Players

From session bassist to composer, producer to author, over the last five decades Mo Foster has occupied a seminal position among session musicians. But how do you even begin to quantify a 50-year career with Gerry Rafferty, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Frida Lyngstad of ABBA, Ringo Starr, Van Morrison, Joan Armatrading and many more?

Christina Jansen, cjansenphotography.com

MO FOSTER

Interview: Phil Mann Photography Courtesy of Mo Foster

Do yourself a favour and pick up Mo Foster & Friends In Concert, which its creator hails as “some of the very best musicianship that I’ve ever captured on one of my own recordings”. On the eve of release of the album, Mo takes time out to reflect with BP on his diverse portfolio, kicking off with a snapshot of life in Swinging London.

“In the mid-Sixties, you have to understand that there was jazz and then there was rock. They were two separate genres of music that had nothing to do with one another – at that time, there was no crossover. It wasn’t until a couple of albums by Miles Davis and Blood, Sweat & Tears that the artistic lines began to blur. Davis bought in electric piano and electric bass, which nobody had ever heard, let alone contemplated before.”

How did Mo enter this fertile music world, we ask? “At university we had a jazz trio. Linda [Hoyle, singer] was first introduced to us through our keyboard player, and we spent the summer of 1968 rehearsing. Our band Affinity was born, and we were immediately signed to a manager, Ronnie Scott. The project came as a result of attempting to delve into both rock and jazz camps, so essentially, we were playing jazz-rock for the first time”.

This was a truly seminal time to be an active musician in the capital. “Indeed, we regularly played Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, and even found ourselves supporting the great Stan Getz’s quartet. I remember one afternoon seeing Jack DeJohnette practising straight 16ths patterns prior to a show, and six months later he was delivering it on Bitches Brew with Miles. What I had unintentionally witnessed in real time was the start of the transition from jazz to fusion.”