Jazz legend Maynard Ferguson was the leader of one of the principal components of the evolution of jazz in the second half of the 20th Century. His unique powerhouse trumpet with dazzling high note beauty and the best of the best musicians throughout his six-decade career left its mark on music. Maynard Ferguson far surpassed the title “trumpet player”; he was an internationally renowned big-band leader, one of the world’s great brass players, composer, arranger and dedicated music educator. He was a multi-Grammy nominee with innumerable awards celebrating his diverse career spanning the release of over 60 albums. LeRoy Neiman painted him blowing out the torch for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. A sensational showman with phenomenal technique on the trumpet, Maynard’s unique ability to play rich, beautiful notes in the instrument’s upper register was groundbreaking. He set the jazz world aflame with his innovative all-star Birdland Dreamband in the 1950’s and 60s and all the bands that would follow. His “never look back” and refreshingly optimistic approach to everything in life, won him admiration and respect throughout the world. True to his mantra that music is about change, Maynard emerged from big-band swing and worked his way through jazz, bebop, jazz fusion, funk, East Indian fusion, disco, and back to traditional jazz. The list of musicians that joined him on this journey were and are among the greatest musicians of the era.