The Michael Foster Project

The leader of this multi-genre group, Michael Foster started playing music at a young age. He attended Southern University were he was a member of the “Human Jukebox” (S.U. Marching Band).

Foster’s band-mates, many of them also music teachers and band directors, got together at Southern. “We met at the department of music,” Foster says, “and in the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity.” The band initially included Frank Williams on trombone and keyboards, as well as sharing composing and arranging duties with Foster; tenor saxophonist Kier Johnson; altoist Fred Jackson; Wendell Tilford playing trumpet; and Ronald Moss on drums and percussion. Foster says he was introduced to the funky grooves of brass jazz by his old roommate at Southern, Julius McKee. “We were both sousaphone players,” Foster says, “He was from New Orleans, and he introduced me to the Dirty Dozen brass band. We used to sit in our room listening to those tapes until they wore out.”

The listening sessions paid off. McKee is now the sousaphone player with the Dirty Dozen, and he also introduced Foster to Donna Sims. Ms. Sims would go on to start up the Rampart Record Label and Record the Michael Foster Project’s debut release, “Kick Some Brass.” The Project was voted “Best New Brass Band or Performer,” after the release by OFFBEAT Magazine’s “Best of the Beat” awards. In addition, one of the tracks recorded (“Chicken Grease”) was included on WWOZ’s “Sounds of New Orleans” compilation CD ..13, in the Spring of 2000. The response to their debut release would also trigger innumerable comparisons to the Dirty Dozen.

Michael Foster’s work with his group has earned him recognition by the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, as their Arts Ambassador. He has gone into school systems around the south talking to young students about the importance and traditions of jazz music, as well as inspiring them to practice and keep the music alive. Over time the Michael Foster Project has had a plethora of talent to perform with, as members of the group. They include Maurice Brown, Simon Lott, Chris Lee, Quamon Fowler, and many others. The core group now consist of Doug Gay on drums; John Gray on trumpet; Emanuel Turnipseed on trombone; and the leader himself Michael Foster on Sousaphone, electric bass, and acoustic bass. The Michael Foster Project has also joined the Continuum Music family, with plans on recording in 2004. Discography: “Kick Some Brass” – Rampart Records “Weapons of Brass Destruction” – Continuum Music/Big Bell Music