Maynard Ferguson: 1928-2006!

With your indulgence, I would like to deviate from my normal work just a moment to give honor to the man that was my all-time favorite musical performer. Believe it or not, there is a little bit of a boxing connection here.

Canadian-born jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson died today in Ventura, CA. He was 78. I probably saw Maynard live in concert more times than I've seen any other performer. I can count at least six times I ventured to his concerts and heard that beautiful trumpet hit the highest notes humanly possible.

I saw him at places like the Carter Barron Amphitheatre, Wolf Trap and Glenelg High School where he did annual concerts and gave seminars to the students in the jazz program there.

Born in Montreal, Maynard was maybe the last of the musicians of the big band era. He played in Jimmy Dorsey's band but became famous as the lead trumpet for Stan Kenton's band. He also played on the soundtrack of the movie "The Ten Commandments."

He formed his first band in 1956 and helped launch the careers of such major jazz artists as Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul as well as two more of my favorites; Chuck Mangione and Bob James.

In the 60's and 70's, he became noted for his arrangements of popular songs like "Hey Jude," "MacArthur Park" and Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon."

Now here comes the boxing connection. In 1978, Maynard became popular with the teenage and college crowd when he recorded a fantastic version of "Gonna Fly Now" -- the theme from Rocky. The song was a top 10 smash and earned Ferguson a gold album and a grammy nomination.

Maynard followed that with a version of the theme from Rocky II that included Sylvester Stallone himself on grunts and heavy bag punches.

I had the pleasure of meeting Maynard about three years ago in DC when he appeared at the Borders on 18th Street. He signed a video and a cd of his that I have. I don't get too excited about meeting celebrities but that was a night I'll never forget.

Thank you, Maynard for many, many wonderful moments.