The Michael Foster Project

About 300 students, pre-kindergarten to fifth grade, listened to zydeco in two concerts. "It brings us to a different persepective - it's important to learn about our history," said Ursula Raygoza, a fifth-grader. - Sun-Sentinel, South Florida

Foster is the leader and sousaphone player for the Michael Foster Project, a six-piece brass band that recently released their first major album, 'Kick Some Brass, on New Orleans-based Rampart Records. The album, a mix of both standards and Foster compositions, ranging from traditional brass band sounds to straight-up funk, was recorded live at Donna's Bar and Grill, THE HEADQUARTERS FOR NEW ORLEANS BRASS BANDS."I ike the CD, " says club proprietor and Rampart Records owner Donna Sims. "I like their versatility. I feel like they have a lot of potential to take brass jazz into many different areas, including the mainstream."

- Down Beat Jazz

They are as comfortable in a nightclub setting as they are funking it up in a street parade at Mardi Gras time.

Hailing from the well-seasoned Southern musical city of Baton Rouge, LA, the Michael Foster Project is a brass-heavy group that centers its sound on urban contemporary jazz.

The Michael Foster Project, which is often compared to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, made dozens of new local fans when the group performed at the Angelic aboutmonth ago....

- Rhythm - The Capital Times Wisconsin State Journal

The oldest residents of the sleepy river town of Donaldsonville may have thought it was 1922 again when blaring brass bands played into the wee hours of the mourning as Michael Foster led his 7-piece band through the streets in a mock jazz funeral procession honoring the memory of early jazz great Claiborne Wiliams.

Foster and his Michael Foster Project were performing for the early May Heritage Days celebration honoring the cultural contribution of African-Americans to the city and surrounding area. Past Heritage Days have feted the role of the Italian and Isleno societies. Foster's concert in Louisiana Square Park featured music from be-bop to modern and ohter eras of jazz music.

- Market Bulletin - Donaldsonville, LA

The Michael Foster Project has staged something of a coup. The Baton Rouge jazz band is the first act released by a new New Orleans record company, Rampart Records.

"....they're real funky with their music too, and funk is one of the biggest markets right now. And I just like the sound of it, I like whay they do."

- The Advocate - Baton Rouge

Purists scoffed, while other lovers of New Orleans music rejoiced, when the Dirty Dozen and lesser-known innovators injected funk, R&B and pop influences into traditional brass band music beginning in the late '70s, successfully exporting that rich, party-hearty blend far beyond the confines of the Crescent City.

The Rebirth Brass Band followed suit the next decade, with an approach that was even more brash and closer to the street. The format was reinvented once more in the '90s, with the advent of a movement known as brass-hop. Rap, hip-hop, brassy horns and second-line rhythms - among other elements - mixed and mingled in the sound of such bands as disparate as Coolbone, Soul Rebels and All That, with that last group now split into two warring factions, each laying claim to the use of the name.

The Michael Foster Project, named best new brass of 1999 by influential New Orleans music magazine Offbeat, doesn't exactly throw the genre a millennial curve with "Kick Some Brass," recorded at Donna's, the popular Rampart Street nightspot known as the center of the brass-band universe.

The sextet, formed in Baton Rouge eight years ago by tuba man Michael Foster, a Texas native who has subbed in the D.J. Davis-led incarnation of All That, nods to the old-timers with gritty, reverential versions of several familiarities. "Bourbon Street Parade," "Down by the Riverside" and "When the Saints Go Marching Home" ought to strike a chord even among those whose Big Easy experience has been limited to a Hurricane-bolstered stumble down Bourbon Street.

The more intriguing material is right up front, with the cascading horns (do I hear Blood, Sweat and Tears?) and infectious punch of "Mardi Gras Funk," a showcase for the gutbucket soloing of trombonist Frank Williams, the group's best and most entertaining improviser. A similarly infectious groove is at the center of the title track, a sort of signature tune featuring boisterous unison singing.

A hip-hop thump held down by trap-kit drummer Ronald Moss provides the perfect foil for syncopated horn lines on "Big 'T' Daddy," while "Chicken Grease" slides on a soul vamp and Foster's stair-stepping sousaphone lines lift up "Cat House," which occasionally breaks open to give the drummer some. The slow-grooving "When It All Comes Together," written by Project tenor saxophonist Kier Johnson, may be the most ambitious piece, its bebop-and-beyond textures attached to a tricky, hiccuping riff.

"Kick Some Brass" amounts to a neat update on a brand of New Orleans music that may resonate long into the future, thanks to the forward-thinking ministrations of disciples like Foster and Co. Put on your parade shoes, and crank it up.
- PHILIP BOOTH - Groovewell.com

New Album slated for November

by Oneal Lengendre
Entertainment Writer
August 23, 2004


They may not be the most recognizable group within the sacred realm of Louisiana brass bands, but that does not stop The Michael Foster Project from making a name for itself.

"We want to be the official brass band of LSU," said Michael Foster, band leader and sousaphone-extraordinaire, following their Aug. 13 show at Caf? Reggae.

Judging from the size and excitement of the Friday night crowd, that goal seems to be well within reach.

The all acoustic seven piece is composed of bass sousaphonist Foster, trombonist Emanuel "Smiley" Turnipsead, saxophonist Roosevelt Rose, drummer Chris Lee, and trumpeters John Gray, Jeremy Boykins, and Emeil Turner. All of the members hail from the Baton Rouge area.

"I see a lot of friends and family here," Foster said from the stage.

The show itself indeed paid tribute to the band's roots, including songs from their first album "Kick Some Brass" while also introducing brand new compositions.

"The new album should be out in November," Foster said. "We're still finishing up some studio work."

The band was clearly set out to perform a crowd-pleasing show, prompting Gray during one song to declare "an old school dance off."

Foster began his musical career playing in the Southern University Marching Band, where he began recruiting brass players for the band. The group's marching roots soon became apparent, as several members frequently broke out into Motown-style choreographed dance steps.

"This is the first song I learned back in the marching band," the smiling Gray announced before paying tribute to his alma matta, McKinley High School, singing, "Walkin' around to the Southside."

Yet the band's musical influences extend far past halftime shows.

"We dwell on all types of music," Foster said. "Most of the guys are pretty heavy into classical and jazz."

The group powered through several R&B and jazz standards throughout the night, including songs by Earth, Wind, & Fire, Herbie Hancock, The Temptations, and a tribute to the recently departed Rick James. The sure-to-please cover of Outkast's recent hit single "Roses" closed out their second set.

All of the players showcased their ability through impressive rotating solos, including the band leader Foster, who proved the sousaphone as an unconventional but moving lead instrument.

The band's virtuosity and tightness truly shined in a slow blues stroll and in their Latin-influenced original, "Cat House." Their new songs displayed equally stellar chemistry, despite Foster explaining, "We haven't played these songs in front of people before, so go easy on us."

The Michael Foster Project is hopeful in establishing a strong following in the Baton Rouge music scene, having trouble in the past to spread their name amongst the college crowd.

"There hasn't been much of an appetite for us here," Turner said. "We're just too close to New Orleans. We've had to go into Texas, Florida and other SEC towns around the Gulf Coast to make money."

But those days can quickly be forgotten, Foster said.

The Michael Foster Project is slated to perform at the Mellow Mushroom after every home football game this season.

- The Reveille - LSU