Track Listing

1. Teonova
2. MacArthur Park
3. Left Bank Express
4. I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You
5. Two for Otis
6. Stay Loose with Bruce
7. Nice 'N Juicy
8. Fox Hunt
9. Got the Spirit
10. Blue Birdland

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43118 in Music
• Released on: 2007-02-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Live

Album Description
This 1974 release from this legendary Jazz trumpeter, reached #40 on The Billboard Jazz Albums chart. This was originally a two record set, now contained on a single disc. The best of his Jazz-oriented recordings for the Columbia label, Live At Jimmy's features Ferguson ably assisted bay Lin Biviano, Andy MacIntish, Ferdinand Povel, Pete Jackson and Bruce Johnstone. Wounded Bird. 2007.

Customer Reviews

Absolutely one of the best live sets ever recorded!!!
Maynard Ferguson, Live at Jimmy's. First, let me say, It's about flippin' time they released this on CD!. I had just about worn out the vinyl record that I bought 30 years ago.

Maynard always had the knack of attracting some of the strongest jazz players available. This version of the orchestra, with Bruce Johnston on baritone sax and Randy Jones on keyboards to name a few, was one of his strongest. This set was recorded during a mid-day concert in front of a packed house of Columbia Record exec's. The reason was when the idea arose to record at Jimmy's there wasn't enough time to arrange it before the group headed off to another gig up in New England. So the afternoon concert was arranged so that the group could return to New York for the recording and still get back to their nighttime concert.

The music here is some of his best. "MacArthur's Park" is a great rendition, much better than the version recorded a couple years earlier on his Live at the Great American Music Hall pair of CD's. It's followed by my personnel favorite "Left Bank Express." Other top numbers are "Two for Otis", "Nice & Juicy" and the final piece, "Got the Spirit." But pretty much all the listing here is great, with maybe the first piece "Teonova" being the weakest.

Again, I just can not express how happy I am that this is finally out on CD. If you are a Maynard fanatic or just a fan of Big Band jazz, do not hesitate to buy this. It's well worth it.

The Best of the MF Horn / Columbia releases
It's interesting that Maynard took a page out of the Rich book in recording this album live rather than in the studio. I was privileged to see this band live more than once during this period of time, even attended a clinic or two, and this is really the only Ferguson Big Band release that does justice to the band. This band had a loose, flowing nature, not as mechanistic as the Rich or even the Herman outfits; certainly more of a 'bop' inspired big band in the mold of say, the Clarke Boland Big Band or even somewhat the Don Ellis outfit. This is, to my mind, the definitive Maynard Ferguson Big Band release. While Biviano is an added attraction, he pales in significance to The Man himself, and Maynard always fielded an excellent roster of young musicians. Stay Loose With Bruce, Left Bank Express and the evergreen (for Maynard, anyway) Fox Hunt are some of the highlights from this recording.

Best way to relive his concerts
Having seen Maynard perform live many times in the 1970s, I feel confident in saying that this session best preserves the feeling of being at one of his concerts during that era - as long as you play it loud. Once he started the M.F. Horn series, Maynard didn't do many live recordings, so this is a real treat.
I agree with other reviewers that this CD was way too long in coming. This album has hot arrangements and some fine sidemen. Bob Summers does great trumpet work on "The Fox Hunt" and Lin Biviano behaves himself and plays a solid, clean set on lead trumpet. Bruce Johnstone excels in the sax section, except for his hokey humming flute solo in "Left Bank Express" where he sounds like he's going to sneeze into the instrument. Fortunately, he makes up for it on baritone sax on other tracks, including "MacArthur Park," "Two for Otis," "Got the Spirit," and "Stay Loose With Bruce." These last two are old favorites in Maynard's book, although the latter tune got renamed each time it featured a different soloist. (Check out "Geller's Cellar" featuring Herb Geller on the Live at Peacock Lane Hollywood album, and "Morgan's Organ" featuring Lanny Morgan on the Si, Si, MF album. Same chart!)
Of course, no Maynard concert would be complete without "Blue Birdland," a short, simple blues riff that only a jazz master could use to commandingly signal his presence or departure from the stage.
Add this to your jazz playlists - every track is a keeper.