Al Foster, whose superbly alert and flexible drumming formed a swirling current in modern jazz for more than 60 years, propelling bands led by Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and many others, died on Wednesday in his New York City apartment. He was 82.
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Double Bass Al Foster, RIP
- Thread starter Don Kasper
- Start date
When I came to New York in ‘84 he was everywhere with everyone. The first times I saw George Coleman, Tommy Flanagan, Bobby Hutcherson, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock and of course Joe Henderson, Al was playing with them. The weeks that he and Joe and Ron were at the Vanguard, if the choice was between eating and going to the club, I went to the club, and that’s really not much of an exaggeration. Some of the things I saw and heard them do are things I will never ever forget, like Al riding on his Chinese cymbal during a literally unbelievable version of Ask Me Now (just typing those words raised the hair on my arms and neck). I got to play with him twice, the first time on tenor after Chris Potter had left his band, his long time bass player and straw boss Doug Weiss got me on a group audition alongside Jimmy Greene and John Ellis. I didn’t get the gig (none of us did), but it was still a pretty great afternoon. The second time I played with him was completely insane, I subbed for David Wong in Jimmy Heath’s group at the Vanguard on a Sunday night. Al was in great shape after having played all week (as was Jimmy and Jeb Patton), and playing with him was a dream and a dream come true. New York will never be the same, R.I.P Al Foster
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Just heard about this. Listening to him on those 70s Miles albums playing simple backbeats underneath all the chaos on top and then listening to him playing straight ahead…what a great drummer.
I’ve been listening to this over and over, I can’t get enough of it, it’s just insane. Three of the all time greats in full flight
Got a Henderson box set in the '90s, and if it had been vinyl rather than CD, it'd be worn out.
