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John F. Kennedy Center

FRANK FOSTER Official Site

Saxophonist, Composer and Jazz Educator Frank Foster Named
BNY Mellon Jazz 2009 Living Legacy Awardee

Award to be Presented Friday, October 2, 2009 at the
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
7:30 to 11:00 pm

Jazz saxophonist and composer Dr. Frank B. Foster will be honored with the BNY Mellon Jazz 2009 Living Legacy Award in a special ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, October 2, 2009.



The BNY Mellon Jazz 2009 Living Legacy Award is a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and is sponsored by The Bank of New York Mellon. The Award honors living jazz masters from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in jazz performance and education.

The Award celebration will include a reception, the award ceremony, and a performance by BNY Mellon Jazz 2008 Living Legacy Awardee Kenny Barron   in the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theatre.

"Dr. Frank Foster is an exceptional selection for the 2009 BNY Mellon Jazz Living Legacy Award," said Jim McDonald, BNY Mellon's director of philanthropy and employee programs. "A renowned saxophonist, arranger and composer, Dr. Foster is a gifted and versatile master of jazz performance."




FRANK FOSTER Official Site

Frank Foster (born 23 September 1928) is an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer, who is best known for his work in different periods with the Count Basie orchestra, as well as under his own name. Read more...

Frank Foster is the subject of a feature length documentary entitled "Shiny Stockings". Produced by Jazz Legacy Films and directed by award winning film maker Brian Grady, the film looks at Frank's career as a Jazz parable and "Shiny Stockings" the tune serves as a touchstone in the film addressing the many ways of measuring "success". The film is in final production and is expected to be released in early 2010,  Click link below:

Visit the Jazz Legacy Films website: JAZZ LEGACY FILMS.COM.


Foster was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and educated at Wilberforce University. In 1949, he moved to Detroit, Michigan where he joined the local jazz scene, playing with musicians such as Wardell Gray. Drafted into the US Army in 1951, Foster served in Korea with the 7th Infantry Division.
Frank Foster photo gallery



Upon finishing his military service in 1953 he joined Count Basie's big band. Foster contributed both arrangements and original compositions to Count Basie’s band including the standard, “Shiny Stockings,” and other popular songs such as “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.

From 1970 to 1972 (and on occasional later dates) he played with Elvin Jones, and in 1972 and 1975 with the Thad Jones–Mel Lewis big band. Foster was an Artist in Residence at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1971. That same year, he also started teaching for the New York City Public School System in District 5, Harlem, as part of a team of six professional musicians assigned to the Federal Government’s Title I Program: Cultural Enrichment Through Music, Dance, and Song. From 1972 to 1976, Foster was full-time Assistant Professor in the Black Studies Program at the State College of New York at Buffalo (SUNY).

Foster also formed and lead several groups, most notably Living Color and The Loud Minority. He co-led a quintet with Frank Wess in 1983, and toured Europe as a member of Jimmy Smith's quintet in 1985.

In 1986, Foster succeeded Thad Jones as leader of the Basie band, with which he stayed until 1995. After his departure in 1995, he led various groups including the revival of

The Loud Minority.



Previously named NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster, JLCO member Joe Temperley, 2009 NEA Jazz Master Snooky Young

Frank Foster suffered a stroke in 2001 that impaired his left side to the extent that he could no longer play the saxophone. However, as of 2009 he continues to lead his bands Swing Plus and The Loud Minority on limited engagements, mostly in the New York City area. He also continues arranging and composing at his home in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he resides with his wife and personal manager of nearly 40 years, Cecilia Foster.

AWARDS AND

* Foster received 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.

* 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.

* In 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Central State (formerly Wilberforce) University.
* In 2009, Foster selected The Jazz Archive at Duke University to be the home for his numerous compositions, arrangements, and personal papers

Count Basie - Shinning Stockings
Frank Foster and the Loud Minority
Frank Foster "Shinning Stockings"
The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Frank Foster, Burghausen 199...
The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Frank Foster, Burghausen 199...
The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Frank Foster, Burghausen 199...
The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Frank Foster, Burghausen 199...
The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Frank Foster, Burghausen 199...

AS A LEADER:

* 1953: Here Comes Frank Foster (Blue Note Records)
* 1954: New Faces, New Sounds (Blue Note Records)
* 1956: Two Franks Please! (Savoy)
* 1956: No Count (Savoy)
* 1963: Basie Is Our Boss (Argo)
* 1965: Fearless Frank Foster (Prestige)
* 1966: Soul Outing! (Prestige)
* 1968: Manhattan Fever (Blue Note)
* 1969: Frank Foster (Blue Note)
* 1974: The Loud Minority (Mainstream)
* 1976: Here and Now (Catalyst)
* 1977: Shiny Stockings (Denon)
* 1978: Twelve Shades of Black (Leo)
* 1978: Roots, Branches and Dances (Bee Hive)
* 1979: Non-Electric Company (EPM Musique)
* 1982: The House That Love Built (SteepleChase)
* 1983: Two for the Blues (Pablo/OJC)
* 1984: Frankly Speaking (Concord Jazz)
* 1995: A Fresh Taste of Thad Jones and Frank Foster (Hanssler Classics)
* 1996: Leo Rising (Arabesque)
* 1998: Swing (live) (Challenge)
* 2002: Live at Feuerwache Mannheim (Bassic)
* 2003: We Do It Diff'rent (live) (Mapleshade)
* 2005: Endless Fingers (Arabesque)
* 2007: Well Water (Piadrum)

GEORGE V JOHNSON JR
Executive Director
Washington DC Jazz Network
240-691-3868

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