Alex Foster
Saxophone & Woodwinds
Alex Foster, tenor and alto saxophonist, is a musical heavyweight famous for his nearly three decades of performances with NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” House Band, is also a musical director of the Mingus Big Band. From Oakland, California, Alex Foster has been part of many of the world’s most influential sounds. Foster has shared the stage with world-class performers including Jaco Pastorius, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Freddie Hubbard, Nat and Cannonball Adderley, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Gil Evans, John Scofield, Charles Mingus, Elvin Jones, Thad Jones, Tito Puente, Michael Brecker, Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Dr. John, Paul Simon, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen, The Village People, Sister Sledge, Al Green, Johnny Mathis, Diana Ross, and many others. Foster has had his work with the Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and the Mingus Orchestra nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005. A woodwinds instructor, Foster is also a master player of the clarinet and flute, and teaches in master-class workshops up and down the east coast to students from middle school through college.