Maynard Ferguson - Conquistador (CD)

All Music Guide

Maynard was shrewd, and Maynard was quick, and he managed to beat almost everyone to the punch -- sorry -- when he recorded the theme from Rocky and watched it rise to No. 28 on the pop charts. As blatant as Ferguson's rendition is, it was still the best rendition of the Bill Conti tune of the time (a lot better than the composer's own No. 1 version), and MF's heroic propensity for high notes and underdog status as a hitmaker does make it easy to link him with his celluloid counterpart. It is also the best track on an otherwise overloaded Jay Chattaway production where the combination of the chrome-plated Chattaway hand and list of noted supporting players (George Benson, Joe Farrell, Bob James, the young Jon Faddis, Julian Priester, Harvey Mason, etc.) nearly overwhelms the MF big band and even MF himself. The title track has a certain flamboyant grandeur emanating both from Ferguson and the electronic brigade that dominate the tune, yet Benson's fluid cameo and MF's obligatos are was...ted by the irritating female voices on "Mister Mellow." This record gave MF the largest amount of exposure that he ever had; the Faustian tradeoff is that it often sounds gimmicky today. - Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide Read more Less