Conquistador (Maynard Ferguson album)

Background and production

After the experience of creating Primal Scream without his touring band, Maynard was determined to see them become an integral part of his next effort. While Bob James was firmly in control of the production, Ferguson was insistent that his band members would be a part of the proceedings. It became a bi-coastal effort, with the touring band recording in San Francisco between dates, and the James crew recording in New York. Two of the songs were recorded entirely in New York without any participation by Maynard's band: the themes from Star Trek and Rocky.

"Gonna Fly Now"

While Maynard was known to have an uncanny ability to change with the times, no one suspected that in the Spring of 1977, he would pull off the coup of his life. As AllMusic reviewer Richard Ginell put it: "Maynard was shrewd, and Maynard was quick, and he managed to beat almost everyone to the punch..."

It had been decades since a big band recording had made the charts, but when he released his recording ahead of the soundtrack version, Maynard scored the biggest hit of his long career. The recording had a 13-week run on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, eventually peaking at number 28 on June 25. It's likely that Ferguson's recording paved the way for the success of the soundtrack version (Bill Conti's own recording would peak at number one the following week). Gonna Fly Now is also unique in that it had recordings by 4 different artists charting at the same time (Ferguson, Conti, Rhythm Heritage and Current).

Critical reception

Conquistador was the most successful album of Ferguson's career, earning him his first and only gold record, and a Grammy nomination (Best Pop Instrumental Performance) for "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")". Boosted by the popularity of the single, Conquistador not only went to number one on the Jazz charts, but it became the first big band album to appear on the pop charts in decades, sparking a revival of interest in big band music.

When Conquistador rose to number 22 on the pop album charts, noted Los Angeles Times music critic Leonard Feather noted "Conquistador earned Ferguson a unique place in the big band world: he alone was able to crack the pop charts."

Reissues

In 2003, Conquistador was reissued by Columbia/Legacy along with 1974's Chameleon, both with remastered sound and new essays.

Track listing

The MF Band

Special Guest Soloists

Additional Players

Production

Reissue