Maynard Ferguson performance of the Westside Story theme Maria was masterful. He is without a doubt one of the greatest trumpet players who ever lived. I can’t believe nobody has commented on this before. Mediocre performers get millions of hits yet genius performers get Little to no recognition.
Douglas got his own start as a big band leader in the forties. This always kept him appreciative of this musical genre. Note the high note cat in the trumpet section itself. Bearded dude with shades, second from right. Barker is his last name. Wasn't it "Rusty Barker"? Maybe Randy. He pops a dandy G/High C (for the B Flat trumpet!) At 3:23. Damned good note and chops. In his master class Stan Mark describes Barker and Ron Toomey (black trumpet player far right and next to Barker) as being "the better high note guys" than he was. Even though Mark's tone cut through like a laser beam. Stan Mark really did blow a fine lead.
Sedolas was on Amherst st right? I graduated in 76 Bobby Militelo Mike Migliore, I saw Maynard once in the back room at Mulligans on Hertel ave and you know how iconic it was back there with Keith Perla D,Jaying putting on a record and coming out and dancing with us, what a great time back there
I grew up in this era...and I remember his show quite well. I astounds me that this kind of entertainment was on at 4:30 in the afternoon. We took it for granted back then.
Birdland ( Joe Zawinul). Gordon Johnson - bass; Joe Mosello, Stan Mark, Ron Tooley - trumpets; Bobby Militello - bari sax/ flute.Possibly Eric Traub- tenor sax.
Masterful flute solo from 6:23 by Bobby Militello, who would become a fixture with Dave Brubeck. At this point Militello's flute playing was arguably more prominent than his sax work (and don't miss his solos on "Canon for Flutes" alongside Thijs van Leer on 1977's live album Montreux Summit.)
Birdland was written by Austrian keyboard player Joe Zawinul (1932-2007). According to his obituary, Zawinul came to the U.S. in 1959 to attend Berklee but within a week accepted an offer to join Maynard's band. He later joined Dinah Washington's band & spent a lot of the 60's with Cannonball Adderley. Zawinul wrote 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy' while with Adderley. Zawinul, Wayne Shorter & Miroslav Vitous founded Weather Report in 1970, and it later included former MF drummer Peter Erskine.
