a Canadian jazz trumpet player and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957. He was noted for being able to play accurately in a remarkably high register, and for his bands, which served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent. Following the path taken by many jazz artists in the 1960s, Ferguson left the United States. Feeling that he needed a period of spiritual exploration, Ferguson moved with his family to India and taught at the Krishnamurtl-based Rishi Valley School near Madras. He was associated with the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning's Boys Brass Band, which he founded and helped teach at for several years. Whilst in India, Ferguson was influenced by Sathya Sai Baba, whom he considered as his spiritual guru.[5]
In 1969, Ferguson relocated to Manchester, England, manufacturing personally-designed trumpets and mouthpieces and performing with a variety of ensembles in Europe.
That same year, Ferguson signed with CBS Records in England and formed a big band with British musicians that performed in the newly popular jazz/rock fusion style. The band's repertoire included original compositions as well pop and rock songs rearranged into a big band format with electronic amplification. This British band's output is represented by the four "MF Horn" albums, which included arrangements of the pop songs "MacArthur Park" and "Hey Jude."
In 1970 he led his big band on UK television as part of BBC's Simon Dee Show (also known as Dee Time).[6] Ferguson often quipped with Dee,[citation needed] similar to his contemporary Doc Severinsen's rapport with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. By the end of the late sixties, Ferguson was a household name in Britain.
Ferguson's new band made its North American debut in 1971. With a revived career, Ferguson relocated to New York in 1973 and gradually replaced his sidemen with American performers while reducing the band size to twelve: four trumpets, two trombones, three saxophones and a three-piece rhythm section plus Maynard. The quintessential recording of this period is the album MF Horn 4 & 5: Live at Jimmy's, recorded in 1973 in New York. Ferguson latched on to the burgeoning jazz education movement by recruiting talented musicians from colleges with jazz programs (notably Berklee College of Music, North Texas State University and the University of Miami) and targeting young audiences with performances and master classes in high schools. This practical and strategic move helped him develop a strong following that would sustain him for the remainder of his career.
In 1976, Ferguson performed a solo trumpet piece as part of the closing ceremonies for the Summer Olympics in Montreal.
1976 was also the year that Ferguson began working with producer Bob James on a series of commercially successful albums. These were complex studio productions featuring large groups of session musicians, including strings, vocalists and star guest soloists. The first of these albums was Primal Scream, featuring Chick Corea, Mark Colby, and Steve Gadd. The second, Conquistador in 1977, resulted in a top-30 (#28) pop single, "Gonna Fly Now" (from the movie Rocky), a rare accomplishment for a jazz musician in the 1970s. Aside from an exciting Jay Chattaway arrangement and dense Bob James production, the single was also helped by the fact that it was released prior to the official soundtrack album of the hit movie. Ferguson maintained a hectic touring schedule during this period, with well-attended concerts that featured concert lighting and heavy amplification.
Ferguson continued with this musical model for the remainder of the 1970s, receiving considerable acclaim from audiences but an often tepid response from some jazz purists, who decried his commercialism and questioned his taste. Ferguson reportedly also began to experience great frustration with Columbia over being unable to use his working band on recording projects and having difficulty including even a single jazz number on some albums. Ferguson's contract with Columbia Records expired after the 1982 release of the Hollywood album, produced by Stanley Clarke.
Ferguson recorded three big band albums with smaller labels in the mid '80s before forming a more economical fusion septet, "High Voltage," in 1986. This ensemble, which featured multi-reed player Denis DiBlasio and trombonist Steve Wiest among an abridged horn section, recorded two albums and received mixed reviews. The format was ultimately unsatisfying to Ferguson, who had grown up in big bands and developed a performing style most appropriate to that structure. In 1988, Ferguson returned both to a large band format and to mainstream jazz with the formation of Big Bop Nouveau, a nine-piece band featuring three trumpets, one trombone, two reeds and a three-piece rhythm section. The band's repertoire included original jazz compositions and modern arrangements of jazz standards, with occasional pieces from his '70s book and the Birdland Dream Band; this format proved to be successful with audiences and critics. The band recorded extensively, including albums backing vocalists Diane Schuur and Michael Feinstein. Although in later years Ferguson did lose some of the range and phenomenal accuracy of his youth, he remained an exciting performer, touring nine months a year with Big Bop Nouveau for the remainder of his life. In 1992, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Just days after completing a weeklong run at New York's Blue Note and recording a studio album in New Jersey, Ferguson developed an abdominal infection that resulted in kidney and liver failure. Ferguson died on the evening of August 23, 2006 at the Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California.
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