Move Over, Gabriel

A legend died yesterday. Jazz trumpeter Maynard Freguson died at age 78. He was the musician who hit the high notes in his recording of Gonna Fly Now, a hit version of the theme from the Rocky movies.

Maynard was an import from Canada who made his mark on the jazz world in the 50's and never stopped until the end. He was instrumental and influentuental in the Be-Bop and the West Coast jazz movements and was famous for being able to hit the high notes.

Personally, he blew me away.

The first time I heard him was on a record put out by the Emarcy Jazz Series called Stratospheric. Every song was consistently great but his version of Over the Rainbow haunts me to this day. In it, he presents a fairly straight forward version of the familiar song before drifting into a jazz rendition of its musical themes. Towards the end of the song he hits this note that is so high, and so pure, and holds it for so long, that I truly believed I would never hear anything as perfect again. And the next note was higher. It has blown me away every time I've ever heard it.

Miles Davis, a fellow trumpeter, once asked Maynard for some advice on hitting the high notes. Maynard told him his problem was in his legs. Miles looked at him and said, "Shee-it!" and walked away, thinking Maynard was goofing on him. Later, during a similar conversation, Maynard was able to explain that he meant you need a solid, balanced foundation to feed the torso, the source of the energy required to hit the higher register. Miles tried it and it worked.

Another time, Miles was with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker and he suggested that they all go down to Birdland to hear Maynard hit the high notes. This was genius recognizing genius.

My wife and I had the privilege of seeing Maynard Ferguson in concert in the early 90's. His masterful performance captivated the audience that night. No one walked away unchanged. We had very good seats near the front of the auditorium and we were able to see the sweat fly. That night I learned that this Giant who walked among Legends was merely a man. But the man was extraordinarily gifted and lived to entertain.

Maynard Ferguson was the last of the greats from an era that is now closed. He will be missed here on earth but someone close to him said yesterday, "Move over, Gabriel. You're second trumpet now."

A fitting tribute, indeed.