Frank Foster gave Count Basie some of his greatest hits, most notably Shiny Stockings.
Frank Foster, who has died of kidney failure aged 82, was a tenor saxophonist of "devastating skill", a composer and arranger of enduring quality, and, later in his career, a successful bandleader. Principally known for his 11-year involvement with the Count Basie orchestra, Foster was with the band at the same time as another tenor saxophonist, Frank Wess. Usually matched one against the other, the Two Franks, as they became known, added valuably to Basie's audience appeal, soloing in tandem in exciting fashion. The composer Neal Hefti was moved to write Two Franks as a feature for them.
Foster was from Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father was employed by the US postal service and his mother was a social worker. Put to the piano early on, he soon graduated to the clarinet and was playing in a local group, Jack Jackson and his Jumping Jacks, by his mid-teens, later forming (and writing for) his own big band while at high school. By now a convert to the alto saxophone, Foster decided to study music and enrolled at the all-black Wilberforce University in Ohio, having been turned down by the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music on racial grounds. Ironically, the conservatory honoured him in 1987 when he performed with their student jazz ensemble.
While at Wilberforce, he began to tour as principal soloist and arranger with the university's dance band, the Collegians. Winners of the annual Negro College Dance Band Poll (sponsored by the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper) in 1947, the Collegians' prize was a week's engagement at the Savoy Ballroom, in Harlem, New York, coupled with a Carnegie Hall engagement. Committed to a professional jazz career and having moved over to the tenor saxophone, Foster left Wilberforce in 1949 without completing his degree, to make for Detroit and its bustling African-American jazz scene. He was hired to play at Detroit's celebrated Blue Bird club, then the centre of modern jazz in the city, and performed alongside visiting star players, such as the tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray who, with Sonny Stitt, was his principal early influence.
Inducted into the US Army in March 1951, during the Korean war, and eventually released in May 1953, Foster, who had continued to play in various army ensembles, joined the Basie band two months later. Basie had long embraced the idea of "tenor battles", a concept that had started with Herschel Evans and Lester Young in the 1930s, and was only too pleased to pit Wess and Foster against each other. Foster's was the more contemporary approach and he soon began to gain attention for his technical command and vigorous bebop solo style, while also attracting approval from Basie for his arranging skills. "Count would accept anything that swung and was simple," Foster told the writer Steve Voce.
Foster produced a near-complete library for the band, usually writing his charts on the band bus or in hotels. On the way he gave Basie some of his greatest hits, most notably Shiny Stockings, a medium groover which Foster said was inspired by the sheen on his first wife's hosiery. Other notable successes were All Right, OK, You Win for the band singer Joe Williams, Blues in Hoss' Flat, Down for the Count and Blues Backstage. It is no exaggeration to say that Foster's original compositions and arrangements played a key part in the late 1950s resurgence in Basie's career.
Foster, who had already recorded under his own name and as a sideman on many hard bop albums under leaders as varied as Thelonious Monk, Kenny Burrell and Milt Jackson, left the Basie band in summer 1964 to freelance. Anxious to capitalise on the newer trends in jazz, Foster formed a number of occasional bands, including his Loud Minority Big Band, while playing with other New York orchestras and working frequently with the drummer Elvin Jones's groups.
A regular on the European festival circuit, he appeared at the Capital Jazz festival at Knebworth, Hertfordshire, in 1982 and seemed set to continue his freelance teaching and performing career until he received a call from the Basie office. Following Basie's death in 1984, the trumpeter Thad Jones had fronted the Basie "ghost" band; taken ill in 1986, Jones relinquished the post and Foster took over.
He directed the orchestra for the next nine years, refreshing its repertoire while giving due respect to its classic numbers, and was adamant that it "was no ghost band" when I spoke to him. If some of the Basie veterans were uneasy about his innovations, the young trumpeter Byron Stripling appreciated Foster's "looser sense of leadership". During his time, the band continued to tour around the world, including in Britain, and to make substantial albums such as The Legend, the Legacy (1989) on Denon, which featured Foster's Count Basie Remembrance Suite.
Eventually, Foster stood down and reverted to his role as a busy freelancer, publishing three books of his arrangements and earning many accolades and awards, including two Grammys. He was made a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2002. Powerfully built, he exuded energy and drive, was approachable and cordial, and was hugely respected by his peers. After suffering a stroke in 2001, Foster ceased to play the saxophone, but continued to write and lead his big band.
He is survived by his second wife (and manager), Cecilia, and their daughter, Andrea, and son, Frank IV; by two sons from his first marriage; and by six grandchildren.
• Frank Benjamin Foster, jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader, born 23 September 1928; died 26 July 2011.
Foster was from Cincinnati, Ohio, where his father was employed by the US postal service and his mother was a social worker. Put to the piano early on, he soon graduated to the clarinet and was playing in a local group, Jack Jackson and his Jumping Jacks, by his mid-teens, later forming (and writing for) his own big band while at high school. By now a convert to the alto saxophone, Foster decided to study music and enrolled at the all-black Wilberforce University in Ohio, having been turned down by the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music on racial grounds. Ironically, the conservatory honoured him in 1987 when he performed with their student jazz ensemble.
While at Wilberforce, he began to tour as principal soloist and arranger with the university's dance band, the Collegians. Winners of the annual Negro College Dance Band Poll (sponsored by the Pittsburgh Courier newspaper) in 1947, the Collegians' prize was a week's engagement at the Savoy Ballroom, in Harlem, New York, coupled with a Carnegie Hall engagement. Committed to a professional jazz career and having moved over to the tenor saxophone, Foster left Wilberforce in 1949 without completing his degree, to make for Detroit and its bustling African-American jazz scene. He was hired to play at Detroit's celebrated Blue Bird club, then the centre of modern jazz in the city, and performed alongside visiting star players, such as the tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray who, with Sonny Stitt, was his principal early influence.
Inducted into the US Army in March 1951, during the Korean war, and eventually released in May 1953, Foster, who had continued to play in various army ensembles, joined the Basie band two months later. Basie had long embraced the idea of "tenor battles", a concept that had started with Herschel Evans and Lester Young in the 1930s, and was only too pleased to pit Wess and Foster against each other. Foster's was the more contemporary approach and he soon began to gain attention for his technical command and vigorous bebop solo style, while also attracting approval from Basie for his arranging skills. "Count would accept anything that swung and was simple," Foster told the writer Steve Voce.
Foster produced a near-complete library for the band, usually writing his charts on the band bus or in hotels. On the way he gave Basie some of his greatest hits, most notably Shiny Stockings, a medium groover which Foster said was inspired by the sheen on his first wife's hosiery. Other notable successes were All Right, OK, You Win for the band singer Joe Williams, Blues in Hoss' Flat, Down for the Count and Blues Backstage. It is no exaggeration to say that Foster's original compositions and arrangements played a key part in the late 1950s resurgence in Basie's career.
Foster, who had already recorded under his own name and as a sideman on many hard bop albums under leaders as varied as Thelonious Monk, Kenny Burrell and Milt Jackson, left the Basie band in summer 1964 to freelance. Anxious to capitalise on the newer trends in jazz, Foster formed a number of occasional bands, including his Loud Minority Big Band, while playing with other New York orchestras and working frequently with the drummer Elvin Jones's groups.
A regular on the European festival circuit, he appeared at the Capital Jazz festival at Knebworth, Hertfordshire, in 1982 and seemed set to continue his freelance teaching and performing career until he received a call from the Basie office. Following Basie's death in 1984, the trumpeter Thad Jones had fronted the Basie "ghost" band; taken ill in 1986, Jones relinquished the post and Foster took over.
He directed the orchestra for the next nine years, refreshing its repertoire while giving due respect to its classic numbers, and was adamant that it "was no ghost band" when I spoke to him. If some of the Basie veterans were uneasy about his innovations, the young trumpeter Byron Stripling appreciated Foster's "looser sense of leadership". During his time, the band continued to tour around the world, including in Britain, and to make substantial albums such as The Legend, the Legacy (1989) on Denon, which featured Foster's Count Basie Remembrance Suite.
Eventually, Foster stood down and reverted to his role as a busy freelancer, publishing three books of his arrangements and earning many accolades and awards, including two Grammys. He was made a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2002. Powerfully built, he exuded energy and drive, was approachable and cordial, and was hugely respected by his peers. After suffering a stroke in 2001, Foster ceased to play the saxophone, but continued to write and lead his big band.
He is survived by his second wife (and manager), Cecilia, and their daughter, Andrea, and son, Frank IV; by two sons from his first marriage; and by six grandchildren.
• Frank Benjamin Foster, jazz saxophonist, composer and bandleader, born 23 September 1928; died 26 July 2011.
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