By Jack Bowers
In August 2005, when Maynard Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau recorded MF Horn VI at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, no one could have known or even suspected that the trumpet legend would pass away one year later, shortly after a series of sold-out concerts at New York City’s Blue Note nightclub and another recording session with BBN, this one a studio date in Englewood, New Jersey.
There’s a saying about cowboys and westerners who lived life to the fullest that “they died with their boots on.” Maynard Ferguson died almost literally with his horn to his lips, which is quite appropriate, as that’s how several generations of jazz fans remember him, exuberantly leading a band while producing those incredible high notes that were not only his signature but placed him among trumpet players in a class by himself.
By the time MF Horn VI, his first live album in a dozen years, was recorded the high notes were few and far between, as Maynard let the youngsters in his band do much of the heavy lifting, but he was then 77 years old, and certainly entitled to a breather. He was smart and affluent enough to hire the best up-and-coming sidemen he could find, and modest enough to realize that people no longer expected him to shatter glass but were happy to see and hear a showman who so clearly loved what he was doing and always gave them their money’s worth in terms of decibels and excitement.
There are some talented newcomers in this edition of BBN and a few holdovers including trombonist/music director Reggie Watkins and lead trumpeter Patrick Hession. There’s even a distinguished alumnus, Denis DiBlasio, sitting in on baritone sax. One of the newbies, pianist Jeff Lashway, is a real find, while veteran drummer Stockton Helbing continues his steady improvement.
After “Blue Birdland” ushers Maynard onstage, the well-structured program opens with Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema” and closes with the mandatory “MF Hit Medley” (at 11:47 the album’s second-longest track). Sandwiched between them are Slide Hampton’s classic “Frame for the Blues,” the lovely Johnny Burke / Jimmy van Heusen ballad “But Beautiful” (on which Maynard is featured most prominently), Miles Davis’ fire-breathing “Milestones,” Jerome Kern/Johnny Mercer’s “I’m Old Fashioned” (featuring a dazzling four- minute intro by Lashway on which he quotes liberally from the Gershwins’ “A Foggy Day”), and a grungy Alan Baylock original, “Blues from Around Here,” on which DiBlasio unleashes his remarkable chops on the bari and wows the audience with his Clark Terry-style scat-singing.
While DiBlasio alone is worth the price of admission, there’s far more to be appreciated, not least of which is the fact that the young musicians in BBN are first-class and that their peerless leader knew how to please an audience. To the very end, Maynard Ferguson was an awe-inspiring presence, and no less so here.
Track listing: Blue Birdland; The Girl from Ipanema; Frame for the Blues; But Beautiful; Milestones; I’m Old Fashioned; Blues from Around Here; MF Hit Medley; Blue Birdland (73:40).
Personnel: Maynard Ferguson: trumpet, leader; Reggie Watkins: trombone, music director; Patrick Hession, Ernie Hammes, Peter Ferguson: trumpet; Julio Monterrey: alto sax; Matt Parker: tenor sax; Denis DiBlasio: baritone sax; Jeff Lashway: piano; Craig Butterfield: bass; Stockton Helbing: drums.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
MARCUS BELGRAVE: What a wonderful show it will be
By Zach Hanner, Star-News Correspondent
If you close your eyes for a second, you'll undoubtedly mistake the voice of jazz trumpet legend Marcus Belgrave for the man whose music he pays tribute to, the masterful Louis Armstrong. Since his teens, Belgrave has been a consummate pro, influenced by Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and numerous other horn blowers.
Currently residing in Detroit, where he has performed on dozens of Motown hits, Belgrave hits the road frequently with his partner-in-crime, Charlie Gabriel, bringing the sounds of Louis Armstrong to modern audiences with their tribute show. They'll perform twice in the area this week: Jan. 11 at Odell Williamson Auditorium on the campus of Brunswick Community College in Supply, and Jan. 14 at Thalian Hall in Wilmington.
Currents caught up with Belgrave as he prepared to bring his eight-piece band to the area.
How did you get interested in music? The bugle was the first instrument that I blew. I was 4 years old. My father was a musician and he played in a marching band that would gather around in a local park and they would leave their instruments out lying around. I figured I chose the trumpet because it was the smallest one available.
What was your first professional gig? I was 19 years old when I joined Ray Charles' band. I was in the service in Wichita Falls, Texas; he was coming through there. I got a chance to sit in with him there, but I didn't get the gig at that point. A month later, he came through my hometown of Chester, Penn. He played at a place called the Harlem Club and one of his trumpet players told me he was leaving the tour. I had left with some friends to see Max Roach in Philadelphia, and when I got home this lady at the club told me they had been looking for me all night. Ray asked me if I could be ready to leave in an hour and I was.
What are your earliest memories of Louis Armstrong's music? My father loved Louis Armstrong. I first remember hearing him when I was just a little kid, but I wasn't affected by him until I was maybe 10 years old. I heard the tune When It's Sleepy Time Down South, and it brought tears to my eyes.
How did Armstrong's music affect your growth as a musician? Louis Armstrong helped me develop as an artist not only because of his playing but also because of his singing. At the time, I wanted to play bebop, so I put Armstrong's style of music on the back burner. But he was always a big influence on me as a performer. Later on in my life, people would always tell me that I sounded like him. I guess I had that same frogginess in my voice. I didn't hear it but so many people told me that I should sing his songs that I finally broke down.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it's poignant that you're bringing one of New Orleans' most beloved musician's sounds to the world again. New Orleans is jazz. It's the birthplace of that music in America. The musicians that come out of that city are simply supreme. The reason for that is that New Orleans is music all day, every day. From birth until death life is celebrated with music. It combines African traditions, Portuguese and French traditions and it's simply the most beautiful melting pot in America. It's really the greatest American city, but sometimes it doesn't seem like you're in America.
What is it about the music of Louis Armstrong that makes it continue to resonate with audiences decades after his passing? His tunes are just so joyful. I really enjoy them so much and, if I'm lucky, sometimes Louis comes and visits me. Sometimes I'm singing and I hear his voice back at me and I think it's him.
Wilmington Morning Star - Wilmington,NC,USA
Currents: 343-2343
currents.wilmington@starnewsonline.com
If you close your eyes for a second, you'll undoubtedly mistake the voice of jazz trumpet legend Marcus Belgrave for the man whose music he pays tribute to, the masterful Louis Armstrong. Since his teens, Belgrave has been a consummate pro, influenced by Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and numerous other horn blowers.
Currently residing in Detroit, where he has performed on dozens of Motown hits, Belgrave hits the road frequently with his partner-in-crime, Charlie Gabriel, bringing the sounds of Louis Armstrong to modern audiences with their tribute show. They'll perform twice in the area this week: Jan. 11 at Odell Williamson Auditorium on the campus of Brunswick Community College in Supply, and Jan. 14 at Thalian Hall in Wilmington.
Currents caught up with Belgrave as he prepared to bring his eight-piece band to the area.
How did you get interested in music? The bugle was the first instrument that I blew. I was 4 years old. My father was a musician and he played in a marching band that would gather around in a local park and they would leave their instruments out lying around. I figured I chose the trumpet because it was the smallest one available.
What was your first professional gig? I was 19 years old when I joined Ray Charles' band. I was in the service in Wichita Falls, Texas; he was coming through there. I got a chance to sit in with him there, but I didn't get the gig at that point. A month later, he came through my hometown of Chester, Penn. He played at a place called the Harlem Club and one of his trumpet players told me he was leaving the tour. I had left with some friends to see Max Roach in Philadelphia, and when I got home this lady at the club told me they had been looking for me all night. Ray asked me if I could be ready to leave in an hour and I was.
What are your earliest memories of Louis Armstrong's music? My father loved Louis Armstrong. I first remember hearing him when I was just a little kid, but I wasn't affected by him until I was maybe 10 years old. I heard the tune When It's Sleepy Time Down South, and it brought tears to my eyes.
How did Armstrong's music affect your growth as a musician? Louis Armstrong helped me develop as an artist not only because of his playing but also because of his singing. At the time, I wanted to play bebop, so I put Armstrong's style of music on the back burner. But he was always a big influence on me as a performer. Later on in my life, people would always tell me that I sounded like him. I guess I had that same frogginess in my voice. I didn't hear it but so many people told me that I should sing his songs that I finally broke down.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it's poignant that you're bringing one of New Orleans' most beloved musician's sounds to the world again. New Orleans is jazz. It's the birthplace of that music in America. The musicians that come out of that city are simply supreme. The reason for that is that New Orleans is music all day, every day. From birth until death life is celebrated with music. It combines African traditions, Portuguese and French traditions and it's simply the most beautiful melting pot in America. It's really the greatest American city, but sometimes it doesn't seem like you're in America.
What is it about the music of Louis Armstrong that makes it continue to resonate with audiences decades after his passing? His tunes are just so joyful. I really enjoy them so much and, if I'm lucky, sometimes Louis comes and visits me. Sometimes I'm singing and I hear his voice back at me and I think it's him.
Wilmington Morning Star - Wilmington,NC,USA
Currents: 343-2343
currents.wilmington@starnewsonline.com
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
WCU hosts trumpet festival
Smokey Mountain News - Trumpet players from across the United States will converge at Western Carolina University for the Fifth Annual WCU Trumpet Festival, with several free performances throughout the Jan. 12-14 weekend, including a mass ensemble expected to top 100 musicians on stage at one time.
The festival has become the largest of its kind in the United States, and last year’s event brought to campus participants from 13 states and Canada, said Brad Ulrich, professor of music and festival organizer.
“This year’s event promises to be even bigger than the previous four,” said Ulrich. “The WCU Trumpet Festival has gained so much attention lately that the International Trumpet Guild, with a membership base of nearly 7,000 trumpet players from around the world, has become one of our official sponsors this year.”
Headlining the festival are internationally famous jazz trumpet artist Randy Brecker, who will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, in the Fine and Performing Arts Center, and classical trumpet artist Vladislav Lavrik, principal trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, who will perform in the Coulter Building recital hall at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13.
Brecker has been shaping the sound of jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll for more than three decades, Ulrich said, and his trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by artists ranging from James Taylor to Frank Zappa.
Lavrik is known as one of the most outstanding trumpeters of his generation in both the classical and jazz performance styles, Ulrich said. Born in the Ukraine in 1980, he was twice the winner of the Dokshitzer Competition of Young Trumpeters, and in 1994 won the Classical Heritage International Competition in Moscow.
In addition to their performances, Brecker and Lavrik will be leading clinics designed to provide festival participants an opportunity to learn tricks of the trade from master performers, Ulrich said.
Three university trumpet professors also will be offering their skills as conductors and clinicians: Ramon Vasquez of Auburn University, Gary Malvern of Furman University and Mark Clodfelter of the University of Kentucky. Clodfelter also will conduct a large trumpet ensemble made up of all festival participants at 5 p.m. Jan. 13 in the Coulter recital hall. Last year’s ensemble had 110 trumpet players performing simultaneously.
All concerts are open to the public free of charge. For more information contact Ulrich at 828.227.3274.
The festival has become the largest of its kind in the United States, and last year’s event brought to campus participants from 13 states and Canada, said Brad Ulrich, professor of music and festival organizer.
“This year’s event promises to be even bigger than the previous four,” said Ulrich. “The WCU Trumpet Festival has gained so much attention lately that the International Trumpet Guild, with a membership base of nearly 7,000 trumpet players from around the world, has become one of our official sponsors this year.”
Headlining the festival are internationally famous jazz trumpet artist Randy Brecker, who will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12, in the Fine and Performing Arts Center, and classical trumpet artist Vladislav Lavrik, principal trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra in Moscow, who will perform in the Coulter Building recital hall at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 13.
Brecker has been shaping the sound of jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock ‘n’ roll for more than three decades, Ulrich said, and his trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by artists ranging from James Taylor to Frank Zappa.
Lavrik is known as one of the most outstanding trumpeters of his generation in both the classical and jazz performance styles, Ulrich said. Born in the Ukraine in 1980, he was twice the winner of the Dokshitzer Competition of Young Trumpeters, and in 1994 won the Classical Heritage International Competition in Moscow.
In addition to their performances, Brecker and Lavrik will be leading clinics designed to provide festival participants an opportunity to learn tricks of the trade from master performers, Ulrich said.
Three university trumpet professors also will be offering their skills as conductors and clinicians: Ramon Vasquez of Auburn University, Gary Malvern of Furman University and Mark Clodfelter of the University of Kentucky. Clodfelter also will conduct a large trumpet ensemble made up of all festival participants at 5 p.m. Jan. 13 in the Coulter recital hall. Last year’s ensemble had 110 trumpet players performing simultaneously.
All concerts are open to the public free of charge. For more information contact Ulrich at 828.227.3274.