Maynard Ferguson: Complete High Voltage auf 2 CDs

Hot off the heels of Body & Soul, his self-proclaimed “best album in years,” Maynard Ferguson took a creative left turn and re-invented himself in 1987 with High Voltage. By shifting from big band to a small-group context, the trumpeter once again pushed the boundaries of his genre. Never one to rest on his laurels, Ferguson was always experimenting: as with Miles Davis’ journey from bebop to Bitches Brew, or Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s decision to create Weather Report, Ferguson was playing outside the box.
Omnivore Recordings, in conjunction with the Maynard Ferguson family, is once again happy to delve deep into the catalog of this truly legendary jazz great. For the first time in nearly thirty years, all of the recordings that made up High Voltage and High Voltage 2 are compiled together with two previously unissued bonus tracks.
With liner notes by Ferguson’s co-producer Jim Exon, Complete High Voltage is now a fully realized collection… a complete document of the small-group sound that Ferguson created during this time. Of course, the smaller the band, the bigger the sound and this set delivers. Plug in, turn up and enjoy a different Maynard Ferguson experience.
Co-producer Exon wrote in his liner notes: “No one blew over the top of a big band with the power and energy of Maynard Ferguson… When I listen now almost 30 years later, it is the playing that stands out. The instrumentation and electronics push the creativity in different directions, but talent is talent. Whether at an acoustic piano or a synthesizer, from first note to last, these guys can play!” (http://omnivorerecordings. com)