually forming a new band in England. After moving back to the U.S., Ferguson in 1974 drifted quickly into commercialism. Young trumpeters in high school and colleges were amazed by his high notes, but jazz fans were dismayed by the tasteless recordings that resulted in hit versions of such songs as the themes from Star Wars and Rocky and much worse. After cutting back on his huge orchestra in the early 80s, Ferguson recorded some bop in a 1983 session, led a funk band called High Voltage during 1987-1988, and then returned to jazz with his Big Bop Nouveau Band, a medium-sized outfit with which he toured the world up until his death from kidney and liver failure on August 23, 2006.

In 1992, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

In 2000, Ferguson was also initiated as a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi at the Gamma Xi Chapter (University of Maryland at College Park).

Ferguson was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003.[12]

A 4-day series of seminars and concerts honoring Ferguson and his career were held in Los Angeles with Ferguson in attendance in fall of 2004. Called "Stratospheric", band members past and present, friends, relatives, and fans attended the event. Two CDs of musical performances during this tribute were released, The Bill Holman Band Live and Menza Lines.

In 2006, he was presented Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity's Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award at its national convention in Cleveland, Ohio. He had been initiated as an honorary member of the Fraternity's Xi Chi Chapter at Tennessee Tech University in 1976.

The Sherman Jazz Museum in Sherman, Texas opened in 2010 and houses the extensive memorabilia of Ferguson's estate.

Ferguson was one of a handful of virtuoso musician/bandleaders to survive the end of the big band era and the rise of rock and roll. He demonstrated an ability to adapt to the musical trends that evolved from the 1940s through the 2000s. Ferguson's albums show an evolution from big band swing, bebop, cool jazz, Latin, jazz / rock, fusion with classical and operatic influences. Through his devotion to music education in America, Ferguson was able to impart the spirit of his jazz playing and technique to scores of amateur and professional trumpeters during the many Master Classes held throughout his long career.

Ferguson was not the first trumpeter to play in the extreme upper register, but he had a unique ability to play high notes with full, rich tone, power, and musicality. While regarded by some as showboating, Ferguson's tone, phrasing and vibrato was instantly recognizable and has been influential on and imitated by generations of amateur and professional trumpet players. A direct connection to Ferguson's style of playing continues in the work of the trumpeters who played with him, notably Patrick Hession, Roger Ingram, Wayne Bergeron and Eric Miyashiro. Although some had believed that Ferguson was endowed with exceptional facial musculature, he often shared in interviews that his command of the upper registers was based mostly on breath control,[13] something he had discovered as a youngster in Montreal. Ferguson also attributed the longevity of his demanding bravura trumpet technique through his later years to the spiritual and yoga studies he pursued while in India.

Although his principal instrument was the trumpet, Ferguson frequently doubled on other brass instruments, most notably the relatively uncommon valve trombone, on which he recorded numerous solos. Ferguson's continued use of this otherwise obscure instrument did much to enhance its familiarity among jazz fans and musicians. Several recording sessions with composer/bandleader Russell Garcia featured a four-trombone ensemble in which Ferguson played only valve trombone. Publicity shots and album covers from the Fifties featured Ferguson with his 'quartet' of trumpet, valve trombone, baritone horn, and French horn. Recordings of the latter two are rare; the French horn vanished in later years, but the baritone horn appeared as late as the 1974 Chameleon album. Ferguson switched to the combination valve/slide Superbone in his later recordings, including that instrument in all but his last recorded album. Ferguson continued to double on Flugelhorn until his very last album.

Al Kooper has written and stated that Ferguson's orchestra inspired Kooper's formation of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. Bill Chase and scores of other trumpeters were clearly influenced by Ferguson's playing and performing style.[citation needed]

While Ferguson's range was his most obvious attribute, perhaps equally significant was the personal charisma Ferguson brought to a musical genre that is often seen as veering towards the cold and cerebral. As Ferguson's obituary in the Washington Post declared:

"Ferguson lit up thousands of young horn players, most of them boys, with pride and excitement. In a (high school) world often divided between jocks and band nerds, Ferguson crossed over, because he approached his music almost as an athletic event. On stage, he strained, sweated, heaved and roared. He nailed the upper registers like Shaq nailing a dunk or Lawrence Taylor nailing a running back – and the audience reaction was exactly the same: the guttural shout, the leap to their feet, the fists in the air. We cheered Maynard as a gladiator, a combat soldier, a prize fighter, a circus strongman – choose your masculine archetype."[14]

Ferguson designed and popularized two unique instruments called the 'Firebird' and the 'Superbone'. The Firebird was similar to a trumpet, but had the valves played with the left hand (instead of the right) and a trombone-style slide played with the right hand. Indian-American trumpeter Rajesh Mehta bought this trumpet while living in Amsterdam and played the Firebird in his own innovative music contexts from 1998 until 2011 when he had American trumpet maker George Schlub create the Orka-M Naga Phoenix trumpet for him. The Superbone was another hybrid instrument, which was fundamentally a trombone with additional valves played with the left hand. Ferguson regularly incorporated Indian instruments and influences in albums and concerts.

Shortly before his death, he received the Man of Music Award by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity, of which he was a member. The Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz Studies at Rowan University was created in 2000, the same year Rowan bestowed Ferguson with his only Honorary Doctorate degree. The Institute, currently under direction of Ferguson's longtime friend and fellow musician Denis Diblasio, supports the Rowan Jazz Program in training young jazz musicians.[15]

Maynard Ferguson band alumni regrouped for a memorial concert soon after his death, fronted by high range trumpeters Wayne Bergeron, Patrick Hession, Walter White, and Eric Miyashiro.[16] A DVD of the concert was released, also featuring footage of Ferguson in performance, and spoken tributes from colleagues. A similar ensemble united for a tribute concert on what would have been Ferguson's 80th birthday. Other occasional groupings and concerts, often with Ferguson band alumni, have occurred.