I'm taking a brief departure from the normal techie nature of the blog to note the passing of jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson. I played trumpet through my college years and have fond memories as a high schoold student seeing Maynard play in person. I can still recall seeing him at a high school jazz concert. My fellow trumpet players and I were in the 3rd or 4th row. Maynard was miked and when he wailed into Conquistador you it was a physical experience. You could feel his playing in your bones. We were a buch of ectastic trumpet geeks. I used to listen to Chameleon before high school jazz band practices to "get in the mood." If you need a taste of Maynard you can listen to clips from The Essence Of Maynard Ferguson from BMG.
I had the pleasure of seeing Maynard in person several times, generally at high-school gigs or community jazz festivals. He really was a great jazz educator and teacher and was happy to showcase the young musicians in his band.
He was still doing what he loved to do up to the end. We should all be so lucky.
Here are some links to what others are saying:
BBC
Canada.com