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")".
Contents
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.
"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 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, 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, 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.
Trivia
Maynard Ferguson's arrangement of "Gonna Fly Now" was used for the opening of the Toronto newscast CityPulse from the early 1980s into the 1990s (with newer arrangements keeping the same melody used until the mid 2000s). Television stations in the United States also used it for their news programming, including WAAY-TV in Huntsville, Alabama; WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio; WMT-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (now KGAN); and WRET-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina (now WCNC-TV).
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 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 & Soprano Saxophone: Mark Colby
Baritone saxophone & Flute: Bobby Militello
Trumpets: Stan Mark, Dennis Noday, Joe Mosello (credited as Guiseppe [sic] Loon P. Mosello), Ron Tooley
Trombones: Randy Purcell, Roger Homefield
Drums: Peter Erskine
Bass: Gordon Johnson
Keyboards: Biff Hannon
Sound: Tony Romano
Guest musicians
Guitar: George Benson
Keyboards: Bob James
Additional players
Guitars: George Benson, Jeff Layton, Eric Gale, Lance Quinn
Keyboards: Kenny Ascher
Bass: Gary King, Will Lee
Drums: Harvey Mason, Allan Schwartzberg
Percussion: Ralph MacDonald
Parade Drum: Phil Kraus
Alto Saxophone: George Young
Tenor Saxophone: Joe Farrell
Trumpet: Jon Faddis, Marvin Stamm, Randy Brecker, Alan Rubin, Bernie Glow, Marky Markowitz, Jim Bossy
Trombone: Wayne Andre, Paul Faulise, Dave Taylor, Julian Preister
French Horn: Brooks Tillotson, Donald Corrado
Vocals: Patti Austin, Lani Groves, Gwen Guthrie, Linda November, 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, Eugene Noye, Max Pollikoff, Matthew Raimondi, Albert Scheonmaker, Alan Shulman, Richard Sortomme, Emanuel Vardi
Production
Producer: Jay Chattaway
Executive Producer: Bob James
Engineer: Joe Jorgensen
Mastering Engineer: Vladimir Meller
Cover Painting: John Collier
Design: Paula Scher
Photography: 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
Reissue Design: Randall Martin
Packaging Manager: John Christiana