Frank Foster (b. Frank Foster (born 21 September 1928) was an American tenor, soprano saxophonist and arranger. He is also a composer. Although his playing style is influenced by John Coltrane’s, it has remained his own. Foster was born in Cincinnati and attended Wilberforce University. He began his career in Detroit in 1949 with Wardell Gray and then joined Basie’s big-band band after completing his military service. Foster was not only a great tenor player, but he also contributed original arrangements and arrangements to the band’s book. His most well-known composition is “Shiny Stockings”, and he quit Basie in 1964 to become a freelance composer. He provided material for stars like Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, and others. He had worked outside of Basie during his time there, including a session with Thelonious in 1954. He played with Elvin Jones from 1970 to 1972, as well as on a few later dates. In 1972 and 1975, he was part of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis bigband. He also led small groups and The Loud Minority and Living Color big bands. These two large groups toured Europe and Japan. He was a member of Jimmy Smith’s quintet, which toured Europe in 1985. Foster succeeded Thad Jones in 1986 as the leader of The Basie Band. He stayed with them until 1995. Since then, he has been involved in various small groups and revived The Loud Minority. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
