Thursday, September 21, 2006

Maynard: Gonna Fly Now

I had the opportunity to attend the Maynard Ferguson tribute concert last night, and I must say..."WOW!" What a phenomenal event to honor the life of one of the greatest trumpet players. The night kicked off at 7:30pm with a slideshow of pictures on loan from his family (who was in attendance as well), and then went flying into the first set. Each tune featured a different trumpet player, and it just kept getting better and better.

Highlights of the evening included hearing Eric Miyashiro, Wayne Bergeron, and the ever-talented vocalist Diane Schuur. The band was hot and swingin' and the finale included the grand-daddy of all Maynard tunes, "Rocky" complete with 23 trumpets screaming their way to the last note. The concert was professionally recorded, and it is definitely a DVD you'll want to own (all 3 1/2 hours of it!!). A fitting tribute to the man simply known as "The Boss."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hadn't heard much about him until coming to Truman and meeting a few brass players who had met him... All the jazzers from Iowa here are obsessed with him.