AL FOSTER – Live At Smoke – 2LP – 180g Vinyl [DEC 5]

2LP – Limited Edition 180g Black Vinyl (500). Mastered by Chris Allen, Michael Fossenkemper & Tyler McDiarmid and pressed by MPO in France. Features liner notes by Nate Chinen and photography by Jimmy & Dena Katz and Dave Kaufman.

An all-star birthday celebration for the late, great Al Foster at Smoke Jazz Club is captured on the master drummers joyous new album, LIVE AT SMOKE – featuring saxophonist Chris Potter, pianist Brad Mehldau and bassist Joe Martin

For more than a decade, the legendary drummer Al Foster had regularly convened an all-star band to celebrate his birthday on stage at Smoke Jazz Club. This years festivities, honouring Fosters 82nd trip around the sun, was particularly special. The band that gathered to both honour and inspire the master drummer featured an incomparable line-up; the music that was sparked by the occasion and by their interplay was luminous, as evidenced by the performances captured on this spirited new live album. Sadly, Foster passed away on May 28, before the music could be released.

The powerhouse tenor saxophonist Chris Potter was a regular at these birthday celebrations, carrying on a collaboration that spanned over 30 years. Joining him and Foster onstage this year also included the acclaimed pianist Brad Mehldau and the impeccable bassist Joe Martin, playing before a packed house of music lovers, family, and friends.

The joyous, raucous, and swinging celebration is captured on the exhilarating LIVE AT SMOKE. The album reveals Foster in magnificent form, as he propels the band with his distinctive, eloquent sense of swing on a set of originals and classics including some by the jazz giants who enlisted the drummer to make his mark on their own work.

Potter reflects on his long and formative history with Foster in Nate Chinens liner notes for the album. Its funny to think that Al was probably around my age now when I first started playing with him, the saxophonist mused. We all have enough experience now, the younger members of the band, that were not necessarily trying to prove everything, or reinvent the wheel. Weve been working on a concept for many years, and theres a lot of history between us. So, theres a comfort levelbut not in a coasting kind of way at all. This is some very focused music-making.

Tracklist:

1.Amsterdam Blues
2.Unrequited
3.E.S.P.
4.Old Folks
5.Pent-Up House
6.Simone’s Dance
7.Everything Happens to Me
8.Satellite
9.Malida

CHRIS POTTER tenor & soprano saxophones
BRAD MEHLDAU piano
JOE MARTIN bass
AL FOSTER drums

Recorded Live on January 18 & 19, 2025
at SMOKE Jazz Club, New York City

Produced by Paul Stache
Production Assisted by Damon Smith
Recorded by Paul Stache & Richard Bernard
Mixed by Chris Allen
Mastered by Chris Allen & Tyler McDiarmid
Cover photograph by Jimmy & Dena Katz
Inside photograph by Dave Kaufman
Liner notes by Nate Chinen

Chris Potter appears courtesy of Edition Records
Brad Mehldau appears courtesy of Nonesuch Records

Executive Producers: Paul Stache & Molly Johnson

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