Frank Foster

Born September 23, 1928 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Frank Benjamin Foster III began his long musical career at age eleven, when he took up the clarinet. Two years later he began playing alto saxophone, advancing technically to the point of performing with local dance bands at age 14. He began to compose and arrange at 15, and led his own 12- piece band while still only a senior in high school. Foster attended Wilberforce University, then left for Detroit in 1949 (with trumpeter Snooky Young) where he played with such local musicians as Wardell Gray.

Upon finishing his military service in 1953, Foster joined Count Basie's big band (replacing Eddie Lockjaw Davis) on the recommendation of Ernie Wilkins. In addition to his full throated tenor playing, Foster contributed original material to the band including the standard, "Shiny Stockings," and other popular songs including “Down For The Count,” “Blues Backstage,” “Back to the Apple,” “Discommotion,” and “Blues In Hoss Flat” as well as arrangements for the entire Easin’ It album.

"I wrote `Shiny Stockings' in 1955,” Foster told Bob Bernotas. “We had a rehearsal at a place called Pep's Bar in Philadelphia. We had just arrived in town. Everybody was sleepy, tired, hungry, and evil. Nobody felt like rehearsing. We rehearsed `Shiny Stockings' and it sounded like a bunch of jumbled notes, just noise, and I said, `Wow, all the work I put into this, and it sounds so horrible. I know Basie will never play it.' And then something very strange happened. He continued to play and it came together. Finally, we recorded it and, well, it's the very best known piece that I have contributed to the Basie book.”

After ten-plus years, Foster departed Basie’s band in 1964, and began working as a freelance arranger and musician providing material for Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, among others. From 1970 to 1975 he brought his mighty tenor to a variety of situations including the bandstands of Elvin Jones, George Coleman, Joe Farrell and the Thad Jones�"Mel Lewis big band. Foster also led the Living Color and Loud Minority Big Bands; co-led a quintet with Frank Wess in 1983, and toured Europe as a member of Jimmy Smith's quintet in 1985. Foster succeeded Thad Jones as leader of the Basie band in 1986, where he remained until 1995.

Foster has recorded many albums as a leader, including Here Comes Frank Foster (Blue Note, 1954), Two Franks Please! (Savoy, 1957), Fearless Frank Foster (Prestige, 1965), Manhattan Fever (Blue Note, 1968), Shiny Stockings (Denon, 1987), Frankly Speaking (Concord, 1995), and Swing (Challenge, 1998).

Foster is the recipient of two Grammy Awards: the first, for his big band arrangement of the Diane Schuur composition, “Deedles’ Blues, “ (Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, 1987), and the second for his arrangement of guitarist/vocalist George Benson’s composition, “Basie’s Bag” (Best Instrumental Arrangement, Jazz Category, 1988). He also received two Grammy nominations: first, for his big band arrangement of Charles Trenet’s composition, ”Beyond The Sea,” and next for an album with his fellow Basie alumnus Frank Wess entitled Frankly Speaking.

Frank Foster is currently celebrating 60 years in music. His career highlights include stints with The Lloyd Price Orchestra, The Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and The Woody Herman Orchestra. In addition, Foster has performed with Johnny Richards, Duke Pearson, and Benny Goodman.

Throughout his career Foster has received many writing commissions. He has composed and orchestrated material for The Carnegie Hall Jazz Ensemble, The Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra, The Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble, The Jazzmobile Corporation of New York City, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Malaysia Symphony Orchestra, The Metropole Orchestra of Hilversum, Holland, and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In 1983 Dizzy Gillespie personally commissioned Frank Foster to orchestrate one of the jazz icon’s compositions, “Con Alma,” for a scheduled performance and recording with The London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Robert Farnon.

After resigning as leader of The Count Basie Orchestra in 1995, Foster resumed his leadership of three musical groups, The Non-Electric Company, a jazz quartet, Swing Plus, a 12-piece dance band, and The Loud Minority Big Band, an 18-piece concert jazz orchestra, each of which he had organized years prior to assuming leadership of the Basie unit in 1986.

In 2006, The Harper’s Ferry Historical Association of Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia commissioned Foster to compose and conduct a jazz suite to be performed by The Count Basie Orchestra as part of the three-day celebration to commemorate the “Niagara movement,” which relates to John Brown’s famous raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Frank Foster suffered a stroke in 2001 that impaired his left side to the extent that he could no longer play the saxophone. As a result he disbanded his quartet; however, he continued to lead Swing Plus and The Loud Minority Big Band on limited engagements, mostly in the New York City area. He also continued arranging and composing at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he resides with his wife and personal manager of nearly 40 years, Cecilia Foster.

Frank Foster passed on July,26, 2011. Show less

Frank Foster: Well Water & Manhattan Fever

by Marcia Hillman
January 5, 2008

Frank Foster Well Water Piadrum 2006 Frank Foster Manhattan Fever Blue Note 2007

Well Water--Frank Foster leading an exciting 20-piece big band--was recorded in 1977 and never released, the master tapes considered lost until discovered in the home of Don Hunerberg, the session's original engineer. The opener, Clifford Brown's “Joy Spring ...

327

Album Review

Frank Foster and the Loud Minority Big Band: Well Water

Read "Well Water" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 13, 2007

Thirty years ago, saxophonist Frank Foster and drummer Elvin Jones escorted eighteen other musicians (whom Foster dubbed the Loud Minority Big Band) into a recording studio in New York City to tape an album, Well Water. The hope was that a label would be found and the music released for public consumption.

That never happened, and as the months and years went by, it was widely assumed that the master tapes had been irretrievably lost. But Foster's wife, Cecilia, remained ...

Album Review

Elmo Hope: Trio and Quintet

Read "Trio and Quintet" reviewed by AAJ Italy Staff

by AAJ Italy Staff
February 5, 2006

Questo è uno dei pochi dischi di Elmo Hope in circolazione oggi in Italia. Un plauso alla Blue Note che l'aveva già pubblicato in CD (con identica copertina e stessi brani) 15 anni fa ed oggi lo riedita per il beneficio di chi se l'era perso.Dopo anni di totale oblio, lo sfortunato pianista e compositore bop ha avuto nel decennio scorso una certa rivalutazione critica ma dal pubblico jazz è ancora ampiamente ignorato.Un vero peccato, perché ...

193

Album Review

Frank Foster's Loud Minority Big Band: We Do It Diff'rent

Read "We Do It Diff'rent" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 25, 2003

Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Big Band is more limber than loud -- although it doesn’t shrink from shouting whenever that’s appropriate on this persuasive in-concert album recorded in June ‘02 at NYC’s Jazz Standard, when the seventy-three-year-old Foster was recovering from a stroke that immobilized his left arm and left leg and limited his role to that of emcee.

As one would expect from an old hand who joined the Count Basie Orchestra half a century ago and fronted the ...

191

Album Review

Frank Foster: Soul Outing

by Douglas Payne
July 1, 1998

This 1966 session lives up to its title, offering the strong, comfortable appeal of a solid Lee Morgan record. Soul Outing was Foster's second Prestige record after concluding an 11-year stint in the Count Basie band in 1964 (the first, Fearless, was also recently issued on CD). Although he'd developed a reputation as an ace arranger, Foster spotlights his own warm, muscular tenor soulfulness here.

He's in a compatible quintet performing three originals and two numbers from the Broadway play ...

152

Album Review

Donald Byrd: Electric Byrd

Read "Electric Byrd" reviewed by Jim Santella

by Jim Santella
December 1, 1997

This landmark recording from 1970 followed on the heels of Miles Davis' Bitch's Brew and contained many of the same elements that Miles used in his innovative ventures; jazz moved away from the wah-wah trumpet and ushered in the wah-wah guitar. With a lineup including Mickey Roker on drums, Ron Carter on bass, Duke Pearson on electric piano, Wally Richardson on electric guitar, Bill Campbell on trombone and a reed section of Jerry Dodgion, Frank Foster, Lew Tabackin and Pepper ...

Video / DVD

Frank Foster: The Basie Touch

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 22, 2022

Shortly after being discharged from military service in 1953, tenor saxophonist Frank Foster joined Count Basie's band. By then, Basie's so-called New Testament band was in place and had been recording for a year. The orchestra was known as the New Testament band to differentiate it from the swing-era band that started in 1935 and lasted until late 1949. Vocalist Billy Eckstine was the first to urge Basie to give up the small groups Basie led from 1950 to 1952, ...
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Recording

Frank Foster: 'Basie is Our Boss'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 26, 2012

In between recording sessions and on days off, Count Basie had no problem with his musicians recording on their own. Basie knew that if he wanted to hang onto the titanium talent he had on board, he'd be well served to give his men the economic and creative freedom they wanted. Jazz fans are certainly better off for Basie's policy. That's how all of those terrific Frank Wes recordings were possible in the '50s for Savoy and other labels. Wes' ...
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129

Event

Birthday Memorial Celebration For Dr. Frank Foster 9/23, 6 PM, Abyssinian Church

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations
September 16, 2011

Join Family and Friends at the BIRTHDAY MEMORIAL CELEBRATION for DR. FRANK FOSTER Friday, September 23, 6:00 pm The Abyssinian Baptist Church, Harlem Jimmy Heath, Carmen Bradford, Cecil Bridgewater, Frank Wess, Harold Mabern, Jr. and others to Pay Tribute to the Renowned Saxophonist/Composer/Arranger/Bandleader/Educator in Service Officiated by Dr. Calvin O. Butts NEW YORK, NY: Jazz icons, friends and dedicated fans will Frank Fostercome together to pay tribute to jazz giant Frank Foster, at a ...
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103

Obituary

NEA Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster

Source: Chris M. Slawecki
July 28, 2011

NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman's Statement on the Death of NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster

“On behalf of the National Endowment for the Arts, it is with great sadness that I acknowledge the passing of 2002 NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster. An extraordinary saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator, Frank Foster's contributions to jazz are numerous. We join many others in the jazz community and beyond in mourning his death while celebrating his life."

Best known for his work in the ...
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130

Obituary

Frank Foster (1928-2011)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 28, 2011

Frank Foster, whose pouncing tenor sax and swinging arranging style helped update Count Basie's New Testament Band with a seemingly endless stream of blues surprises from 1953 onward, died on July 26 in Chesapeake, VA. He was 82. In a band crowded with saxophone talent, Foster and Frank Wes anchored the reed section like a pair of library lions, roaring with a sound so confident, moody and wiley that no other band could duplicate the natural feel or collective phrasing ...
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163

Obituary

Frank Foster R.I.P.

Source: Sound Insights by Doug Payne
July 27, 2011

The great composer, band leader, educator, humanitarian and reed player Frank Foster, died today of complications from kidney failure at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia. He was 82. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on September 23, 1928, Frank Benjamin Foster took up the clarinet at age 11, switching to alto saxophone two years later. He became so proficient on the alto sax that he was playing professionally at age 14 and leading his own 12-piece band while still a senior in ...
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214

Obituary

Frank Foster, 1928-2011

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
July 27, 2011

Frank Foster died today following a long period of ill health. He was 82.Foster was important to the Count Basie band as a tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger for more than a decade beginning in 1953. In the reed section, he and Frank Wess teamed up as one of the best-known tenor sax tandems in jazz. Foster later also distinguished himself as a bandleader in his own right and as an educator. He moved beyond his hard bop essence as ...
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Interview

"Giving Frank Foster a Hand"

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 8, 2010

Tenor saxophonist Frank Foster is best known for his monumental work in the reed section of Count Basie's “New Testament" band starting in 1953. Over the decades that followed, Foster composed and arranged many songs for the Basie orchestra, including Shiny Stockings. Today, Foster, 82, lives with his wife Cecilia in Virginia. Brian Grady is a filmmaker. When Brian began making a documentary on Foster at his family's request several years ago, Brian encountered one of jazz's dirty little secrets: ...
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165

Music Industry

ASCAP/IAJE Commissioned Works, Honoring Frank Foster, to be Premiered at 2008 IAJE Conference in Toronto

Source: All About Jazz
July 9, 2007

New Works Composed by Tim Hagans and Ayn Inserto New York, July 9, 2007: For the 11th year, the ASCAP/IAJE Commissions program has commissioned two new jazz works in honor of one of the genre's major figures. This year, the new compositions have been commissioned to honor the life and work of composer, saxophonist and bandleader, Frank Foster. The new works will receive their premiere performances at the 2008 IAJE Conference in Toronto in January. The commissioned composers are Tim ...
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124

Performance / Tour

The George Gee Orchestra Salutes Frank Foster at Birdland Sept 27, 2004

Source: All About Jazz
September 22, 2004

September 22, 2004 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES GEORGE GEE BIG BAND CD RELEASE PARTIES “Settin' the Pace" GJazz Records (The Music of Frank Foster) at BIRDLAND JAZZ CLUB - NYC www.birdlandjazz.com 315 West 44th Street / 212-581-3080 Monday, September 27th, 2004 and Il Campanello Restaurant - NYC www.jellyrollproductions.org 136 West 31st Street / 212- 695-6111 Friday, October 1st, 2004 The George Gee Big Band and GJazz Records is happy to announce two very special swingin' jazz events to ...
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