Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
In Memoriam: Al Foster, 1943–2025
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
“Summer on the Plaza,” a free concert series on the Grace Building plaza in Manhattan, will feature the Henry Grimes Quartet on July 17.
Grimes’s musical career has been somewhat of an anomaly. It began brilliantly, with the Julliard-educated bassist laying it down on some 50 albums between the mid ‘50s and mid ‘60s, including those of Coleman Hawkins, Sonny Rollins and McCoy Tyner. But Grimes fell into obscurity, for years working as a manual laborer, after he couldn’t afford necessary repairs for his bass.
Armed with a new instrument—a gift from William Parker—Grimes emerged to begin playing music again in 2003. Since then, he has played and taught internationally, to wide critical acclaim.
His quartet includes tenor man J.D. Allen, trumpeter James Zollar and drummer Newman Taylor Baker. The concert, presented by Brookfield Properties and The International Center of Photography, is a musical salute to African-American heroes and heroines portrayed in the International Center of Photography exhibit “Let Your Motto Be Resistance.”
For more details, visit icp.org. DB
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
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