| The Best of Maynard Ferguson | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Compilation album by | ||||
| Released | 1980 | |||
| Genre | Jazz, big band, bop | |||
| Length | 54:10 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Maynard Ferguson chronology | ||||
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The Best of Maynard Ferguson is the first compilation album and 13th overall by Canadian jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on Columbia Records.[1] The 1980 release opens with Maynard's biggest hit "Gonna Fly Now", before going on a tour of some of his best work for Columbia, featuring no less than 4 major theme songs along the way.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
The Best of Maynard Ferguson was not only an attempt to profit from Maynard's Columbia catalog while he was still in the public eye, it was an opportunity entice listeners to look beyond "Gonna Fly Now", and discover what came both before and after it. As AllMusic's Thom Jurek put it, "For the sake of argument, we'll look at this compilation as a decent if imperfect collection of the period of his greatest popularity..."[2]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky")" | Bill Conti, Carol Connors, Ayn Robbins | Conquistador | 4:22 |
| 2. | "MacArthur Park" | Jimmy Webb | M.F. Horn 4&5: Live At Jimmy's | 8:27 |
| 3. | "Theme from Star Trek" | Alexander Courage, Gene Roddenberry | Hot | 5:04 |
| 4. | "Birdland" | Joe Zawinul | Carnival | 5:35 |
| 5. | "Give It One" | Alan Downey, Maynard Ferguson | M.F. Horn Two | 3:30 |
| Total length: | 26:58 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stella by Starlight" | Victor Young, Ned Washington | Carnival | 7:16 |
| 2. | "Theme from "Battlestar Galactica"" | Stu Phillips, Glen A. Larson | Carnival | 5:53 |
| 3. | "Pagliacci" (Adapted by Jay Chattaway from the aria Vesti la giubba) | Ruggiero Leoncavallo | Primal Scream | 5:53 |
| 4. | "Main Title (From the 20th Century-Fox Film "Star Wars")" | John Williams | New Vintage | 4:10 |
| 5. | "Airegin" | Sonny Rollins | New Vintage | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 27:12 | |||