Collectors / serious fans only
Steve Frazier | Seattle | 02/13/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"It's amazing that Maynard Ferguson, well into his mid-70's at the time of this recording, was still able to play trumpet with the power and precision that he displays on this CD. It's even more impressive knowing that by 2005 (when this was recorded) he had survived more than 55 years of touring and traveling with various bands. Truly he was a force of nature, and there are some snippets here that hint at this virtuosity.
However, when compared with other work from Maynard's career, this is not one of his better efforts. Maynard's playing on this CD includes a few forays into the upper register, but in general he lacks the real physical ability and creative spark that so many of his early CD's display. And even though earlier in his career Maynard was a more-than-acceptable soloist and improviser, you don't get to hear a lot of lower-register Maynard on this disc, either. If this were the first MF album you'd ever heard, I think you'd walk away wondering how he built the career and devoted fan following that he (still) has.
As usual Maynard is fronting an eager band of talented young musicians. And there are a couple of good arrangements and entertaining songs here. But the overall quality of the arrangements and the band does not make it stand alone as a top-notch big band album; Maynard aside, the performances and the arrangements are just OK, and not up to par with a long list of other current big band CD's on the market. Particularly painful is the "MF Hit Medley": this worked well to appease live audiences who wanted to hear a bit of everything from Maynard's career, but on CD it's a choppy, disjointed collection of phrases and melodies that doesn't hang together. If you're enough of a Maynard Ferguson plan to recognize all these "greatest hits" from his career, you'd rather hear the originals.
So -- kudos to Maynard for years of inspiration and dedication, and for recording some licks on this CD that would put many younger players to shame. Unfortunately for this CD, it doesn't meet the standards of so many other albums of his work that are still available on the market. If you're an extremely dedicated fan, you may want to pick this up, but there are easily another dozen MF CD's you ought to own before exploring this one."
The Last One
Florida MF Fan | 02/17/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"It's Maynard Ferguson's last CD...so that makes it special all by itself. Certainly the Boss continued to amaze all right up to the end. And much has been made of his "resurgence" in recent months with the new horn and all.
But candidly, this recording was too late. The band is not the top line it could have been.
Patrick Hession does a great job on lead trumpet and plays some wild notes in the Hit Medley covering the Boss's old parts. Stockton Helbing is a fine and gifted drummer who has matured nicely as part of the band over the years, graduating to music director this go round.
But otherwise, not the greatest performance turned in.
Still, a worthwhile buy because it was the final new recording of one of the all time great impact trumpeters."
Live Albums Are the Best
George Jetson | on top of it | 01/26/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Maynard and his band always sound better live. And this album is Maynard's last live recording. Honestly, Maynard sounds a bit tired at times, but when he soars into the stratosphere he sounds like the Maynard of old. I enjoy all the tracks on this CD, and have listened to them all at least a half-dozen times in the past month."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1