By now anyone who would read this site has heard that Al Foster passed away. Here are some notices: Ethan Iverson | Downbeat | NPR | WBGO – Foster @ The Village Vanguard in 2012 […]
Category: Al Foster
Daily best music in the world: Al a la Roy
An interesting recording here, featuring Al Foster sounding for all the world like Roy Haynes— with the snappy, aggressive snare drum, occasional flamboyant tom tom moves, with a broken/open time feel the whole time. Much […]
Very occasional quote of the day: sound and touch
“I’m not happy with my sound at all. I wish I sounded like Art Blakey or Elvin Jones. You have to be born with a certain feel or touch. Blakey had that African sound. It […]
Transcription: Roy Haynes – It’s Time
Roy Haynes playing behind Herbie Hancock’s solo, on the title track of Jackie McLean’s record It’s Time. There’s a lot of what people call “broken” time here, and meter-within-meter playing. The tune is in 4, […]
From the zone: Al Foster intro
Hey, it looks like everyone but me is getting a lot writing done right now. I have a couple more of these “from the zone” items to share— a series where people send in their […]
Transcription: Al Foster – Egg Head
A smoking short drum solo by Al Foster, playing with Cecil Payne and Duke Jordan on their album Brooklyn Brothers. The tune is Egg Head, a little three minute burner. It’s a blues, and Foster […]
Transcription: Al Foster — Pannonica
Oh, what the hey, hot on the heels of our Frankie Dunlop transcription of Pannonica, here’s Al Foster playing the same tune, the way I like to play it, in the original slow 4. It’s […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Foster — Billy Preston
Must play more music where I can just leave the hihats open all day. This is Al Foster’s groove on the tune Billy Preston, on the Miles Davis album Get Up With It; kind of […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Foster — Chick’s Tune
I was working on our upcoming Book of Intros, and came across this cool Latin groove from a teenage Al Foster, playing on Blue Mitchell’s album The Thing To Do. The tune is Chick’s Tune, […]
VOQOTD: Al Foster on taste
“I’m trying to play less when keeping time behind a soloist,” Foster says, “not answering every phrase with the left hand and bass drum. You want to be on it, but not on everything. I’m […]
VOQOTD: Al Foster’s listening habits
From the Small’s interview archive: “He’s in it all the time. He’s listening all the time. He’s got kind of a small range of stuff he listens to over and over again: Monk, Bird, earlier […]
Groove o’ the day: Al Foster – Rated X
As promised– or hinted at, rather– here is Al Foster’s hip and unusual groove from Miles Davis’s Rated X, from the record Get Up With It: As you can hear, the 1 and the 4 […]