This was the Maynard Ferguson Band live in Austin, TX. in 1974. A friend of mine gave me the tape he had recorded from his portable tape deck in 1974 at the concert. This was MacArthur Park, and I did some editing to keep it shorter in length. This tune was played as the closer of the 1st half. Lynn Nicholson was playing part of the solo part for Maynard that night.
Our museum is sponsoring this concert next month at Austin College. It should be a great concert, and part of the Community Series 50th Anniversary year celebration. To buy tickets: http://communityseries.org/home
This is a song from the very first annual lab band record at North Texas, Lab’67. The band sight read an an original composition in the studio. Leon Breeden felt that music students were harmed by playing only a few pieces of music each year to take to contest. He thought this 48 years ago, and he was, and is in the minority of music educators to think this way. Considering he was in charge of the top stage band in the country, you would think more educators would have listened to him. One of the major reasons I made the One O’Clock Lab band my first semester up there was that I could read music well. It didn’t matter how many first divisions my high school band had been awarded. It was all about me, and my skills. I was prepared for college, and too many students aren’t, who come from very good band programs. Leon Breeden may have been right 48 years ago.
After doing the Carnival cornet album with “Moto Perpetuo” on it in 1987, Wynton must have decided to record a jazz equlivent. This is “Cherokee” with only Wynton doing the solo. Six and a half straight minutes of playing and improvising at a fast tempo, two, or three years after the Carnival album. Instead of reading fast sixteenth notes for almost five minutes, why not create your own composition while you play? It makes it a different challenge. Add the creative element to the mix, and you get jazz.
In the liner notes of this boxed set of CDs, Wynton says he thinks this is some of his best playing. The speed at which the creative ideas are coming out of his head is alarming to me. There’s not enough time to think and execute at this speed–it has to be an automatic system working that I have heard other great jazz players talk about.
No time to think, just let it go and watch what comes out. Most of us, including me, have no idea of what that feels like. It also has to make sense within the chord changes, and be more than just random notes coming out. This performance is trumpet at a level the jazz world has never heard before.
I think Wynton is constantly looking for new challenges, and trying to make a statement. He is making the case that he is the best all-around trumpet player ever. Until a great classical trumpet player puts out a recording like this, he has a good case.