Mo Foster – born Michael Foster on December 22, 1944, in Wolverhampton, England – was a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and solo artist best known as a prolific studio bassist. His musical journey began in 1959 when he joined his first skiffle band while in school. He converted his acoustic guitar into a bass for the band but was soon attracted to the electric bass after becoming a fan of The Shadows’ bassist Jet Harris. In the early 1960s while in college, he switched to drums for several years for The Baskervilles and shared stages with The Who, The Moody Blues, Cream, Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames, and many others. He continued playing drums for The US Jazz Trio but switched back to the bass when the group changed their name to Affinity in 1968. The jazz rock group signed with Vertigo Records and released one album before splitting. Mo Foster then became a prolific session bassist and played on over 300 recordings by artists including Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Scott Walker, Ringo Starr, Neil Innes, Meat Loaf, Cher, Olivia Newton-John, Sheena Easton, Peter Green, Nigel Kennedy, Gerry Rafferty, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Symphony Orchestra, and many others. Mo Foster also spent time playing in bands such as Fancy (1973-1975), Magician (1978), The Michael Schenker Group (1980), RMS with Ray Russell and Simon Phillips (1982-1984), and Nucleus (1988). As a solo artist, he released the albums Bel Assis with Simon Phillips and Gary Moore (1988), Southern Reunion with Gary Husband and Gary Moore (1991), Time to Think (2004), Live at Blues 14 (2006), Belsize Lane: A Collection of Sketches (2007), and Bass Themes (2011). During his career, he also taught the bass guitar at the University of London in 1975 as well as teaching at the University of Leeds (2007) and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts created by Paul McCartney. Mo Foster died from liver cancer at the age of 78 on July 3, 2023.
