Sherman Ferguson with Kenny Burrell and John Heard

Sherman Eugene Ferguson (October 31, 1944 – January 22, 2006) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

drummer. For a time he was a member of the jazz trio Heard Ranier Ferguson.

Background

Ferguson once said that when people asked him what he did, he wouldn't tell them he was a musician, he'd say he was a jazz musician. He said he was proud of it and he would wear it as a statement on his forehead if he could.Los Angeles Times January 31, 200
Obituaries Sherman Ferguson, 61; Drummer Played With Top Names in Jazz
/ref> He also wrote liner notes and was a contributing writer. He wrote liner notes and articles for jazz magazines such as Bird and L.A. Jazz Scene. Ferguson first played professionally around 1963, working with Charles Earland,

Shirley Scott Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ". Life and career Scott was born in Phi ...

, Don Patterson, and Groove Holmes. he also recorded frequently with

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Biography Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, to father Carmen "Mickey" ...

. Concomitantly he worked as a child tutor for the Model Cities program in Philadelphia. He was a founding member of

Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

, a

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

ensemble, in 1970, remaining with them until their breakup. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where he became a prolific

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

, playing on albums by

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

Horace Silver Horace Ward Martin Tavares Silver (September 2, 1928 – June 18, 2014) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, particularly in the hard bop style that he helped pioneer in the 1950s. After playing tenor saxophone and piano at sch ...

, and

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

among many others.Allmusi
Sherman Ferguson Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny
/ref> He formed a trio with John Heard and

Tom Ranier Thomas John Ranier (born July 13, 1949) is an American instrumentalist who primarily plays piano but also saxophone and clarinet. As a jazz artist he has recorded widely under his own name and as a sideman for Warner Bros., Concord Records and se ...

. He taught

jazz theory Jazz harmony is the music theory, theory and practice of how chord (music), chords are used in jazz music. Jazz bears certain similarities to other practices in the tradition of Western harmony, such as many chord progressions, and the incorpora ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

UC-Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...

, and

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. He released the album ''Welcome to My Vision'', on his own label Jazz-a-nance in 2002. Among the tracks on the album were "Lush Life", "Lester Left Town" and Bobby Watson's "Monk He See, Monk He Do". The band comprised Ferguson on drums, saxophonists Louis Van Taylor and Carl Randall and bassist Trevor Ware.JazzTimes November 200
Sherman Ferguson's JazzUnion Welcome to My Vision By Larry Appelbaum
/ref> On January 22, 2006, Ferguson died at his La Crescenta home aged 61. The death was a result of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

Discography

As leader

* Sherman Ferguson's Jazz Union, ''Welcome to My Vision'' With Catalyst * ''Catalyst'' (

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, 1972) * ''Perception'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

, 1973) * ''Unity'' (Muse, 1974) * ''A Tear and a Smile'' (Muse, 1976) * '' Heard Ranier Ferguson'' ( ITI, 1983)

As sideman

With

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 ...

* ''

Handcrafted A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

'' (Muse, 1978) * ''

Kenny Burrell Live at the Village Vanguard ''Kenny Burrell Live at the Village Vanguard'' is a live album by guitarist Kenny Burrell recorded at the Village Vanguard in late 1978 and released on the Muse Records, Muse label.980 * '' Kenny Burrell in New York'' (Muse, 1978

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*'' Then Along Came Kenny'' (Evidence, 1993

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Em ...

With

George Cables George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Ar ...

* '' Morning Song'' (HighNote, 1980

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With

*'' Another Time, Another Place'' (Evening Star, 1996) with

Phil Woods Philip Wells Woods (November 2, 1931 – September 29, 2015) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, clarinetist, bandleader, and composer. Biography Woods was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. After inheriting a saxophone at age 12, he began ...

*''

Benny Carter Songbook ''Songbook'' is an album by American saxophonist and composer Benny Carter, released in 1996 by MusicMasters Records.New York Nights New York Knights may refer to: *New York Knights (arena football), an arena football team that played the Arena Football League during the 1988 season *New York/New Jersey Knights, an American football team that played in the World League of America ...

'' (MusicMasters 1997) *''

Benny Carter Songbook Volume II ''Songbook Volume II'' is an album by American saxophonist and composer Benny Carter, released in 1997 by MusicMasters Records.Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

* '' Two Days in the Life of...'' (Interplay, 1987) With

* ''

Desperado Desperado may refer to: * Outlaw, particularly in the American Old West Books * ''Desperadoes'' (comics), a comic book series * ''Desperadoes'' (novel), a 1979 novel by Ron Hansen * Desperado Publishing, an American independent comic book publ ...

'' (Prestige, 1970) * '' Pat Martino/Live!'' (Muse, 1972

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* ''

Consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

'' (Muse, 1974) * '' Interchange'' (Muse, 1994) With

Tete Montoliu Vicenç Montoliu i Massana, better known as Tete Montoliu (28 March 1933 – 24 August 1997) was a Spanish jazz pianist from Catalonia, Spain. Born blind, he learnt braille music at age seven. His styles varied from hard bop, through afro-Cuban, ...

* ''

Carmina The ''Odes'' ( la, Carmina) are a collection in four books of Latin lyric poems by Horace. The Horatian ode format and style has been emulated since by other poets. Books 1 to 3 were published in 23 BC. A fourth book, consisting of 15 poems, wa ...

'' (Jazzizz, 1984) With

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

* '' Crescent with Love'' (Evidence/Venus, 1992) * ''Ballads with Love'' (Venus, 1992) With

Bud Shank Clifford Everett "Bud" Shank Jr. (May 27, 1926 – April 2, 2009) was an American alto saxophonist and flautist. He rose to prominence in the early 1950s playing lead alto and flute in Stan Kenton's Innovations in Modern Music Orchestra and thro ...

* '' California Concert'' (Contemporary, 1985) with

Shorty Rogers Milton "Shorty" Rogers (born Milton Rajonsky; April 14, 1924 – November 7, 1994) was an American jazz musician, one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played trumpet and flugelhorn and was in demand for his skills as an arran ...

* '' Serious Swingers'' (Contemporary, 1987) with Bill Perkins

References

*Jason Ankeny, Sherman Fergusonat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Listening In: An Interview with Sherman Ferguson
by Bob Rosenbaum, Los Angeles, September 1981 (PDF file)

External links

Sherman Ferguson's Jazz Union: Welcome to My Vision . . . (2003) by Jack Bowers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Sherman 1944 births 2006 deaths American jazz drummers Singers from Pennsylvania UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty University of California, Irvine faculty Jackson State University faculty 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American singers Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Catalyst (band) members