Two-time Grammy Award winner Frank Foster is celebrating more than 55 years in music.  Foster has been going the freelance route since his resignation as leader of the Count Basie Orchestra in July 1995.  Not about to retire, Foster is busier than ever having completed an all-star quartet CD recording for the Arabesque Jazz label, and performed with his quartet, The Non-Electric Company on the Queen Elizabeth 2 for the first Newport Jazz Festival at Sea.  In 1997, Frank Foster and The Loud Minority  (19-piece big band) performed at the 50th Anniversary of Jackie Robinson at the Jackie Robinson Foundation Jazz Festival and at European Jazz Festivals where it did a battle of the bands with the Woody Herman Orchestra.  Foster has also launched his 10-piece dance band.......SWING PLUS.

A member of the famous Count Basie Orchestra from 1953 to 1964, Foster contributed extensively to the band's repertoire through many compositions and arrangements.  During that period he appeared with the orchestra on every major television show, including those of Jackie Gleason, Dinah Shore, Perry Como and others, as well as appearing in two Jerry Lewis films, Cinderfella and Sex and the Single Girl.  Foster has worked with and arranged for such notables as Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Eckstine, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band under the direction of Jon Faddis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis.  In addition to his own groups, Foster has toured with Clark Terry, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Duke Pearson, Elvin Jones,  Johnny Richards, Woody Herman, Lloyd Price, The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra.

After a 22-year absence, Foster took over leadership of the Count Basie Orchestra in June 1986, in time to celebrate the orchestra's 50th anniversary.  During the nine years he led the orchestra, he received two Grammy Awards, the first was for his arrangement of the Diane Schuur composition "Deedles Blues" for Best Arrangement accompanying a vocal, and the second for his arrangement of the George Benson composition "Basie's Bag" as Best Instrumental Arrangement; this arrangement appeared on the Benson/Basie Warner Brothers CD, Big Boss Band.  Foster also received two Grammy nominations, the first for his arrangement of "Beyond The Sea", Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocal, found on George Benson's 20/20 album for Warner Brothers, and also for an album with Frank Wess on Pablo Records, Frankly Speaking for Best Performance by a Jazz Combo.  Foster has arranged music for Quincy Jones and some of his arrangements can be heard in Spike Lee's movie Mo' Better Blues.

Foster was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music Degree from his Alma Mater, Central State University; Wilberforce, Ohio.  He also received a Ph.D. in Humane Letters from the College of Saint Rose; Albany, New York.

Foster resides in Chesapeake, VA with Cecilia, his wife/manager of more than 35 years.

On January 11, 2002, Frank Foster received the American Jazz Masters Fellowship award from The National Endowment For The Arts. He was one of three recipients of the fellowship, presented at a ceremony hosted by The International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) during its annual conference, this year held at the Long Beach, California Convention Center. The other two recipients were renowned jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, and acclaimed bassist Percy Heath, of Modern Jazz Quartet fame. Each of the three received $20,000 with the 2002 fellowship award. Incidentally, Frank Foster was an outgoing panelist on The National Endowment for the Arts Jazz panel when the Jazz Masters Fellowship award was established in 1982. Since that year, three deserving artists from the jazz community have been chosen annually to receive the one-time award.