Search - Maynard Ferguson :: This Is Jazz 16

Instant classic recordings, arguably Maynard's best!

JetTone12 | USA | 09/19/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Simple, It's Maynard.

berniekravitz@hotmail.com | New York, USA | 07/11/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

His album is the #1 Hit and he is the cool trumpet master!

Henry Cooper | Marietta,GA USA | 07/19/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"