Greg, you're a goofy funny guy! 
thanks for all the jokes in the water cooler!
thanks for all the jokes in the water cooler!
Road Stories - Continued
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 MusicGuy |
I was on the band once! | ||
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Posts: 536 (03/20/08 11:47 AM) |
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Dave Luepke |
Road Stories | ||
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Posts: 1743 (03/24/08 07:31 PM) |
Technically, this isn't a road story. I'm just a fan.
I hadn't seen Maynard live in YEARS. But in early '04, I went to see him in Plano, TX, and took along my old MF Horn album. The band was great! Ed was doing some cool stuff with the lights, Stockton played his a$$ off on a solo, and the trumpets came out in the aisles for (if I remember right) Hey Jude. After the concert, I went over to the promo table where Ed was, showed him the album, and asked if Maynard would sign it. Apparently, MF had already left the building and wasn't doing autographs that night. But the look on Ed's face when I showed him that old album was priceless!! Dave www.youramerica.net |
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MF Horn 6 |
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Posts: 1336 (03/29/08 09:07 PM) |
Please, I hope this hasn't died! I check this every day look forward to more stories.
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DiBlasio |
More Stories | ||
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Posts: 129 (04/02/08 05:02 AM) |
Sorry for the lapse.
I have a few more stories I think Boss wouldn't mind being posted. Just swamped with teaching school, life and other things. A few more will be coming soon. DDB |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 90 - SaSyMee Street | ||
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Posts: 130 (04/02/08 01:15 PM) |
Boss wanted an arrangement of a tune everybody knew. he wasn't specific just a song everybody in the world knew. What could it be? a Christmas tune? Happy
Birthday? What?? So Wiest and I are in our hotel room and what comes on TV? Sesame Street. I heard the tune and remembered a recording of Oscar Peterson and
Singers Unlimited doing the tune as a shuffle. I always thought it was cool. So I wrote it up.
Now the chart is an ok chart, not anything great. What makes it fun is the fact its the tune from the show. I thought, Hey everybody knows that tune. If you were a kid or had kids you heard that thing. So we play the chart and it goes down pretty easy. The guys like it and I know the crowd will dig it because of the tune and Boss will do his thing on it and really sell it. After the band reads it at rehearsal Boss turns to me and asks "What's this tune called?", "Sesame Street" I said. "What?" Boss asks. "Sesame Street" I said. "What's that?" Boss asks. "The show." I said. "Who?" Asks Boss. "The show Boss, you know Sesame Street the kids show." 'Ahmm......yeah" He said. "We'll look at this later" Boss said. Oh man the death blow for a chart! I couldn't figure it out because the chart went down really easy. Hmmmm Well come to find out when Boss's kids were growing up he was in Europe traveling around. He never saw the show!! I wrote Sesame Street for the only person in the world that never heard it! Crap I thought! I could have never called that one. So a few weeks go by and we do a gig where there is a drum and bugle corp in the front row. Boss liked that because he knew they would always give us a standing ovation and standing ovations go from the front of the auditorium to the back better than back to front. We were golden. So during the show I tell Boss during someone's solo "Boss this crowd is perfect for Sesame Street that chart I wrote. You could tell he felt uncomfortable about it. "Boss trust me it will go over great" You could see Boss thinking it through....well he finally said yes and we did it. the crowd was on their feet as soon as we hit the theme. It was like playing for a bunch of happy drunks, they loved it. When the chart was over everyone was on their feet. Boss had to back announce the chart, as everyone was screaming Boss turned to me and asks loudly "What's the name of this chart?" "Sesame Street" I yelled. Well he didn't hear me right and turned to the crowd and said "That was SaSyMee Street". What!!! Sasymee Street! What the hell is SaSyMee Street?! I thought. Anyway the chart stayed in the book after that and Boss eventually recorded it. About a month into playing the chart the phone rang in the hotel room I picked it up and it was Boss. "Turn on channel 14 right now!!!" He yelled. We turned it on and it was Sesame Street. Boss was so exited he thought he discovered it. The number on the show was something like 2876 or something. Man I miss that guy DDB |
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YAHOOROGER |
MF Story 90 | ||
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Posts: 430 (04/02/08 06:39 PM) |
Cool story! R.
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Bluebirdland |
Sesame Street | ||
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Posts: 21 (04/02/08 10:06 PM) |
I am still laughing about that one. I was thinking today about seeing Maynard in Seattle a few years ago. The band was on the stage playing the intro. music
and I had the last open seat in the place at the end of the bar. I was looking right into a small hallway next to the end of the bar. Maynard walked to the
end of the hall and was looking right at me. I was the only one that saw him. For about ten seconds the band was playing, Maynard began to sway and then
march in beat to the music ( pumping himself up). He gave me a killer grin right as they were announcing his name and he walked through the crowd to the
stage. I have several pictures, videos, and dvd's of Maynard performing over the years but I would give them all up just to share another moment like that
with him again.
"Life is an interesting place for those who choose to live it" I miss you Boss !!!! |
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MelissaFRG |
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Posts: 1405 (04/03/08 05:21 PM) |
Wow Bluebirdland! What a moment! Lucky guy!
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 91 - Boss, Freddie and Rocky | ||
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Posts: 131 (04/04/08 03:04 PM) |
The U Tube of BeBoip Buffet was from a festival we did in Japan. Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Al Foster, Eddie Gomez, the group Stuff and some others where
there. At a sit down interview with everyone, Freddie came around behind Boss (who was sitting at the table) and gave Boss a big hug from behind and said
"Hey Maynard how about writing me one of those Rocky numbers". They both had a good laugh. They really liked each other. It was a cool moment. DDB
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UpperRegister |
Regarding Japan Concert | ||
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Posts: 2041 (04/04/08 04:06 PM) |
Denis that looked like an extremely hot day that you played that outside concert by the look of the Boss's shirt.
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 92 - Cannonball and the Old Man cough | ||
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Posts: 132 (04/04/08 04:28 PM) |
Front of the Bus story.
Boss told me that while rehearsing his band at Birdland while they were palying opposite Miles, Trane and Cannonbal. Cannonball was hanging around the club at the afternoon rehearsal. Boss was running Blue Birdland. There's a quarter note on beat one that gets an attack and a short fall. As Boss was trying to get the phrasing right Cannonball says, "It supposed to sound like an old man coughing". The band lost it but it was the perfect thing to say. The old timers had a lot of analogies and tricks to describe articulations and feels. Pretty interesting stuff. Clark Terry would describe a jazz waltz by saying" You parked the car, she parked the car, you parked the car, she parked the car." Good stuff DDB |
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RhythmDoctor |
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Posts: 1573 (04/04/08 10:33 PM) |
Whenever I think of Clark I always remember how he told us to go "daydle deedle dyedle doedle doodle." Listen closely to his solos and you can hear
that articulation.
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 93 - Boss talk at Commencement????? | ||
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Posts: 134 (04/05/08 08:15 AM) |
It took two years to get the Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz at Rowan. Countless meetings with great people but some didn't know anything about Boss.
Some thought he was a millionaire who would give the school a fortune, others thought he played clarinet. As much as he means to all of us there are many who
don't follow the jazz world and know nothing about what it is we love. Nothing new there I was ready for it. When it finally passed they wanted to know if
he would speak at commencement after he received his only doctorate.
WHAT?!?!? Oh Man can you imagine that?! Boss speaking at any commencement had a potential to be ......interesting. It would either be great or he would drift (which is what I feared if it happened). I could see him start on education drifting to Stan Kenton to his dog Leo to his chops to a great restaurant in Buffalo to how a snake bit his toe. It could have been historic. Luckily the band was booked for that date so I dodged a bullet. it would have been interesting though. DDB [Denis - I cleaned things up by deleting your duplicate entry. Thanks for your fantastic contributions here!]
Last Edited By: Moderator003
04/05/08 11:05 AM.
Edited 1 times.
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trumpetplayer4life |
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Posts: 263 (04/05/08 02:18 PM) |
what about how making the albums Conquistador, Primal Scream, and other album became a success?
How the Big Bop Nouveau was born? |
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DiBlasio |
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Posts: 136 (04/05/08 03:52 PM) |
Those recordings were before my time with Boss and BB Nouveau was after.
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 94 - Restaurants | ||
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Posts: 137 (04/08/08 09:25 AM) |
Being on the road all his life, Boss knew every nook and cranny in every state where he could call up a great restaurant. It could be great food, junk food,
whatever. He always said that he should write a book about it. He should have because every place we went he not only knew a great place but the owner, or the
name of the chef, or a story about what happened there last time he ate there.
As best as I can recall here is what little I remember. This list doesn't do justice but here goes. San Francisco - Scomas' (Italian Seafood) Buffalo - Anchor Bar (Hot Wings) - Ted's Hot Dogs (When going into Canada) Philadelphia - Pat's Steaks (Cheese-steaks)- Bookbinders (Seafood) Chicago - Gaylord's (Indian food) New York - Too many to mention Boston - Chowder Pot - Had other fav's but I can't recall them all. Too many. Newburgh, New York - Some great out of the way seafood place whose name I can't recall Also there was a rib place (which I forgot the name of) down south somewhere. I remember you traveled through this backwoods dirt road to a big metal shack type place. Sawdust on the floor. Signed pictures on the walls of all the NASCAR drivers. You could only order a whole or half rack of ribs. Thats all. Plus you got a half a loaf of Wonder Bread. I think they had orange soda or water to drink. The ribs would knock your teeth out they were so good. Man they were the best ribs and I can't remember the name to save my life!! Like I said, I too many left out. I can't remember them all. Boss had a place for literally every town. Would have been a great book. DDB |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 95 - Boss and Duke | ||
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Posts: 138 (04/08/08 11:58 AM) |
I saw in another thread someone mentioned Boss playing with Duke.
In a front of the bus story I asked Boss about Duke. As I remember it Boss sat in Duke's band once when Cat Anderson was out for some reason. Boss wasn't in the band officially, just filling in for Cat. Anyway Boss told me that whenever Cat would act up Duke would threaten to hire Boss which of course Duke never did, or would, according to Boss. Apparently Cat was a kleptomaniac and would steal things from people. Even Duke's monogrammed handkerchiefs. I guess Cat didn't notice that the 'DE' on the handkerchiefs would give him away. DDB |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story 96 - Boss the Gracious Host | ||
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Posts: 139 (04/09/08 07:05 PM) |
Here's one of the reasons we loved Boss; he was a great host. If you had your parents with you and introduced them to Boss he would make a fuss over you
and show you off. You would get more solos that night if you where playing in your hometown. He didn't have to do that but he always did. He would
introduce your parents to the crowd and have them stand up in front of everyone. It was really nice.
And if you introduced him to your girlfriend then he would really turn on the charm. He would offer his seat on the bus to you and your girlfriend. If somebody gave him flowers he would give the flowers to your girlfriend and make a big fuss over her. All the girlfriends loved Boss. He made it easy. Your parents and girlfriend would feel that they knew Maynard as well as you did. It didn't matter if you knew him for 10 years and they just met him, he made you feel like you were in his inner circle. He had that quality. Very special. It made being on the road a little easier. DDB |
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IAmBrassman |
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Posts: 9 (04/11/08 01:40 PM) |
MF Story 1987 (or 1986?)
No, I wasn't on the band, but had an experience that MF was a superbly nice guy. The spring of 1987 (or maybe 1986 -- I'm struggling to remember) you guys played at Grayson County Junior College, near Sherman, TX, on the High Voltage II tour. I was in high school, but was sitting in with the Junior College Jazz band. We were wrapping up our afternoon rehearsal as you all arrived to set up, and Maynard was scheduled to do a 'mini clinic' before the show. Maynard stood at the edge of the stage during our last tune, then took time to compliment something specific about each and every one of our playing as we packed up. Then, during his mini-clinic he took the time to be very complimentary of us again. That was strong motivation for a bunch of kids from small-town Texas. (The show, by the way, was spectacular!) |
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DiBlasio |
MF Story - 97 - Boss and Dizzy's Neck | ||
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Posts: 140 (04/11/08 07:47 PM) |
When we did 'Sass and Brass' we had a chance to hang around Dizzy. That's a whole other story.
When you stood behind Dizzy as he played you could see his cheeks puff out on the side and towards the back of his head. It was like there were two balloons coming in from each side of his head. It really looked strange. And when Dizzy would peg a high note and really throttle both sides really expanded and both sides almost met in the back of his head. You watched it to see if both sides of his puffed out cheeks would meet in the back of his head. IT WAS SOMETHING. Anyway about a week later at another gig Boss and I happened to be in a room where he was warming up. I said "Hey Boss did you see how close Dizzy's cheeks were in the back of his head? They almost meet". Well you would have thought I was throwing out a challenge or something. Boss lit up and said in a very excited way"Oh my cheeks can to that too!! Here watch I can do that check it out!" He turned his back to me and started popping high notes. He was right, his neck did swell but not as much as Dizzy's. Plus Boss didn't do the cheek puffing thing. He was so proud of the fact that his neck could swell up sort of like Dizzy's. I thought that was a touching example of how much Boss and all those trumpet players loved Dizzy. That was kinda funny too. Boss even walked around the halls to find someone to swell his neck up in front of. It was cute, like a kid imitating his hero. 'DDB |
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