1986 Tour Dates
MF’s calendar existed for July – Dec only; newsletters were used for Jan – June)
1986
January
Early January: Recording sessions for Body & Soul
1/8 Ojai, CA show (MF solo appearance?)
1/10 Los Angeles, CA NAJE Convention
1/11 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
1/12 La Mesa, CA
1/13 – 14 North Hollywood, Donte’s (per Wayne Bergeron)
1/15 Ojai, CA Nordhoff High School
1/16 Hemet, CA Hemet High School
1/18 Anaheim, CA NAMM Convention
1/19 Seal Beach, CA McGaugh Elementary School
1/20 Fresno, CA Fresno High School
1/21 San Bernardino, CA San Bernardino College
1/23 San Louis Obispo, CA Cuesta College
1/24 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
1/25 Sacramento, CA John F. Kennedy High School
1/29 Los Angeles, CA UCLA, Royce Hall
1/31 Flagstaff, AZ Northern Arizona University
February
2/2 Sierra Vista, AZ Buena High School
2/7 Lubbock, TX Texas Tech University
2/8 Mesquite, TX
2/9 Houston, TX Rockefellers
2/11 San Antonio, TX
2/13 Tulsa, OK Nathan Hale High School
2/14 Blackwell, OK Blackwell High School
2/14 Woodward, OK Woodward High School
2/18 Memphis, TN
2/19 Knoxville, TN
2/20 Birmingham, AL
2/24 Jacksonville, FL
2/26 Tampa, FL
March
3/2 Wyoming, MI Wyoming Park High School
3/3 Livonia, MI Jamie’s on 7
3/4 Batesville, IN Batesville High School
Set I
Expresso
Central Park
The Last Dive
Todd Carlon piano solo
Beautiful Hearts
Bebop Buffet
Set II
Mira Mira (duet w/ Wayne Bergeron)
As Time Goes By
Hit Medley: McPark, Chameleon, Hey Jude, Rocky
Birdland
3/5 Evansville, IN Civic Center Gold Room
3/7 Dayton, OH Gilly’s
3/8 Milligan College, TN Milligan College
3/9 Nashville, TN 12th & Porter
3/10 St. Louis, MO Bayless High School
3/11 Reading, OH Reading High School
3/13 St. Joseph, MO Missouri Theatre
3/15 Northfield, MN St. Olaf College
3/17 Storm Lake, IA Buena Vista College
3/18 Milwaukee, WI Attic West (See article – Milwaukee Journal 3.19.86 online)
3/21 Bismarck, ND
3/22 Minot, ND Minot State College
3/23 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Centennial Concert Hall
3/24 Bottineau, ND North Dakota University
3/27 Calgary, Alberta, Canada Jubilee Auditorium
April
4/4 Reno, NV Pioneer Theatre Auditorium
4/5 Santa Rosa, CA Luther Burbank
4/7 Milwaukie, OR Clackamas High School
4/9 Kirkland, WA Lake Washington High School
Set included:
Blue Birdland
Expresso
Central Park
The Last Dive
Beautiful Hearts
BeBop Buffet
Blue Birdland
Mira Mira
Hit Medley: McPark, Chameleon, Hey Jude, Rocky
Blue Birdland
Birdland
4/11 Olympia, WA Washington Center for the Performing Arts
4/17 Denver, CO Rainbow Music Hall
4/19 Grand Junction, CO Grand Junction High School
4/21 Albuquerque, NM Hungry Bear
4/27 Texarkana, TX Texarkana Community College
4/29 Commerce, TX East Texas State University
May
5/1 New Orleans, LA Storyville Jazz
5/3 Birmingham, AL Grundy’s
5/5 Steubenville, OH Steubenville High School
5/7 Vandergrift, PA Kiski High School
5/9 Chicago, IL Private Performance
5/12 Washington, DC Blues Alley
5/13 Washington, DC Blues Alley
5/14 Dallastown, PA Dallastown High School
5/15 Amesbury, MA Amesbury High School
5/16 New Canaan, CN New Canaan High School
5/18 Binghamton, NY Peabody’s
5/19 Secaucus, NJ Secaucus High School
5/20 – 25 NY, NY The Blue Note
June
6/10 Chicago, IL NAMM Convention
6/11 Fly to California
6/12 Rehearsal in Sacramento, CA
6/13 Sacramento, CA Wood Lake Inn
6/14 Los Angeles, CA Cal Sate – Los Angeles
6/15 Hollywood, CA Hollywood Bowl, Playboy Jazz Festival
6/16 – 20 Ojai, CA High Voltage rehearsals
6/21 Fly to Virginia
6/22 Springfield, VA Springfield Mall
story from popof10
I remember seeing Maynard and the band at Springfield Mall in Springfield, VA
in the spring of 1986. My wife and I and our baby daughter were, of course, in
attendance; I having been a Maynard fan since my HS days in the mid 70’s. The
stage was set up between two escalators. One was the Up escalator, and the
other was the Down. Well, Denis DiBlasio and Maynard start trading licks
(I don’t remember which chart). Maynard boards the Up escalator, and
improvises all the way up to the next level. Denis gets on the Up escalator
and does the same thing. Then they start trading licks while one was going
up and the other going down. It was great! 20+ years and 9 more kids later,
still a vivid memory!
6/23 Off
6/24 Dewey Beach, DE Rusty Rudder
6/25 Off
6/26 Philadelphia, PA Pennypack Park
6/27 – 29 Chicago, IL The Backroom
July
7/2 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
7/3 Milwaukee, WI Summerfest
7/4 Off
7/5 Battle Creek, MI McCamly Plaza
7/6 Off
7/7 Livonia, MI Jamie’s on 7
7/8 Toledo, OH Rusty’s
7/9 Lansing, MI Rick’s American Cafe
7/10 Detroit, MI New Center Park
7/11 Cincinnati, OH Bogart’s
7/12 Off
7/13 Joliet, IL Chicago Street
7/14 Off
7/15 Quincy, IL Starlite Terrace
7/16 St. Louis, MO Mississippi Nights
7/17 Des Moines, IA Park Capitol Inn Plaza
7/18 Off
7/19 St. Charles, IL Pheasant Run Restaurant (Tour ends)
7/20 MF flies to Los Angeles, CA
7/21 – 26 Vacation
7/27 Mrs. Kramer’s funeral, (MF solo trumpet w/ harmon)
7/28 – 8/19 Vacation
August
8/20 Oceanside, CA Truax Performing Arts Center (MF & DiBlasio)
8/21 – 22 Off
Jazz Explosion Tour through 8/27 (MF with Woody Herman, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Nancy Wilson)
8/23 Tampa, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
8/24 Washington, DC Kennedy Center
Radio braodcast:
MF with Woody Herman Orchestra (Roger Ingram, lead trumpet):
Conga (No MF)
Blue Birdland
Body & Soul
Mira, Mira
Birdland
Rocky
8/26 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center
8/27 Baltimore, MD Inner Harbor
8/28 Salt Lake City, UT Hotel Utah (High Voltage tour begins)
8/29 Off/Rehearsal
8/30 – 9/6 NY, NY Cruise, MF performs solo?
September
9/5 Rochester Hills, NY The Meadowbrook (w/ Lou Rawls) (from theconcertdatabase.com)
9/6 NY, NY The Bottom Line (High Voltage debut)
9/7 Fly Home
9/8 – 9/18 Off
9/19 MF flies to Chicago, IL
9/20 Chicago, IL MF solos at Halftime show, High Voltage concert
9/21 Rhinelander, WI Holiday Acres
9/22 MF flies home
9/23 – 25 Off
9/26 MF flies to Chicago, IL
9/27 DeKalb, IL Northern Illinois University halftime show
9/28 – 29Off
9/30 Rehearsal
October
10/1 Evansville, IN High Voltage w/ Spyro Gyro (article)
10/2 Travel Day
10/3 St. Paul, MN Ordway Music Festival
10/4 Travel Day
10/5 Dayton, OH Gilly’s
10/6 Off
10/7 – 8 Washington, DC Blues Alley
10/9 Chambersburg, PA Chambersburg High School
10/10 Off
10/11 Mt. Clements, MI Macomb Community College
10/12 New Orleans, LA Storyville Jazz (Rehearsal) (Denis DiBlasio story)
MF Story 18 – Where’s Jumbo
The ‘Sass and Brass’ filming we did in New Orleans at the club Storyville
can have it’s own thread. Put Maynard, Dizzy, Al Hirt, Don Cherry,
Chuck Magione, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins and Sarah Vaughn
together and you have a book of its own. I don’t even know where to start.We (The band) where all at the club. The guys in the band just watched
everything, too starstruck to actually contribute to anything. Everybody
mentioned above is up on the stage except Al Hirt. We flew in from Chicago,
Chuck came from Kentucky someplace, Herbie from LA. Everyone came from
places all over the country. All where there but Al Hirt who lives about
a couple blocks from the club. It was funny.So it’s time to start and the producer is getting nervous. He seems like
a nice guy but doesn’t get the loose jazz thing and that’s another
story. Any way it’s like 15 minutes into start time and Al Hirt (Nickname was
Jumbo) is still not there yet. The club is pretty big and kind of dark
except for the stage. You had to be careful not to trip on anything if you
were in a dark area. So the producer is freaking and Dizzy and Boss are
yakking and none of the players seems worried that Al isn’t there. The
young producer is running around as if he can solve something by running
faster and faster. Nothing is happening. So someone yells out “WHERE IS AL?”
“Ah keep your shirt on” . The voice comes from some dark corner of the club.
We all turned around and in a dark recessed spot is Al Hirt sitting next to
this young good looking girl eating a plate of crawdads! Boss sees him and yells
“Hey Jumbo!”. “Hey Fox”, yells Al. He’s just hanging back there watching all
this mayhem unfold while slamming back crawfish. Oh Man it was a riot! He
didn’t care! He wasn’t getting a heart attack for anybody. So Al takes his
time walking up to the stage. The producer is trying to vibe Al but it’s like
the vibe isn’t even entering Al’s aura it’s just sort of bouncing off of it.
So Al gets on the stage and Boss and Dizzy hug Al and now the producer’s
vibing power has been stripped from him like a court marshall or something.There was so mich electricity in the air and vibes being thrown around we all
just sat there. It was really interesting. All this star power with a producer
who didn’t get it.MF Story 19 – Who’s In Charge??
——————————————————————————–
So at Storyville once Al is on stage you would think something would be happening.
Well pros aren’t always good rehearsers as they’re trained to give it up for the
performance. So all these guys are on stage and nothing is happening. The producer
is hovering around a mental breakdown. Ed and I are checking all of it out.So the producer goes to Chuck M and asks “You’re a leader, you have a band. will
you run this?’ Well Chuck made the smart move and said ‘no way’. So the the
producer goes to Boss “Maynard you’re a leader you have a band, will you lead
this?. And Boss says the best thing ever. He says “Ahh I don’t think anybody
up here is going to tell Dizzy Gillespie what to do, sorry”. Ok. So the producer
goes to Diz and asks him to lead and Dizzy says, “We’re all pros up here nobody
has to point fingers”. Ha! The producer’s face went white. All this talent and
nobody will take charge, add a producer who knows nothing about jazz and he has
to get Sarah Vaughn up there for her spot and nobodys going to touch that one.
This producer was so lost. He must have been used to dealing with kids or
something. Here we are with a stage full of legends and all they want to do
is talk and eat. The guys in the band where just watching it unfold. It was
something. You could have put battery cables on this prodicer’s ears and jump
started a bus he was so wired.The best part is, this producer is on the brink of losing it and no none has
even played a note yet. Ha!DDB
10/13 New Orleans, LA Storyville Jazz
Sass & Brass filmed for HBO
Set I
Watermelon Man (rehearsal with MF, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Cherry, Chuck Mangione)
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Just Friends
Send in the Clowns
Bimsha’s Swing
I Can’t Get Started (MF & Al Hirt)
Round Midnight
Bag’s Groove
Take the A-Train
Watermelon Man
Set II
Pre gig banter with MF, Dizzy, Chuck Mangione, Al Hirt, Herbie Hancock, etc
Blue Birdland
The Emperor’s Revenge (later retitled ‘High Voltage’ on the album)
Band intros
The Long Haul
Stardust
Jack Usage
Birdland
Shufflemonk (with Al Hirt)
Post gig banterSet 1 released on official HBO VHS as ‘Sass & Brass: A Jazz Session’ with Sarah Vaughan, Don Cherry, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Hirt, Chuck Mangione, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins
Set 2 is Maynard Ferguson and High Voltage, with Al Hirt sitting in. Never released officially.
10/14 Lebanon, OH Lebanon High School
10/15 Syracuse, IN Wawasee High School
10/16 Open
10/17 Andeson, IN Just Jazz
10/18 St. Louis, MO Kirkwood High School
10/19 Travel Day
10/20 Clarion, PA (DiBlasio story 97)
MF Story – 97 – Boss and Dizzy’s Neck
When we did ‘Sass and Brass’ we had a chance to hang around Dizzy.
That’s a whole other story.When you stood behind Dizzy as he played you could see his cheeks
puff out on the side and towards the back of his head. It was like
there were two balloons coming in from each side of his head. It really
looked strange. And when Dizzy would peg a high note and really throttle
both sides really expanded and both sides almost met in the back of his
head. You watched it to see if both sides of his puffed out cheeks would
meet in the back of his head. IT WAS SOMETHING.Anyway about a week later at another gig Boss and I happened to be in a
room where he was warming up. I said “Hey Boss did you see how close Dizzy’s
cheeks were in the back of his head? They almost meet”. Well you would have
thought I was throwing out a challenge or something. Boss lit up and said
in a very excited way”Oh my cheeks can to that too!! Here watch I can do that
check it out!” He turned his back to me and started popping high notes. He
was right, his neck did swell but not as much as Dizzy’s. Plus Boss didn’t
do the cheek puffing thing.He was so proud of the fact that his neck could swell up sort of like Dizzy’s.
I thought that was a touching example of how much Boss and all those trumpet
players loved Dizzy.That was kinda funny too. Boss even walked around the halls to find someone
to swell his neck up in front of.It was cute, like a kid imitating his hero.
10/21 Media, PA
10/22 Travel Day
10/23 Brunswick, GA
10/24 Hilton Head, SC Old Post Office
10/25 Off
10/26 Winter Park, FL Villa Nova Restaurant
10/27 Cape Coral, FL Cape Coral High School
10/28 Clearwater, FL Cinema Draft House
10/29 Douglas, GA South Georgia College
10/30 Jemison, AL
10/31 Travel Day
November
11/1 Woodstock, IL Woodstock Opera House
11/2 Novi, MI Novi High School
11/3 Grand Rapids, MI Pockets Niteclub
11/4 Lexington, KY Bugatti’s
11/5 Okemos, MI Okemos High School
11/6 Travel Day
11/7 Rochester, NY Bishop Kearney High School
11/8 Off
11/9 Philadelphia, PA Drexel University
11/10 Endwell, NY Endwell High School
11/11 Cambridge, MA Jonathan Swift’s
11/12 Londonderry, NH Londonderry High School
11/13 Off
11/14 Westbrook, CT Westbrook High School
11/15 Off
11/16 Harrisburg, PA The Forum
11/17 Millville, NJ Millville Senior High School (Tour ends)
11/18 – 20 Off
11/21 MF flies to India
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