Master of the Stratosphere

Master of the Stratosphere

ASIN: B00003OOZI

Track Listings

1. Primal Scream

2. Spinning Wheel

3. Chameleon

4. Gospel John

5. Fiesta

6. Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)

7. MacArthur Park

8. Pagliacci

9. Superbone Meets the Bad Man

10. Theme from "Shaft"

Tracks:

Primal Scream
Spinning Wheel
Chameleon
Gospel John
Fiesta
Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)
MacArthur Park
Pagliacci
Superbone Meets the Bad Man
Theme from "Shaft"

Customer Reviews:

A Legend that redefined the Jazz/Funk Genre........2005-09-15

One of Maynard Ferguson's greatest albums, Master of the Stratosphere, is a showcase of his great talent. He wails on the upper register and makes it sound so easy. Some of his greatest stuff is on this CD as well, including the famous "MacArthur Park" and "Chameleon". Songs you will end up listening to many times.

This album also contains remakes of two very popular theme songs from the 70's, Rocky and Shaft. Whenever Maynard Ferguson remakes a song, he builds on to it from the ground up. The original lyrical line will still be there, but he builds a tower of high notes, intricate harmonies, and just a wall of intense brass sound on top."MacArthur Park" is probably one of the greatest examples of this. Other songs like "Gospel John" include a slow moody song developing into a Disney-esque type melody.

The reason I picked this album over "Primal Scream" or "Chameleon" is because this CD has all of the most popular songs. Master of the Stratosphere is like his Greatest Hits. It's difficult to find another Maynard CD with "MacArthur Park","Chameleon","Primal Scream", or "Gospel John" on them. So if you have an interest in jazz or brass, I Highly recommend this album. In fact if you have never heard Maynard before, I guarantee that this CD will impress you, and you will spend hours listening to it.

There's only one master.......2005-05-25

I had the great privilege of seeing Maynard Ferguson perform live in Kingsport, Tennessee. He is just as amazing as before, even though he was clearly suffering from some sort of chronic disease (either emphysema or CHF).

What irony. Climbing five steps to the stage clearly winded him; he was puffing like an old locomotive. But, once onstage and after catching his breath, he was as good as ever - maybe better.

High-register trumpet playing may not be as often-heard as before, but it's an art that will not be lost. Enjoy!

Maynard Ferguson - Master of the Stratosphere.......2004-07-25

This is one of the greatest Maynard albums of all time. Each song is played with incredible intensity, endurance, and velocity. When I had finished listening to this, I was stunned by how powerfully Maynard can play. Primal Scream is really upbeat and has an awesome sax solo, and Superbone Meets the Badman is another excellent track.

Worth it....For now........2003-10-28

This is a nice collection of some of Maynard's great 1970's work, but if you're a big Maynard fan like me, you might already own a lot of these songs on their original releases, or on other albums/compilations. This album is great simply for the fact that it contains great MF work like "Spinning Wheel", "Pagliacci", "Primal Scream" and "Theme From Shaft", which are not available on any other Maynard Compact Disc. MF reaches screech range on "Pagliacci", one of his craziest performances ever! I really wish Primal Scream would come out on CD, I've wanted the album for quite a while. This album also includes classic MF performances like "La Fiesta", "MacArthur Park" and "Gospel John", and has his biggest hit "Rocky Theme (Gonna Fly Now)". This album is nice to be able to have but it will become obselete if the MF Horn albums 1-4 and Primal Scream are ever reissued on CD by Columbia.

If I were a chick, I'd want to have Maynard's love-child........2003-01-12

Okay, so this album contains "Gonna Fly Now", Maynard's all time biggest hit, and also one of his cheesiest tunes ever, right up there with his entire "Hot!" album. So forget about that one, get over it, and look at the rest of the tunes on this compilation. Every other song is classic, kickin' MF. And songs like "Spinning Wheel", "Pagliacci", and "Shaft" are, to my knowledge, not available on any other CD. These are some of Maynard's most powerful and most fun songs, great solid fusion jazz. Of course, there are many more songs from this era of Maynard's career that deserve to be reissued, but this album will do quite nicely until Columbia gets off their rear ends and reissues albums like "MF Horn". So, anyway, if you're a Maynard fan, or if you just like loud, rockin' jazz, you'll get your money's worth out of this CD.