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."
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1928, Frank Benjamin Foster III began his long musical career at age 11, taking up the clarinet. Two years later he began playing alto saxophone on the recommendation of his clarinet instructor. Soon afterward, he had advanced technically on saxophone to the point of performing with local dance bands at age 14. He began composing and arranging when he was 15, later leading his own 12- piece band during his senior year in high school.
Dr. Foster is celebrating more than 65 years in music. A member of the world famous Count Basie Orchestra from 1953 to 1964, he achieved numerous other career highlights, including stints with The Lloyd Price Big Band, Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, Woody Herman and his Orchestra, and The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. In addition, Foster has performed with bands led by Johnny Richards, Duke Pearson, Benny Goodman, and Peter Duchin. Foster was also a member of late renowned drummer Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine.
In June 1986, Foster took over the leadership of The Count Basie Orchestra, succeeding Thad Jones. While leading the Basie Orchestra, Dr. Foster received two Grammy Awards: the first for his big band arrangement of the Diane Schuur composition Deedle's Blues (Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, Jazz category, 1987), and the second for his arrangement of the renowned guitarist/vocalist George Benson's composition Basie's Bag (Best Big Band Instrumental, Jazz category, 1988). He has also received two Grammy nominations: one for his arrangement of Charles Trenet's composition Beyond The Sea, as sung by George Benson, and the other for an album recorded with his fellow Basie alumnus Frank Wess, entitled Frankly Speaking on Pablo Records, 1985.
Resigning after nine years as leader of The Count Basie Orchestra in 1995, Foster resumed his leadership of three musical groups, The Non-Electric Company, Swing Plus, and The Loud Minority Big Band, each of which he had organized years prior to assuming leadership of the Basie unit.
Frank Foster has received numerous writing commissions, including: the Carnegie Hall Jazz Ensemble (Giant Steps, Countdown, Fascinating Rhythm, Satin Doll, Parker's Mood, Quasimodo); The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (various Basie standards, Nica's Dream and I Love You (Based on Your Availability), Romance Without Substance Is a Nuisance); the Malaysia Filharmonik (Shiny Stockings, Blues In Hoss' Flat, Corner Pocket, Li'l' Darlin', and Basie); The Harpers Ferry Historical Association of Harpers Ferry (Niagra Movement suite); and, in March of 2009, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, performed a three-part suite by Dr. Foster titled Chi-Town Is My Town and My Town's No Shy Town.
In 2001, Foster suffered a stroke and the left side of his body remains paralyzed, leaving him unable to play the saxophone. Subsequently, he disbanded the quartet, quintet and Swing Plus. Foster's Loud Minority Big Band still performs for limited engagements, mostly in the New York City area.
The National Endowment for the Arts presented Dr. Foster with its NEA Jazz Masters Award in 2002.
Foster continues composing and arranging at his home in Chesapeake, Va., where he resides with his wife and personal manager of nearly 45 years, Cecilia Foster.
Previous Living Legacy Award winners include Kenny Barron, Benny Golson, Oliver Lake, Rufus Reid, Randy Weston, Keter Betts, Jimmy Heath, Joe Kennedy, Jr., Shirley Scott, Reggie Workman, Dr. Donald Byrd, Larry Ridley, Barry Harris, Robert "Boysie" Lowery, and Clark Terry. A Millennium Award was conferred on Dr. Billy Taylor in 2000.
This program is made possible through a collaboration with the Kennedy Center Education Department.
About The Bank of New York Mellon
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company focused on helping clients manage and service their financial assets, operating in 34 countries and serving more than 100 markets. The company is a leading provider of financial services for institutions, corporations and high-net-worth individuals, providing superior asset management and wealth management, asset servicing, issuer services, clearing services and treasury services through a worldwide client-focused team. It has $19.5 trillion in assets under custody and administration, $881 billion in assets under management, services more than $11 trillion in outstanding debt and processes global payments averaging $1.8 trillion per day.
About Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation supports the richness and diversity of the region's arts resources and promotes wider access to the art and artists of the region, nation and world. The region includes nine states and jurisdictions that are closely related by geography or culture: District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, and West Virginia.
