George C Marshall High School - Columbian Yearbook (Falls Church, VA)

Page 64 text:

! i il Maynard again captures Marshall Right: With a saxaphone accompaniment, Maynard leads his band in MacArthur Park. Below: ‘‘Maynard Ferguson, his Trumpet Orchestra” open their October 23, 1972 con¬ cert with Hey Jude. Opposite page: Using his unusual ability to play extremely high notes beautifully, Maynard performs a solo on his trumpet.

Page 63 text:

Publications convey Ideas “First things first,’’ as the saying goes — so the premier task for the Rank File staff was to rejuvenate its room. This was easily done with a bit of “sunshine’’ paint and a Bur¬ mese flag. A silver coffee pot was then installed, which was some¬ times known to contain other bever¬ ages too. The Rank File room also became the game center of Marshall. Students and staff came to play hearts, hockey, blockhead, or roulette. But, when deadline time came, the staff really got down to busi¬ ness. It was the first staff to put together the entire newspaper — with layout, headlines and copy. And, a column was added, “Notes from File 13,’’ by Drew McKinney. Reveille staffers came out with a new concept in a literary magazine to make it more interesting and ap¬ pealing to students. December’s issue of Reveille consisted of a foid- er holding many separate colored papers, on which various poems, photographs, and stories were printed. This new style aroused enough student interest to enable a second issue to be published in the spring.

Page 65 text:

STUDENT LIFE 61 O Astounding Northern Virginia au¬ diences for the first time on March 27, 1972, Maynard Ferguson and his band returned for another awesome performance at Marshall on Oct¬ ober 23, 1972. The key to Maynard’s huge success was the general ap¬ peal of his music. Mixing the hot beat of rock with the smooth unity of jazz, a new form of music was created: jazz-rock. Maynard exemplified this rhythmic, fluid sound. The purpose of the Fer¬ guson band was to take popular pieces such as the theme from Shaft and jazz them up. Maynard was said to be the hot- est trumpet player in the world. He had an unusual ability when dealing with the trumpet; he could reach ex¬ tremely high notes (F above High F) without losing his music’s fluidity. Another talent of Maynard’s was his ability to play three different in¬ struments without damaging his lips. Using a special mouth piece, he was able to play the French horn and the trombone as well as the trumpet. It was not only the music’s appeal, but its display that made a successful show. CM