Ferguson's 1940s style lures local jazz fans

By Franki Raden

JAKARTA (JP): If you live in New York and subscribe to the Village Voice music tabloid, you'll soon be familiar with the name Maynard Ferguson, a musician who frequently appears in jazz clubs in downtown Manhattan.

Canadian-born Ferguson, through his trumpet prowess, has developed Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's musical technic into a perfect standard. Armstrong's influence on Ferguson's style was evident when he and his band performed for local jazz lovers at Topaz, Wisma Bakrie, Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, last weekend.

The trumpet is one of the legendary music instruments of the jazz tradition. Years ago, New Orleans Charles (Buddy) Bolden used the trumpet to develop a new music genre known as jazz. The trumpet has since been closely associated with jazz, particularly under the influence of jazz maestro Louis Armstrong, who introduced an extreme style of jazz improvisation, which later influenced a new generation of trumpeters, including Ferguson.

In his Jakarta performance, Ferguson performed with his 10- strong big band, including keyboard player Ron Oswanski, drummer Jason Harnell, bass Chris Berger, trombonist Tom Garling, soprano and tenor saxophonist Chip McNeill, tenor and alto saxophonist Matt Wallace and four trumpeters -- John Owens, Joey Tartell, Carl Fisher and Ferguson himself.

Ferguson and the band began with Get it to Go in bob style with a complex rhythm and harmony. Playing this composition, the big band highlighted its solid brass section and potential soloists.

Soprano and tenor saxophonist, McNeill, demonstrated his improvisation talents during this number, particularly in the exploration of additional melodies, reminiscent of John Coltrane's works.

Improvisation

With his soaring horn, Ferguson exhibited his maturity and musical wit in improvising with almost a flawless legato technic.

Trombonist Tom Garling, Matt Wallace with his tenor and alto saxophone, and bassist Chris Berger added their know-how to the improvisation extravaganza during A Night in Tunisia.

Unfortunately this Latin-style piece was not so enchanting. Its basic harmony consists only of two chords, making the work rather monotonous.

Ferguson long arrangement of the piece seemed dull as the band players performed numerous solo improvisations -- a style which has become Ferguson's music trademark.

Fortunately, keyboard player Ron Oswanski saved the stuffy piece with wide chord changes.

In the next number, Caravan, Ferguson gave a more intriguing performance. In contrast to A Night in Tunisia, Ferguson's work on Caravan was very alluring.

Not only did he succeed in designing this piece to spotlight keyboardist Ron Oswanski and drummer Jason Hornell, Ferguson also enriched it by inserting fragments of other works. One of the most striking fragments was a military fanfare composed in a polyphonic texture.

Ferguson used the piece to display his beautiful improvisation abilities with expressive melodies.

The show continued with a long blues item featuring Matt Wallace as vocalist and tenor saxophonist, keyboardist Ron Oswanski, Chip McNeill and Ferguson on the trumpet.

Vocal

Ferguson, like many of his predecessors, tried to show his skills as a vocalist in I Can't Get Started. Unfortunately, his effort failed to match that of Louis Armstrong.

After finishing the blues piece, Ferguson and his band played a medley of pop songs called MF Hit Medley. Actually, Ferguson's orchestration in the medley was quite interesting, but the pop music tunes did not fit the improvisation required in jazz music.

In spite of musical touches by drummer Jason Hornell and bassists Chris Berger, the medley could hardly be transformed into a jazz work.

Ferguson's creativity showed during the band's version of the Beatles' Hey Jude at the end of the medley. He asked all the trumpeters to go out into the audience and play their horns up close. This bridged the gap between the musicians and the audience, creating a climatic moment for the show.

The audience, sparked by the stereophonic effect produced by the trumpeters, begged for more.

Despite some unexpected weaknesses, Ferguson and his band's two-day performance here was quite successful. Although they have not made as significant a contribution to the world of jazz as has Dizzy Gillespie or Miles Davis, they are still noteworthy.

The performances were entertaining for local jazz fans who were eager to hear Ferguson's 1940s musical style and to see the highly skilled big band.