Frank Foster papers, 1930-2013 and undated, bulk 1950s-2009

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Summary

Creator:
Foster, Frank, 1928-2011
Abstract:
Frank B. Foster III is a saxophonist, flautist, big band leader, educator, and Grammy Award-winning jazz composer and arranger, professionally active in music since the 1940s. The Frank Foster Papers consist chiefly of scores and parts composed or arranged by Foster for big bands and other large jazz ensembles from the 1950s through 2009. Also present are personal files consisting of correspondence, photographs, business records, publicity, reviews, and news clippings; and subject files on musical collaborations, music teaching, organizations and individuals, and family history.
Extent:
60.5 Linear Feet
Approximately 2,050 items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00408

Background

Scope and content:

The Frank Foster Papers span the dates 1930 to 2013, with the bulk of the materials dating from the 1950s to 2009. The papers consist chiefly of scores and parts composed or arranged by Foster for big bands and other large jazz ensembles, including works written for the Count Basie Orchestra in the 1950s-1960s and again in the 1980s-1990s, as well as works for The Loud Minority, and numerous other bands and organizations for which Foster was commissioned to compose. The collection is arranged in the following series: Compositions by Frank Foster, Compositions by Others, Personal Files, and Audio and Moving Image Materials. The compositions series are organized into Letter-Sized, Legal-Sized and Oversized subseries. The personal files consist of autobiographical writings, correspondence, photographs, business records, publicity, reviews, and news clippings; and subject files on musical collaborations, music teaching, organizations and individuals, and family history. Audio and moving image materials are primarily concert recordings featuring Foster from the 1970s through the 1990s. Acquired as part of the Jazz Archive at Duke University.

Biographical / historical:

Frank B. Foster, III was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 23, 1928. He attended Wilberforce University and in 1949 moved to Detroit and began playing in jazz clubs with musicians such as Wardell Gray. He was drafted into the military in 1951 and served in Korea.

In the early 1950s his first two solo albums were released on Blue Note Records: "Here Comes Frank Foster" (1953) and "New Faces, New Sounds" (1954). He was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1953-1964, contributing both arrangements and original compositions including the well-known "Shiny Stockings, ""Down for the Count, ""Blues Backstage, ""Back to the Apple, " and "Discommotion, " as well as arrangements for the band's "Easin' It" album. Foster has also performed in bands including The Lloyd Price Big Band, Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, Woody Herman and his Orchestra, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, and Elvin Jones's Jazz Machine. By the 1970s Foster formed several groups on his own, including The Non-Electric Company, Living Color and The Loud Minority. In 1980, Foster's "Lake Placid Suite" was performed as a part of the Winter Olympic Games, and in 1983 Dizzy Gillespie personally commissioned Foster to orchestrate one of the jazz icon's compositions, "Con Alma, " for a scheduled performance and recording with The London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Robert Farnon. In 1986 Foster succeeded Thad Jones as the leader of the Count Basie Orchestra, and remained with the band until 1995. During that time he won two Grammy Awards for his arrangements of "Deedles' Blues" (1987) and "Basie's Bag" (1988).

Foster's career also included a strong interest in teaching. In 1971 he served as Artist-In-Residence for the New England Conservatory of Music. He also began teaching music for the N.Y. Public Schools in Harlem under the Title I program, "Cultural Enrichment Through Music, Dance, and Song." From 1972 to 1976, Foster was an Assistant Professor in the Black Studies Program at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY). He has also worked as an adjunct professor at institutions including The New School for Social Research and New York University. In 1987, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Central State (formerly Wilberforce) University.

During his long musical career, Foster has been commissioned to compose and arrange works for The Carnegie Hall Jazz Ensemble, The Detroit Civic Symphony Orchestra, The Jazzmobile Corporation of New York City, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, The Harpers Ferry Historical Association, The Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and many others. In 2002 Foster received the Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In 2001 he suffered a stroke that impaired his left side and caused him to cease performing on saxophone. He continues to compose and arrange for a variety of bands and leads a revival of The Loud Minority in limited engagements.

Selected Discography
Date Event
1953
Here Comes Frank Foster (Blue Note)
1954
New Faces, New Sounds (Blue Note)
1956
Two Franks Please! (Savoy)
1956
No Count (Savoy)
1963
Basie Is Our Boss (Argo)
1965
Fearless Frank Foster (Prestige)
1969
Frank Foster (Blue Note)
1974
The Loud Minority (Mainstream)
1977
Shiny Stockings (Denon)
1979
Non-Electric Company (EPM Musique)
1982
The House That Love Built (SteepleChase)
1983
Two for the Blues (Pablo/OJC)
1984
Frankly Speaking (Concord Jazz)
1995
A Fresh Taste of Thad Jones and Frank Foster (Hanssler Classics)
1996
Leo Rising (Arabesque)
1998
Swing (live) (Challenge)
2002
Live at Feuerwache Mannheim (Bassic)
2003
We Do It Diff'rent (live) (Mapleshade)
2005
Endless Fingers (Arabesque
2007
Well Water (Piadrum)
Acquisition information:
The Frank Foster Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2009, 2010, and 2017.
Processing information:

Processed by Senem Acar, July 2009; George Lam and Zeke Graves, July 2010; Laurin Penland, July 2017.

Encoded by Paula Jeannet, July 2009; and George Lam, July 2010.

Accessions 2009-0122, 2010-0087, and 2017-0085 are described in this finding aid.

Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Music -- Instruction and study
Jazz musicians
Jazz
Composers -- United States
Swing (Music)
Saxophonists -- United States
Names:
Loud Minority (Musical group)
Count Basie Orchestra
Foster, Frank, 1928-2011

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Frank Foster Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University