Search - Maynard Ferguson :: Dues

Gets my vote for Maynard's best album

James A. Vedda | Alexandria, VA USA | 09/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If it's possible to pick a "best" album from Maynard's half-century of recording, it would have to be from the period spanning the mid-50s to the mid-60s. It's a tough call, but I believe "Dues" is that album (originally released as "Color Him Wild" in 1964).

One of the ways to bring out the best in an ensemble, in addition to populating it with great players, is to allow some of those players to write arrangements for the band. Eight of the album's nine tracks were arranged by sidemen who worked with the band, including saxophonist Willie Maiden, trumpeter Don Rader, trombonists Don Sebesky and Rob McConnell, and pianist Mike Abene. The selections are a perfect assortment to show off the talents of Maynard and the band. Up-tempo tunes include "Airegin" (with a great alto solo by Lanny Morgan), "The Lady's in Love" (Ronnie Cuber's choruses on baritone sax are absolutely brilliant), and "Three More Foxes" (a three-trumpet feature that I believe is the best of the three recordings Maynard made of this chart). On the slow side, there's the standard "Come Rain or Come Shine," Willie Maiden's "Tinsel" (probably the most beautiful piece he ever wrote, featuring a nice alto solo by Morgan), and a pop hit that has since become a classic, "People" (one of the finest ballad features in Maynard's repertoire). Great arrangements of straight-ahead swingers include "Green Dolphin Street" and "This Nite."

One tune that stands apart is the band's rendition of the Latin classic "Macarena," featuring Maynard playing in a flamenco trumpet style that sounds like Raphael Mendez gone wild. Reminiscent of Maynard's recording of "Olé" on the Maynard `61 album, it ends with a cadenza that will humble any student of the trumpet.

If you buy only one Maynard album for your jazz collection, make it this one. If you're a Maynard collector and somehow missed this treasure, you'll be incomplete until you get it. I've had the CD release since it first came out in 1993, but now it's hard to find. It deserves to be re-released."

A Classic That Will Survive the Ages

Murray Resin | Anywhere, USA | 05/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been listening to this music since 1964 and it still sounds good!



Maynard was a remarkable man, a very spiritual, creative cat, who took his music to the public during his non-stop caravan of life that found him in India, the UK, and all over the US playing for kids who found the excitement of Jazz through his horn.



Maynard Ferguson lives!"