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100 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013<br />
Interview Carmen Bradford<br />
CAD: Just going back again, did you notice any big differences when Frank<br />
Foster took over the leadership, because he seemed to be a strong personality.<br />
cB: frank foster was a wonderfully happy personality. i wouldn’t necessarily say<br />
he was a strong personality, just a man with a beautiful youthful spirit. When he’d<br />
get on the bus he always had an armful of music, arrangements that he was writing,<br />
and he was the type of person who could sit down and have a conversation and he<br />
would still be writing, while laughing and talking along with you, most amazing thing<br />
i’ve ever seen. But he was a sweetheart, who never paid too much attention to the<br />
clock (laughter). he was a brilliant man and i always say that count Basie taught<br />
me to fly and frank foster gave me my wings. The arrangements that he did for<br />
me were wonderful, it was so obvious he paid close attention to how i breathe, how<br />
i phrased, and he just wrote around that, it was a magical feeling you know?<br />
CAD: How about when Thad was leading the band, was that very different?<br />
cB: no, not really. he just adapted his new charts to the Basie style, in fact we’ll<br />
be playing some tonight.<br />
CAD: So you formally left the band when Frank was leading?<br />
cB: Yes, but after that they kept calling, so i sang with the bands under Grover and<br />
Bill hughes too, tours and everything.<br />
CAD: You’ve been involved with Grammy-winning records?<br />
cB: Well people often say “Grammy award-winner carmen Bradford”, but it’s not<br />
true. sure i’ve been on Grammy winning records, but i wasn’t the winner.<br />
CAD: You mean like the George Benson award?<br />
cB: right, it was a big band record and i was on it, but the award was not for the<br />
duet we did, although it should have been (laughter).<br />
CAD: Do you have any one favourite singer?<br />
cB: Well yes. i would say my mother (melba joyce). she just has it all covered<br />
and we even work comfortably together. she’s been so supportive right through my<br />
career and still is!<br />
CAD: You’ve been developing a show in tribute to Ella and Louis for some time<br />
now?<br />
cB: Well Byron stripling and i have been doing this show called The cotton club<br />
revue and there’s a tap dancer Tad levy on the show, and i do several numbers<br />
but Byron does his louis armstrong thing and he’s really the star of that show, and<br />
it uses symphony orchestra accompaniment, and what we are working on now is a<br />
real ella and louis Tribute show, a big one, and it’s in full preparation now and we<br />
already have a major canadian booking for 2014, and we’re really working on this.<br />
The concept just developed out of some duets Byron and i do in the cotton club<br />
revue and the solid reaction to those segments that spurred us on, and i so want<br />
this to happen. i’m just terrified about it, but i’m ready!
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