Herman Foster

Herman Foster (born April 26, 1928 in Philadelphia , † April 3, 1999 in New York City ) was an American jazz pianist and composer .

Foster's family moved to New York City in 1947; there he worked from the late 1950s in the bands of Lou Donaldson , for whom he composed titles such as Herman's Mambo, Day Dreams or I'll Always Want You Near . In addition to Donaldson's albums such as Blues Walk ( Blue-Note , 1958), Cole Slaw (Argo, 1964) or Blowing in the Wind (Cadet, 1967), he also worked on recordings by King Curtis ( Have Tenor Sax, Will Blow , 1958), Earl May , Gloria Lynne and Jean DuShon with. In the early 1960s he recorded with Al Casey and his own trio (consisting of Earl May and Frankie Dunlop ) for Epic Records ; from 1981 he worked again at Donaldson.

Discographic notes

Have You Heard (Epic Records, 1960)
The Explosive Piano of Herman Foster (Epic, 1961), with Grassella Oliphant and Earl May
Ready and Willing ( Argo , 1963)
The One and Only ( Timeless Records , 1984)

Trivia

Herman Foster was completely blind - according to his slightly confused information, both eyeballs were pushed out of their sockets by an (unskilled) midwife with childbirth forceps. Nevertheless, he recognized me immediately when I greeted him more than 3 years after his Jazzland guest performance with a simple: “Herman!” - “Axel, what are you doin 'in New York !!!” Also that he had the US banknotes Being able to distinguish perfectly despite their identical size was almost inexplicable .... - other musicians ( Blind John Davis ) complained bitterly that they were often paid “singles” as “tens” ..... (Axel Melhardt - Vienna )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Foster, Herman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 26, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH	Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH	April 3, 1999
Place of death	New York City