Al Foster

Biography

Foster was born in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up in New York. He began playing drums at the age of 13 and made his recording debut with Blue Mitchell at 21.

He joined Miles Davis's group when Jack DeJohnette left in 1972, and played with Davis until 1985. In his 1989 autobiography, Davis described the first time he heard Foster play live in 1972 at the Cellar Club in Manhattan: "He [Foster] knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there. That was the kind of thing I was looking for. Al could set it up for everybody else to play-off and just keep the groove going forever."

Foster began composing in the 1970s, and has toured with his own band, including musicians such as bassist Doug Weiss, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, and pianist Adam Birnbaum.

As leader

As sideman

With Kenny Barron

With Joanne Brackeen

With Miles Davis

With Tommy Flanagan

With Dexter Gordon

With Jimmy Heath

With Joe Henderson

With Illinois Jacquet

With Duke Jordan

With Yusef Lateef

With Dave Liebman

With Ronnie Mathews

With Blue Mitchell

With Art Pepper

With Sonny Rollins

With Bud Shank

With McCoy Tyner

With Cedar Walton

With Steve Kuhn

With others