''Conquistador'' is the ninth album by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Columbia Records. The album is notable for its inclusion of the hit single " Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")".

Background and production

After the experience of creating ''Primal Scream'' without his touring band, Ferguson 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 Ferguson's band: the themes from '' Star Trek'' and ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burge ...

''.

"Gonna Fly Now"

While Ferguson 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 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 databa ...

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 A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

recording had made the charts, but when he released his recording ahead of the soundtrack version, Ferguson 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 four 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 Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, and a

Grammy nomination The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

(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

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 The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

music critic

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

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.

Trivia

Maynard Ferguson's arrangement of "Gonna Fly Now" was used for the opening of the Toronto newscast ''

CityPulse ''CityNews'' (corporately styled City''News'') is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as ''CityPulse'' as a standalone loc ...

'' from the early 1980s into the 1990s (with newer arrangements keeping the same melody used until the mid 2000s). Maynard Ferguson's arrangement of "Theme from Star Trek" was used as the opening for '' The Larry King Show'' talk radio program on the Mutual Radio Network, focusing on the recording improvisations rather than the main melody, although the piece in full could be heard on occasion at the close of his program. Jay Chattaway, who produced the album and worked on most of the arrangements on the album, would go on to compose music scores for ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and its respected spinoffs; ''Deep Space Nine'' and ''Voyager'', along with the prequel ''Enterprise''.

Track listing

All songs arranged and conducted by

Jay Chattaway Jay Chattaway (born July 8, 1946) is an American composer of film and television scores. He is mainly known for his work as composer for several ''Star Trek'' television series: '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ...

except ''Soar Like an Eagle'' by Bob James. All trumpet solos by Maynard Ferguson except where noted. * Times shown are the correct original LP lengths.

Personnel

The MF Band

* Alto & Soprano saxophone: Mike Migliore *

Tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

& Soprano Saxophone: Mark Colby * Baritone saxophone & Flute: Bobby Militello *

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s: Stan Mark, Dennis Noday, Joe Mosello (credited as Guiseppe 'sic''Loon P. Mosello), Ron Tooley *

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

s: Randy Purcell, Roger Homefield * Drums:

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

* Bass: Gordon Johnson * Keyboards: Biff Hannon *

Sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' b ...

: Tony Romano

Guest musicians

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, play ...

* Keyboards: Bob James

Additional players

* Guitars: George Benson, Jeff Layton,

Eric Gale Eric Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. ''Early life and career'' Born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, Gale grew up in a diverse household. His paternal grandfather was from Yorksh ...

, Lance Quinn * Keyboards:

Kenny Ascher Kenneth Lee Ascher (born October 26, 1944 in Washington, D.C.) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger who is active in jazz, rock, classical, and musical theater genres — in live venues, recording studios, and cinema production ...

* Bass: Gary King,

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hoope ...

* Drums: Harvey Mason,

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Ralph MacDonald Ralph Anthony MacDonald (March 15, 1944 – December 18, 2011) was a Trinbagonian-American percussionist, songwriter, musical arranger, record producer, steelpan virtuoso and philanthropist. His compositions include "Where Is the Love", a Gra ...

* Parade Drum: Phil Kraus * Alto Saxophone: George Young * Tenor Saxophone:

Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...

* Trumpet: Jon Faddis,

Marvin Stamm Marvin Louis Stamm (born May 23, 1939) is an American jazz trumpeter. Career Stamm was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Stamm began on trumpet at age twelve. He attended North Texas State University, where he was a member of the One ...

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was born on No ...

Alan Rubin Alan Rubin (February 11, 1943 – June 8, 2011), also known as Mr. Fabulous, was an American musician. He played trumpet, flugelhorn, and piccolo trumpet. Early life and education Rubin was born in Brooklyn. He began attending Juilliard S ...

Bernie Glow Bernie Glow (February 6, 1926 – May 8, 1982) was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s. Glow's early career was on the road with Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and others during the las ...

Marky Markowitz Irvin "Marky" Markowitz (aka Irwin Markowitz, Irving Markowitz; December 11, 1923 - November 18, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter. Born the youngest of seven children of Russian-Jewish immigrants who disembarked in Baltimore, and settled on ...

, Jim Bossy * Trombone:

Wayne Andre Wayne Andre (November 17, 1931 – August 26, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist, best known for his work as a session musician. Andre's father was a saxophonist, and he took private music lessons from age 15. He played with Charlie Spivak in ...

, Paul Faulise, Dave Taylor, Julian Preister *

French Horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

: Brooks Tillotson, Donald Corrado *

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

: Patti Austin, Lani Groves, Gwen Guthrie,

Linda November Linda Ellen November (born October 16, 1944) is an American singer who has sung tens of thousands of commercial jingles. She was the voice of the singing cat in the Meow Mix commercials, sang the jingle "Galaxy Glue" in the 1981 film ' ...

, Ellen Bernfield, Vivian Cherry, Richard Berg, Martin Nelson * Strings: Alfred Brown, Harry Cykman, Max Ellen, Paul Gershman, Harold Kohon, Charles Libove, Harry Lookofsky, Charles McCracken, Marvin Morgenstern,

David Nadien David Nadien (March 12, 1926 – May 28, 2014) was an American virtuoso violinist and violin teacher. He was the concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic from 1966 to 1970. His playing style, characterized by fast vibrato, audible shifting noise ...

, Eugene Noye, Max Pollikoff, Matthew Raimondi, Albert Scheonmaker,

Alan Shulman Alan Shulman (4 June 1915 – 10 July 2002) was an American composer and cellist. He wrote a considerable amount of symphonic music, chamber music, and jazz music. Trumpeter Eddie Bailey said, "Alan had the greatest ear of any musician I ever cam ...

, Richard Sortomme,

Emanuel Vardi Emanuel Vardi (21 April 1915 – 29 January 2011), an American violist, was considered to have been one of the great viola players of the 20th century. Early life Emanuel Vardi was born April 21, 1915 in Jerusalem. His mother, Anna Joffa Vardi, ...

Production

* Producer: Jay Chattaway * Executive Producer: Bob James *

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

: Joe Jorgensen * Mastering Engineer: Vladimir Meller * Cover Painting: John Collier * Design:

Paula Scher Paula Scher (born October 6, 1948, Washington, D.C.) is an American graphic designer, painter and art educator in design. She also served as the first female principal at Pentagram, which she joined in 1991.Scher, Paula." (n.d.): Oxford University ...

Photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

: Tom Copi * Art Direction: Howard Fritzson

Reissue

* Producer: Bob Belden * Mastering Engineer: Mark Wilder, Seth Foster * Legacy A&R: Steve Berkowitz * Project Director: Seth Rothstein * Photography:

Don Hunstein Donald Robert Hunstein (November 19, 1928 – March 18, 2017) was an American photographer. Life He studied at Washington University in St. Louis, graduating in 1950. Later he served in the United States Air Force in England. He returned to th ...

* Reissue Design: Randall Martin * Packaging Manager: John Christiana

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums Columbia Records albums Maynard Ferguson albums