Ronnie Foster

Since his initial solo style favored funky vamps instead of risky improvisation, organist Ronnie Foster was frequently dismissed by jazz purists during the peak of his career in the first half of the '70s. However, he was a talented mainstream funk and soul-jazz keyboardist who managed to cultivate a successful career as a sideman (working frequently with George Benson, in particular) and producer during the late '70s,'80s and '90s. Furthermore, his '70s records for Blue Note became cult items among a new generation of listeners raised on acid-jazz. Even if he rarely led a session after 1979, Foster wound up playing a some sort of a role in mainstream and funk-jazz during the '80s and '90s.