New Vintage (Maynard Ferguson album)


New Vintage is the tenth studio album by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson released in 1977 on Columbia Records.
The title is likely an allusion to new recordings of two 'vintage' titles included in the track list. "Maria" was first recorded on Maynard '62, and "Airegin" was first recorded in 1964 for the album Color Him Wild. The front cover plays on this theme, presenting a trumpet in an ice bucket in place of a bottle of champagne, while on the back cover, the cork is seen popping out of the trumpet's bell.

Background and production

After unexpectedly "" with Conquistador, Columbia and Ferguson were eager to repeat the success. Taking the same basic ingredients of a big theme song, a couple of originals, some guest guitar work, a reworking of a classical theme, a couple of Bobby Militello flute solos, and looking deep into Maynard's book to revive "Airegin", for a high-energy finale, they hoped to re-create that same magic while Conquistador was still on the charts. This was also a return to using the touring band as the core of the album's sound, with only a slightly augmented brass section. The strings and background vocalists were still used to maintain the level of production and polish from the previous 2 albums.

Critical reception

Following the same strategy as the previous album, the album's opening track was released as a single, but didn't have nearly the success as Conquistador's "Gonna Fly Now". As with other albums of this period, reviewers were not kind regarding this release, and didn't hesitate to make their contempt known. AllMusic's Matt Collar summed up how many reviewers felt, calling it "Utterly gimmicky and bereft of any actual jazz..."

Reissues

In 2004, New Vintage was reissued by Wounded Bird Records.

Track listing

All compositions arranged and conducted by Jay Chattaway except "Airegin" arranged by Mike Abene.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album cover.