Remembering Maynard Ferguson
BY MIDGE ELLIS
I
have wonderful memories of Maynard Ferguson's visits to Clarenceville.
He first played there with his English band and then when their visas
ran out, he had to use the American musicians — how we missed Bruce
Johnstone! What a great saxophone player! Remember "Got the Spirit?"
Maynard was a big favorite of
the young fans and we used to book him for three successive nights and
fill all 940 seats each performance. He would invite young players up
on stage for the last tune, "Hey, Jude." While everyone was
taking solos, Maynard and the whole band (except the rhythm section)
would go into the audience and play in the aisles.
One Sunday afternoon, a friend
of mine was sitting in an aisle seat about halfway back. She had just
got a brand new pair of prescription sunglasses and had them hanging
on her purse by the earpiece. Maynard stopped right beside her and hit
one of those famous high notes. Her glasses split right down the middle
of both lenses as if cut by a knife.
She went to her insurance company
the next day to try to get new glasses. When they asked her how it happened,
she said, "I was at this Maynard Ferguson concert at Clarenceville
yesterday and Maynard hit a high note on 'Hey, Jude' with his trumpet
and my glasses cracked." The agent told her that was the best story
he had ever heard and that such a story deserved a new pair of glasses.
When I told Maynard about it,
he didn't blink an eye. Not surprised at all. "Yeah," he said,
"happens all the time." Honest!
Maynard was here one time right
about Thanksgiving. The band always stayed at the Botsford Inn. It was
close to Clarenceville and to my house, too. And we got great rates.
Maynard decided he wanted to do some Christmas shopping at the Livonia
Mall. I had an Oldsmobile station wagon. Maynard wanted to drive.
We got to the Mall and it was
really crowded. Not a parking place to be found. Finally, we saw this
little bitty space created by a brand new car that had parked crooked
to avoid anyone getting close enough to scratch his new car. Maynard
said, "I think I can get in there!" I said I didn't think
so, but he started creeping into this space. He got in okay, but there
was no room to open a door to get out. Maynard said, "Let's go
out the back door." So we crawled over the front and back seats
and opened the tail gate, got out of the car and went into the Mall.
We stopped and got a pretzel
with mustard. While we were sitting there, I said, "That guy can't
get in his car and neither can the one on the other side." We decided
to shop and wondered how big the guy was with the new car. When we returned
to the car, the new car owner was there — steaming! So, what did
Maynard do? He said, "I thought you would never get back to let
us out of here! Where did you learn how to park?" The guy was so
astounded that he apologized, moved his car and left.
All
rights reserved by Midge Ellis. In the 1970s and 1980s she organized
the Clarenceville jazz series in Livonia. She is a SEMJA member and
the Director of the Michigan Jazz Festival, which will hold a fundraiser
on November 5 at Clarenceville.
I N - T H I S - I S S U E :
1. URSULA WALKER---2.
FESTIVAL PHOTOS
3. REMEMBERING FERGUSON
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