Chris Connor & Maynard Ferguson - Double Exposure (1961)

I've been waiting awhile to share this album due to the tracks I really wanted to explicate. I think that certain albums imply a season whether it be the album title or the tracks within. Double Exposure is one of two albums that vocalist Chris Connor and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson and his orchestra collaborated on in the early 1960s. What is unusual is that Connor was signed to Atlantic at the time, where Maynard was signed to Roulette at the time. In a rare move, the record companies agreed to the collaboration with the stipulation that one record would be released on Atlantic and one on Roulette. Double Exposure is the Atlantic release, where Two's Company is the Roulette release. In retrospect, I think Connor was one of the finest vocalists of her time. She didn't simply sing the song as written; she often takes interpretive and rhythmic liberties that really add a lot to the music. The album begins with the often recorded "Summertime." Even from the first track of the album, the listener can appreciate the aforementioned rhythmic liberties that Connor takes as she sings very lyrically in vast contrast to the punctuated accompaniment of the jazz orchestra. This track also shows how well Maynard can add energy to a piece with his high register trumpet playing. The following track, "I Only Have Eyes for You," is a great example of the quality of arrangers had in his ensemble. The ensemble playing in the space that vocalist Connor leaves is well executed, and the stylistic transitions throughout the track make it a real joy to answer. "It Never Entered My Mind" is a relaxed ballad notable for its atypical instrumentation of having the woodwinds double of flutes and clarinets. This addition combined with the muted trumpets and the closely-voiced trombones create a great texture for the vocalist. The following two tracks are interesting in that both have lyrics penned by poets. "Two Ladies in De Shade of De Banana Tree" has lyrics penned by Truman Capote and is an uptempo number with a lot of energy and more of Maynard strutting his stuff in the upper register joined often by his trumpet section. The rhythmic precision of the band throughout the track is quite remarkable. The next track "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" is the main reason why I waited to share this until April. My favorite track on the album, the lyrics were penned by poet Fran Landesman and the title is actually a "jazz rendition" of T.S. Eliot's "April is the Cruellest Month" from The Wasteland. This track is fantastic for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Connor's interpretation of the rhythms and the inflections in her voice really display a feeling for the lyrics. Secondly, the arranging is phenomenal. The generally unknown Willie Maiden uses clarinets, flutes, and a vibraphone to create a lot of distinct colors and textures that only make a great tune sound ever richer. "The Lonesome Road" is an interesting blues number, with a slow tempo beginning transitioning into the faster section with a prominent baritone sax bass line. My favorite part of this track are the few examples of word painting such as when Maynard delivers a high note foray after the lyric "Before Gabriel blows his horn." The tempo changes in this track are really what makes it great to listen to. The following track, a version of Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are" is another testament to the arranging genius of Willie Maiden. Maiden manages to quote the Kenton tune "Maynard Ferguson" in the arrangement after the double time section. The melodic precision in the double time section make this track one of the best on the album for showcasing the instrumental talent on the album. The track even ends with Maynard playing the French horn "Black Coffee" is a favorite blues standard of mine, and Connor does a great interpretation of the lyric. The sliding doits and powerful sections in the brass are testament to the other notable arranger in the Ferguson orchestra at the time, Don Sebesky, most known for his later work for CTI. "Happy New Year" is a strange tune that begins with a quote of "Auld Lang Syne," but ends the quote on a minor chord indicating a dualistic tune whose subject addresses sads individuals who are not enjoying the reverie of the New Year celebration. The album closes with "That's How It Went, All Right," which is a great medium tempo closer to an album. The contrast of the bands' punctuated rhythms and Connor's relaxed vocal style, in addition the building sections present a lot of the musical ideas that are present on the rest of album.

Stan Kenton - A Merry Christmas! (2003)

The original release of the material found on this album

This may have been released in 2003, but it is actually a composite album of a 1970 album Kenton's Christmas and a Roulette 45 of Maynard Ferguson's Birdland Dream Band playing "Christmas for Moderns." Changing the packaging for essentially one bonus track is a bit strange, but it is a welcome addition as the only other digital version that has been released is in the Mosaic The Complete Roulette Recording of the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra, which with prices now exceeding $1,500, it is a bit pricey. The conception of the Kenton part of the album is unusual for a big band, but not so much for Kenton. The instrumentation does not include saxophones, but rather adds mellophones for a brass band with rhythm section. Kenton wanted to only cover traditional Christmas songs, so there is no Kenton version of "Frosty the Snowman" or anything like that. Most all of the songs are well-conceived and have a chorale-like sound my favorites being "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Once in Royal David's City." There are sparse jazz elements interspersed with the chorale sound on tracks like "God Rest Ye Gentleman," but this is an album that shouldn't be evaluated on the terms of the standard big band, as it is more of a Third Stream effort. The bonus track, "Christmas for Moderns" is in stark contrast to the rest of the album. While, it has some of the same chorale style writing, the Willie Maiden chart has popular Christmas songs of the day mixed with traditional numbers, as well as having much more of a driving swing feeling. This is a great album for its classical sensibilities and its showcasing of the warm brass sonorities that remind many of us of past holiday seasons.

Maynard Ferguson - Conquistador (1977)

Definitely Maynard's most successful album even if critically it falls short. Maynard was not immune to Columbia's wishes to relinquish quite a bit of artistic control and "cross over" in order to sell more records. Conquistador has quite the star-studded cast from the studio players from people like George Benson and Bob James. Conquistador has a sound that was pretty synonymous with CTI Records in the early 70s and then duplicated by nearly every label by the middle of the decade. The album opens with Maynard's #28 hit "Gonna Fly Now," a high note excursion into the Rocky theme. The track showcases Maynard's command of the upper register, but in this reviewer's opinion it's not really tasteful. "Mister Mellow" is a track that showcases George Benson and is one of the stronger tracks on the album. Once you get past the background vocals, the track is a great solo vehicle for Benson and Maynard within a laidback funk groove. Interestingly enough, Maynard's solo utilizes much more of the lower register than most of the other album and consequently while it is on of the most "studio" tracks on the album, it's definitely one of the more genuine tracks. "Theme from Star Trek," is another attempt by Maynard to capitalize on the pop culture on his time. That being said, this track showcases Maynard's control of his instrument much more so than "Gonna Fly Now," due to the fact that he plays the entirely melody not just a solo. This is especially apparent when he plays "whistle tones" at the close of the song when the track is fading out. "Conquistador," the title track of the album is a collaboration between Maynard and Jay Chattaway. This track is not as Spanish sounding as Sketches of Spain or even some tracks on Maynard's Carnival album, but it is an interesting mixing of the aria style of trumpet playing Maynard is associated with at this point in his career and funk elements. It's hard not to get past the period sound of this particular track, maybe even more so than some of the novelty material on the album. "Soar Like an Eagle" is a Bob James tune that features the author and Maynard. I have similar opinions on this track as I did "Mister Mellow." It may have elements indicative of the period such as heavy electronics and studio orchestra accompaniment, but it is one of the more jazz oriented tracks. I for one think that the color of the synthesizer mixed with the flute is very interesting. James takes a memorable solo on the Fender Rhodes after Maynard's foray into the high register, which breaks up the solos on the track. "The Fly" is really the only uptempo track on the whole album and is a great close the album. The accented unison sax melody over the funky bass groove is picked up by the ensemble and then leads into an "aria-like" solo by Maynard. This track gets its name most likely from the "fly-like" synthesizer sound which was most likely the work of Bob James. This album is interesting for its melding of the big band with some of the electronic and studio sounds of the day, but I wouldn't say it was the highlight of Maynard's career. Sure, it was his most financially successful period, but critically speaking his Roulette material from the 1950s is far superior as jazz music.

Maynard Ferguson - Chameleon (1974)

This album has a lot of personal history for me as it was the first jazz album (even though it's crossover jazz) I ever listened to. Consequently it's also the album I listened to when I realized I wanted to pursue music as a career. I would never say that Maynard's 70s material is his finest work, but it is accessible. This album is really the last before Maynard totally embraced disco and in turn commercialism in the late 70s with Conquistador. The opening title track "Chameleon" is a great take on the Herbie Hancock classic that came out earlier that year on Head Hunters. One of the highlights of the album is the following track "Gospel John," a Jeff Steinberg tune famous for its intro that reminds the listener of a preacher. "Gospel John" is also noteworthy for showcasing Maynard as a multi-instrumentalist as he plays the melody following the intro on baritone. The Randy Purcell arranged "The Way We Were" features his fine lyrical trombone work, but also shows his ability as an arranger incorporating a variety of textures and colors in his backgrounds. "La Fiesta" is a track Maynard borrowed from band alumnus Chick Corea is also one of the highlights of the album. The Rhodes piano and the horn lines sound like jazzed-up mariachis, but through the rhythmic shifts the band changes its feel to a more straight-forward jazz feel. "La Fiesta" is truly a great arrangement for its incorporation of Latin elements while maintaining a big band rhythmic feel. The last two tracks are noteworthy because Ferguson typically incorporated at least one tune into his albums that was from an earlier time or sounds like it should be. The Gershwin/Duke tune "I Can't Get Started" was made famous by Bunny Berigan in 1937 and Maynard like so many other trumpet players feels the need to record the song. Ferguson's version is different in that many of the words are altered. For instance, "Stan Kenton made me a star" shows personal history, but there's just the plain humorous lines like "I was invited to tea by the queen/Linda Lovelace." The final track and final highlight of the album is "Superbone Meets the Bad Man" an uptempo bop tune that gets its name from the instrument Maynard is playing and baritone saxophonist Bruce Johnstone's nickname. The Superbone is a combination slide/valve trombone designed by Maynard and played by himself and Don Ellis in the mid-to-late 1970s. While Maynard definitely sticks more to the valves than the slide, he and Johnstone produce some magnificent solos and a great close to an album.

Maynard Ferguson - A Message from Birdland (1960)

From the first thirty seconds of the album where Maynard's unmistakable voice can be heard counting off an arrangement of Sonny Rollin's "Oleo" to the first notes of the unison melody, the listener can be sure that this a fantastic album. About half of this album is original material, while the other material is stuff of the day in addition to charts from Maynard's past. One such chart "Stella by Starlight" was probably introduced to Maynard during his days with Stan Kenton. Fans of the 70s "Disco Maynard" may have a hard time enjoying this, but nonetheless this is the period of his best material. Normally I would preface this statement with "in my own opinion," but this is undoubtedly his best material. This is the era of Maynard playing beautiful melodies in the high register with actual taste. Sure it didn't give chart toppers or commercial appeal, but it doesn't rely solely on his ability to play high notes with "kiss-offs." It is also important to mention that Maynard's tradition of having great musical arrangers that he referred to as musical directors began. Willie Maiden is a relatively unknown person in jazz history, yet his arrangements and original material on "Back in the Satellite Again" and "Three More Foxes" is of the highest quality. It is a shame that Maiden is not a more well known figure or that he died at the early age of 48 in 1976 and did not have a chance to make a bigger name for himself. There's also a fantastic arranger and performer in Slide Hampton whose contribution "The Mark of Jazz" is definitely one of the highlights of the album showing off the virtuosity of both himself and Maynard. Even with the high quality of the album, its hard to believe its live. To the nearly inaudible note in "Blue Birdland," this album almost sounds too good to be live.