Maynard Ferguson dies at age of 78
Trumpeter Walter 'Maynard' Ferguson died on Wednesday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura - California. He was 78. Ferguson's death was the result of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection. Trumpeter Walter 'Maynard' Ferguson died on Wednesday at Community
Memorial Hospital in Ventura - California. He was 78. Ferguson's death
was the result of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal
infection.
A widely popular and acclaimed musician, Ferguson had recently returned
to his California home from New York where he performed at the Blue
Note club. While on the East Coast, Ferguson and his Big Bop Nouveau
band recorded a new album in New Jersey.
Born in Verdun, Canada, Ferguson studied at Montreal's French
Conservatory. He worked with such bandleaders as Charlie Barnet in the
late 1940s, and then received greater attention as a sideman for Stan
Kenton in the early 1950s. Ferguson's facility for his unique style of
hitting high notes made him highly valued when he set out on his own in
1953. In 1957, the trumpeter began leading his own big band and
maintained that format, although economic circurmstances occasionally
caused him to scale back to smaller combos.
During the 1970s, Ferguson received popular success for his theme song
from the film Rocky. Yet he never coasted on such rewards, as he
expanded his proficiency to the french horn, trombone, euphonium, and
his own hybrid trumpet invention. Sometimes Ferguson would play them
all during a single set.
Ferguson's music is very popular in drum corps. His music is played by
many corps like The Cadets, Blue Devils, Cavaliers, Colts,
Velvet Knights, and Bluecoats. Many European corps played his music
too, like Beatrix (1990), Wölper Löwen (1998), and 6th Hove Scouts
(2005). (Source: downbeat.com)
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