Jazz mourns saxophone player

Frank Foster, a jazz saxophonist who played with the Count Basie Orchestra and composed the band’s hit, Shiny Stockings, has died. He was 82.

Cecilia Foster, his wife of 45 years, said he died at their home in Chesapeake, Virginia, of complications from kidney failure.

Mr Foster was recognised in 2002 as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.

In a statement expressing sadness at Mr Foster’s death, NEA chairman Rocco Landesman called him “an extraordinary saxophonist, composer, arranger, bandleader, and educator”.

After Count Basie’s death, Mr Foster led the Count Basie Orchestra from 1986 to 1995. However, Cecelia Foster said he was proudest of his own big band: Frank Foster’s Loud Minority.

Although he was partially paralysed by a stroke in 2001, Mr Foster’s wife said he continued composing “up until the end”.