Page 6
University Daily Kansan, October 1, 1980
KU grad returns to dazzle jazz band
By VANESSA HERRON Staff Reporter
Four or five members of the KU Jazz Ensemble III crowded in the stuffy entrance of the band room, yesterday afternoon. They were waiting for a 3:30 workshop to begin and a chance to play a few songs with Gary Foster, a KU alumnus and woodwind specialist who has played with some of the top jazz bands on the West Coast.
"Look at that music," a trumpet player whispered. "I don't mess with those high notes."
Looking at the guest artist, another said, "Yeah, but he does."
Foster, a portly red-bearned man,
stand front and center in the band
room and lightly fingered the keys
of his alto saxophone.
GLANCING AT him, director Ron McCurdy bounced in time to the music in his head, and gave the song, "In Your Own Sweet Way."
"One - two - a - one - two - three - four."
The band came in hard and fast, then settled back into a steady rhythm. Then Foster lifted his saxophone and began to play.
The husky sound of his saxophone dodged through the backup music, soaring and sighing and then hitting the high notes.
Spontaneous applause began
among the faculty members and ensemble members who sat the song out.
A few minutes later, the Jazz students who made up the band hit a snag and the music disintegrated into random honks and blares.
McCurdy cut them off.
“Keep it soft,” Faster told a drummer and three trumpet players. “Hey, I know this is a difficult piece. I want just play it slow and loose. Let it lie.”
IT WAS NEARLY 4 p.m. and Foster had been conducting workshops since 9 a.m. He was scheduled to participate in a concert with the Jazz Ensemble I in four hours.
He picked his horn up and they played the passage again and again.
Foster said he was used to working with student musicians. In 1961, he earned a master's degree in music education from the University of Kansas, and he taught musi for seven years in California to pick up his
"That's it, you're doing much better," he told the students.
WHEN FOSTER moved to California almost 20 years ago, he didn't have friends who care or any definite job prospects, he said.
"If someone wants to ... a professional musician, he has to have a strong desire and a lot of patience," Foster said.
However, he did have a wife, a daughter, a U-haul truck full of luggage and the will to succeed.
"No one will hire you just because you have a college degree."
For the first six years in California, Foster taught music privately and high school. He played at wedding ceremonies - casual jobs, in musicians' slang.
"It was years before I did any good work," he said.
Then in 1967, Foster began to find jobs with studio and jazz bands.
SINCE THEN, Foester has played music for the soundtracks of television programs such as "The Mickey Mouse Club" and "the Carol Barris Burrow Show."
He also played with the Louis Belson Band and was a founding member of the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band.
BACKSTAGE, before the jazz program, Foster was running late. He pulled a flute from its thin, slack case and asked the pianist to play a
He licked his lips and blew a few notes, cool and smooth. Then he improvised for a few minutes on a clarinet and a saxophone.
After warming up, Foster walked among the empty instrument cases and joked with old friends. Foster and the men who milled around him
Gary Foster
had attended KU together in the late 50s.
Now, some are composers,some are teachers and all have thinning hair and dark suits.
"You're everybody's fine boy, now that you've done well," a friend said, referring to a jingle they had learned in school.
After the workshop, Foster said the band ahd handled the new music well.
"That arrangement was at a professional level and it was very difficult," Foster said. "It was important for me last week by a friend."
Five KU alumens and former KU first lady Nancy Haun Dykes have been selected to receive Fred Ellsworth medallions for service to the University.
Nancy Dykes, 5 alumni to receive service honor
The Alumni are Robert L. Brock, Topeka; Balfour S. Jeffrey, Topeka; Mt. Vernon, Lawrence; Thomas Mt. Vancloches J., Mission Hills, and Laurence C. Woodrud, Lawrence.
All will receive sculptured bronze medallions at the University Homecoming luncheon at 11 a.m. Oct. 18 in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
The award recognizes outstanding service to the University, said Dick Wintermote, director of the Alumni Association.
THE ELLSWORTH MEDALLION,
first awarded in 1975, honors the late,
long-time secretary of the Alumni
tournament. Forty-four persons have received it.
This year's honorees have had a variety of associations with KU.
Brock is a 1977 recipient of KU's Distinguished Service Citation for service to society. He is a member of the Endowment Association board of trustees and is a former director of the KU Alumni Association. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from KU.
Dykes, wife of former Chancellor Archie R. Dykes, is only the third person to receive the Ellsworth award who did not attend KU.
During the seven years her husband was chancellor, she was active in the University and Alumni and Endowment Association activities.
Jeffrey, former national president of the KU Alumni Association, is a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
He is a member of the Endowment Association board of trustees, the Chancellor's Club and the School of Business advisory board.
REED, AN Endowment Association trustee and chancellor's associate, serves as a trustee of the William Allen Foundation at the School of Journalism.
A College of Liberal Arts and Sciences graduate, Reed is a former member and chairman of the Board of Regents.
VanCleave, a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Law, is an alumni leader in the Greater Kansas City area.
He also has served on various Alumni Association committees.
WOODRUFF, PROFESSOR emeritus of biology and entomology, was a faculty representative to the Big Eight Conference and served as chairman of the KU Athletic Association. He was a faculty member for 26 years. He also has been involved in Endowment and Alumni activities.
RUSTY'S IGA. FOOD CENTERS LAWRENCE KS
- NORTHSIDE 2ND & LINCOLN 843-7633 * SOUTHSIDE 23RD & LOUISIANA 843-8888 *
* HILLCREST 9TH & IOWA 843-2313 * WESTRIDGE 9TH & KASOLED 841-0148 *
Professionals + $ = energy
There's only one equation that will solve the nation's energy crisis . . .
and that's to combine taler concerned people, provide ca get the job done and then set demanding but realistic goals That's what we're trying to do at Cities Service, a diversified natural resources company. Our professional requirements include most disciplines applied from discovery to market, computing to research. We have opportunities, not only in this country but abroad. If this sounds like your kind of challenge, learn more by making an appointment with our college representative through your placement office.
cand Derr their
All both way. seat Repr lack
We will interview on your campus... October 7,8,9,14 & 15
or write: College Relations Manager
Cities Service Company
Box 300
Tulsa, OK. 74102
Al
Cities Service Company an equal opportunity employer