In May, June and July, four new Maynard Ferguson clips were posted at YouTube. Three feature Ferguson on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in Toronto between the mid-1960s and 1971. I apologize in advance for the time bar that ticks away in the center of several of them, but the footage is worth hearing if not seeing. A fourth was The World of Maynard Ferguson, a TV show recorded in London in 1970 just as adult males began embracing colorful youthful styles they scorned a few years earlier. A special thanks to Rick Megahan for finding these.
Without further ado, here we go:
Here's 25 minutes with Maynard Ferguson's band and guest singer Joe Williams...
Here's 27 minutes of Ferguson during the same period—on the CBC's Jack Kane Hour, Ferguson leading the Kane band on another program, and Ferguson briefly on a third jazz show...
Here's an hour of Ferguson and a dynamite big band comprised of British musicians in London in 1970, at the start of Ferguson's groovy mid-life crisis. Also featured are vocalists Jon Hendricks and Sylvia McNeill (in fashion crises of their own), who rips through Joni Mitchell's Chelsea Morning to a virtually emotionless TV audience of seemingly perplexed young people. A surreal hour but worth the acid-reflux trip, in particular the fiery Fox Hunt. The band featured Ferguson with Ernie Garside, Martin Drover, John Huckeridge and John Donnelly (tp); Adrian Drover, Al Wood, Chris Pyne and Billy Graham (tb); Peter King, Danny Moss, Brian Smith, Bob Watson and John Holbrooke (saxes); Peter Jackson (p), George Kish (g), Dave Lynane (b), Randy Jones (d) and Ray Cooper (perc). Arrangements were by Keith Mansfield, Sam Harding, Tommy Watt, Mike Abene, Adrian Drover, Slide Hampton and Don Sebesky...
In Toronto in December 1971, the Rob McConnell Big Band was at the CBC's Jarvis Street studios to perform on the TV show In the Mood. Fronting the band was Ferguson. The 27-minute show features five songs plus an on-camera interview.
Here's the clip—but note that the video cannot be embedded at JazzWax, so just click on the "Watch the Video" link in the black box below...
