Wednesday, May 30th - 9:00 am

(photos below)

How does one sum up the career, importance, influence, or the person as unique as Maynard Ferguson. A panel discussion led By Ed Sargent, paid tribute to the great Maynard who passed away in August, 2006. Contributors on the panel included Wayne Bergeron (started in the band 1986), Carl Fischer (started in 1993), and Patrick Hession (from 2000—Maynard’s last lead trumpet player), and Dan Potts, who helped with the video montage and historical information.  Maynard’s daughters, Lisa and Wilder were also in attendance.

Sargent began by emphasizing the importance Maynard placed on education. Of the band’s 200 concerts a year, 70% were for educational purposes. The audience was then treated to rare video footage. This showed a glimpse of Maynard’s artistry, soul, and love of music. The montage included a 1950 clip from the Ed Sullivan show while he was with Stan Kenton’s Band; 1959 with his own band; a view from the 1960s; and a 1976 view from the Summerfest in Milwaukee with his incredible performance of the Pagliacci prelude.

The floor was opened to questions for the panel. To open, the question was posed to the panel on how do they differ in their performance and preparation from that of Maynard. The panel agreed that Maynard was very unique but did incorporate a very musical approach to his performance. They also mentioned that Maynard was a human air compression machine! The video footage certainly affirmed that.

A question about mouthpiece size was posed.  Answers: WB: Marcinkiewicz Bobby Shew 1.5; CF: GR Technologies 3C. One further question was about the concern for health issues and the use of drugs/alcohol on the band and road time. Answers: PH: most of them knew how and when to take care of themselves best. CF: They knew how to get the job done on a professional level. By the way, No one drank on the bandstand. With the important educational component of the group, Sargent relayed that Maynard was aware of being a good role model for young people.

Dave Monette, maker of the horns and mouthpieces Maynard used later in his career, was introduced. Monette asked Sargent to relate funny and/or outrageous stories of life on the road—a couple hilarious stories definitely brought the house down with laughter.

Further video footage from the later days was shown beginning in 1975 and ending with a clip from Maynard’s performance at the Blue Note, July 2006, a month before he died. In this footage from the 1970s and 80s, Maynard demonstrated an incredible talent on the baritone and trombone, in addition to the fabulous trumpeting. One photo even showed him playing French horn. Also included was a short clip from the recording session of his last album, The One and Only Maynard Ferguson.

Before each concert Maynard closed his eyes, put his horn up close to his lips and said a prayer. Sargent finally summoned the courage to ask on what Maynard was meditating every night. Maynard replied with his nightly prayer: “May I be an instrument in your hands, an inspiration to my audience, and a joy to the people in the band.”

Jeff Piper, President of the ITG, presented the ITG Honorary Award—the highest award given by the ITG—to Maynard’s daughters. This award is given on behalf of the ITG Board of Directors and has included past recipients such as Miles Davis and Clifford Brown. Maynard’s daughter Wilder offered a personal tribute and Lisa read from Maynard’s own prayer book—a passage which, fortuitously enough, could also be a paean to his band.

A pictorial montage closed the tribute. The song Lost Horizons (written by Christian Jacob) from Maynard’s recently-released final album, The One and Only, was played amid a photographic history of his life. The session was a very fitting celebration of the phenomenal influence and inspiration Maynard was to trumpeters around the world. Wilder Ferguson simply summed it all up: “My dad is the greatest trumpet player in the world.”