Ali Foster Quartet

Ali Foster is an outstanding young jazz drummer based in Sydney, Australia. She is currently combining her degree course in Jazz Studies with a busy life as an emerging professional player and teacher. Ali has a particular interest in sparking a passion for exploring jazz styles in younger audiences in the Greater Sydney area. She and her musical collaborators engage their audiences by employing elements of progressive rock, funk and blues into their jazz tunes while also highlighting a focus on their musical interactions.

Ali began to develop her musical talents when she started piano lessons as a child of five. By early high school, the lure of the household’s drum kit, previously the domain of her father and brother, proved irresistible! Her acceptance two years later into the St Paul’s Grammar School big band cemented her ambition to make jazz drumming her profession. In the years prior to her acceptance as a student in the prestigious Jazz Studies degree course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney; Ali participated in the SIMA Improvisation Workshops for Young Women, directed by Sandy Evans; and she was named as the winner of the Senior Secondary division of the Billy Hyde Drumoff competition.

Currently, Ali leads the Ali Foster Quartet, which features Kayne Jansen (guitar), Hal Strewe (bass) and Brendan Berlach (saxophones). As winner of the 2007 Jann Rutherford Memorial Award, Ali performed with her quartet at the Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival (MWIJF) and for Jazzgroove Association at the Excelsior Hotel in Sydney. She, Kayne and Hal also regularly work together as the Kayne Jansen Trio an ensemble which joined with acclaimed saxophonist Matt Keegan for an appearance at the 2006 ConVerge Jazz Festival.

Ali Foster has also appeared with Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection, Birdyard Big Band, the Luke Webb Band, the Jayne Denham Band, the Pete McDonald Quintet, Happenstance, and Teri Divas and the Dancing Covers Show. Ali currently studies with Andrew Dickeson. She has also studied with Simon Barker, Toby Hall, Mal Morgan, Peter Batu, Gordon Rytmeister and Steven Kemsley. Ali has also featured on vibraphone in the Gary Daley large ensemble ‘In the Palm of Your Hand’.

As she builds her own musical career, Ali continues to be inspired and informed by listening to the music of Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Ben Riley and Philly Jo Jones.

From 7.30 – 8.30 there will be a special presentation of the Jann Rutherford Award by Sandy Evans and Jane March. A brief concert by students will also occur prior to Ali Foster’s performance. The JRMA award was set up at the instigation of a private benefactor who recognised a need to support young female jazz musicians at the beginning of their professional careers.

The Jann Rutherford Memorial Award was founded in 2005 to assist in the professional development of an outstanding young female jazz musician. The Award is named in honour of the late jazz pianist Jann Rutherford, and is funded by private donations in partnership with Melbourne International Women’s Jazz Festival (MIWJF), Sydney Improvised Music Association (SIMA) and ABC Radio National.

The award is a professional development opportunity worth up to $8000 to the recipient.