[TPIN] Maynard

[Eric M. Berlin]

Dear friends,

The message that I received this morning hit me like a ton of bricks 
and nearly brought me to tears. I guess I just assumed that he would 
be out there forever playing for every new generation. What a 
terrible shame that it had to end. From my earliest days, Maynard has 
always been one of my biggest heroes. I remember when my uncle gave 
me my first Maynard album. The album "Hot" was strange to me as a 
elementary school kid, but that playing intrigued me enough to make 
me look for everything of Maynard's that I could get my hands on. In 
college I found a used record store in Boston (Looney Tunes by 
Berklee) and was able to find the precious early stuff with Kenton 
and his early band that had eluded me. Maynard now occupies more 
space on my record shelf than any single artist. I am listening to MF 
Horn II in tribute as I write this and am reminded how many times 
listening to him inspired me to practice or go for it just one more 
time. How many of us had a walkman playing Maynard before a concert? 
I sure did! I remember my whole high school marching band getting 
fired up in the bus before competitions to my boombox blaring Primal 
Scream, Conquistador, Chameleon etc.

Has there ever been an better model for fearless playing on the 
trumpet? And what a physical talent on the horn! I believe that 
Arnold Jacobs once said that Maynard Ferguson was the greatest brass 
player alive. If you watch that old video of him on the Ed Sullivan 
Show with Stan Kenton, you will see what appears to be in human 
playing. Live and in person, even in his later years, the ease with 
which he approached the upper register was astounding. For the 
countless hours of enjoyment and inspiration he has given me, I can 
not thank him enough.

I think it is important that people are aware that his contribution 
has not gone unnoticed.  Last spring I nominated Maynard for the ITG 
Honorary Award and the ITG Board voted to approve it at the last 
conference. From the ITG site: "The ITG Honorary Award will be given 
to those individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the 
art of trumpet playing."  This award was well deserved and I only 
wish he could hear the deafening ovation at its presentation. In May 
of 2007, I will be hosting the ITG conference at UMASS. I was working 
with his management to have Maynard and his band play at the 
conference in addition to accepting the award there. To pay tribute 
to him at the conference would have been a fitting gift for a man who 
has given us his heart and soul through performance and education. I 
am so sorry that it will not come to pass. If anyone from any of 
Maynard's bands would like to participate in a tribute, please 
contact me off list at berlin at music.umass.edu.

Maynard is probably at this moment giving Gabriel a heart attack in 
the great beyond and that just makes me smile. ;-)

Au Revoir Maynard, we will miss you.

Eric Berlin


Eric M. Berlin
Yamaha Performing Artist
Artist - Teacher of Trumpet, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Host of  the 2007 International Trumpet Guild Conference (May 29 - June 2)
Principal Trumpet - Albany Symphony
Majestic Brass Quintet http://www.majesticbrass.com