UPDATE:
Al Foster died on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. He was 82. Bonnie Rose Steinberg, his partner of more than 47 years, confirmed his death to NPR Music. She said Foster died from a serious illness.
Al Foster performed live at the Village Vanguard in 2012, and the session was recorded and hosted by WBGO and NPR Music.
The great drummer Al Foster was with us when WBGO and NPR Music first webcast live from the Village Vanguard, back in May 2008. Of course, he has a much longer history than we've kept; he's played on no fewer than six "live at the Village Vanguard" commercial albums, and he says he made his debut at the venerated club with Sonny Rollins in the late 1960s. That is, he's performed with the best of the best for longer than either WBGO or NPR have existed. Oh, and he was the drummer for some guy named Miles Davis for more than a decade.
Foster earned his reputation as a sideman, but he's had the opportunity to lead a band in recent years — a band with a recently reconfigured lineup of young guns. WBGO and NPR Music present a live radio broadcast and video webcast of the new Al Foster Quartet live at the Village Vanguard.
Personnel
- Al Foster, drums
- JD Allen, tenor saxophone
- Adam Birnbaum, piano
- Dezron Douglas, bass
Set List
Compositions by Al Foster unless otherwise indicated.
- "Aloysius"
- "Little B's Poem" (Hutcherson)
- "Con Alma" (Gillespie)
- "Peter's Mood"
- "It Could Happen To You" (Van Heusen/Burke)
- "Oooh What You Do To Me"
- "St. Thomas" (Rollins)
Credits
Producer And Host: Josh Jackson; Audio Engineer: David Tallacksen; Production Assistant: Michael Downes; Moderator: Lara Pellegrinelli. Recorded March 7, 2012 at The Village Vanguard in New York, N.Y.
Copyright 2012 WBGO
