Blog: PopMatters

These two albums do not blow the lid off tradition - they are the sound of big band raucous being played for its own sake. Before he assumed his chameleon colors, nursed stallions into flight, and took sabbaticals to India, superstar trumpeter Maynard Ferguson had a fruitful career as a straight-laced big band leader. What's strange about this is that Maynard and his orchestra were hitting strides when no one gave a damn about big band anymore. The New Sounds of Maynard Ferguson/Come Blow Your Horn couples two albums from 1963, a time when John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Albert [...]