David Foster.Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images
David Fosteris back to the business of producing.
The pianist and musical mastermind behind timeless hits from stars likeWhitney Houston,Celine DionandMariah Carey, recently helped Grammy-winning trumpeterChris Botticreate his new offering. Unlike Foster’s previous work on pop and R&B projects, this album is all about that jazz.
David Foster and Chris Botti.John Abbott
John Abbott
He adds, “It was an easy way to produce as opposed to my whole life where I’ve had to roll up my sleeves and get in the weeds. In my heyday I was kind of like a bull in a china shop.”
The album has made for a delightful return to the producing scene, which Foster says he largely left behind eight years ago after hitting a wall.
“Honestly, I just got bored with myself,” he says. “I didn’t get bored with the music business. In every decade I’ve been in it there’s been ups and downs, good music and crappy music. I just got bored with myself and how I made records.”
David Foster.Jim Jordan
For Foster, embracing jazz, has been a way to shake things up. “I grew up on jazz and I really loved it, I just wasn’t good at it,” he says. “That was really upsetting to me in the beginning, like ‘God, why can’t I be a jazz player?’ But thankfully I was given other skills. Working with Chris and someone like 18-year-oldpiano player Brandon Goldberg, who’s phenomenal, that’s another way for me to be close to jazz without actually having to make jazz.”
If there’s one song in particular that Foster’s excited about, it’s Botti’s “Danny Boy,” to be released this weekend in time forSt. Patrick’s Day. “He did an incredible version,” says Foster of the trumpeter’s sultry reimagining of the traditional Irish folk song. “So lamenting and beautiful.”
Chris Botti Vol. 1.Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records
But when it comes to musical collaborators, Foster is an even bigger fan of wifeKatharine McPhee, 39. The pair, along withson Rennie, 3, have been out on the road for months with theirAn Intimate Eveningtourthat kicked off last year.
Katharine McPhee and David Foster.Courtesy David Foster
Courtesy David Foster
Though he produced theirrecent Christmas album, “It wasn’t like producing,” he says. “It was just me and my wife in the studio hanging out, making music. It’s always fun with her.”
Chris Botti Vol. 1is available now.
source: people.com
