Walter "Maynard" Ferguson (May 4, 1928–August 23, 2006) was a Canadian-born jazz trumpet player and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957. He was noted for being able to play accurately in a remarkably high register, and for his bands, which acted as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent.
He was born in Verdun, Quebec (now part of Montreal). Encouraged by his mother and father, Maynard was playing piano and violin by the age of four. At nine years old, he heard a cornet for the first time in his local church and asked his parents to purchase him one. He won a scholarship to the French Conservatory of Music where he received formal training and in 1941, at age thirteen, he soloed as a child prodigy with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra. During his teen years, he led a band in Montreal. In 1949, he moved to the United States in hopes of joining Stan Kenton's big band in New York City.
Ferguson began playing with Boyd Raeburn, Jimmy Dorsey, and Charlie Barnet. In 1950, Stan Kenton formed his new Innovations Orchestra in Los Angeles with Ferguson as his star attraction. After the Innovations experiment proved a commercial failure, Ferguson stayed in the Kenton organization through its shift back into touring as a jazz big band, although he was still too young to travel with the band, and was separately driven by his parents behind the band's bus.
After completing a historic run in July 2006 at the Blue Note in New York City, Ferguson died peacefully in the evening of August 23, 2006 at the Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California. He was 78 years old. His death was the result of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection. His four daughters, Kim, Lisa, Corby, and Wilder were at his side when he passed away after this brief illness. - Wikiedia
He played with some of the great Big Band Leaders of the 1940's including Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Barnett, Jimmy Dorsey and Stan Kenton. In 1945, at age 17, Ferguson became the leader of his own Big Band. The 78-year old musical phenomenon went on to record more than 60 albums, receiving numerous honors and awards including the GRAMMY® nomination for "Gonna Fly Now." In 2005, Ferguson was awarded Canada's highest civilian honor, the "Order of Canada" from the Right Honorable Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. In addition to those accolades, Ferguson has been the recipient of DownBeat Magazine's prestigious "DownBeat" Award. -
http://maynardferguson.com/Duke, the Count, Charlie Barnett, Stan Kenton, Diz - Nobody plays with all those guys unless he had some chops. For him to do so at such a young age is simply unbelievable. I doubt if JR or I will live to see another trumpet with that much talent and ability. One of the great things about him was his sharing of his gift with high school musicians all over.
