David Foster Gets Intimate at the National Arts Centre

Hands down the most prolific Canadian songwriter and producer, 16 time Grammy award winner David Foster brought his latest tour to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Saturday night and we were there to catch the show.

For nearly two hours Foster, a impressive three-piece band and a trio of extremely talented singers serenaded what looked to be a sold-out Southam Hall, touching on four decades of incredible musicianship. If you have ever watched a PBS special you know that in addition to his genius at the piano, witty banter is something at which he is very adept. The lights dimmed at precisely 8:01PM and the crowd grew silent as Foster made his way on to the stage wearing a dapper blue blazer and jeans. He told the crowd that he had not changed his jeans, showered or washed his hair given the rush to get on stage, but he looked very stylish nonetheless.

The 69 year old Victoria BC native is more than happy to chat about his successful career which includes a grand total of 16 Grammy Awards and more than half a billion records sold. He told stories about how he got his start in the business, quitting school in grade eleven to join Chuck Barry’s band on tour in the UK. He told the crowd that he went on to start his own one-hit wonder band Skylark, playing a few bars of Wildflower. The evening carrier on with more and more funny stories about the hits that he has written and produced, how the songs came to be, and how some were rejected and became something else. Who knew that Northern Lights’ Tears Are Not Enough was meant to be featured in a Joel Schumacher film but was rejected by the director? Now we all do.

The additions of vocalists including “American Idol” alum Pia Toscano, Stevie Wonder protégée Shelea Frazier served to highlight the incredible songs Foster has written for powerhouses such as Céline Dion and Chaka Khan. Foster is, admittedly, not a singer so in addition to the talent that he brought with him on stage, Kenny G and Josh Groban made “guest appearances” on the large screen. Groban crooning “You Raise me Up” was bone chilling. Having guests appear on the screen was a tad on the fromage side, but Foster knows his audience well and pulls no punches when it comes to making the most of the star-studded list of friends he has made over the years.

Aside from the music, what Foster does really well, and what has made PBS his number one fan is his ability to recount priceless stories, such as why the grand anthem “St. Elmo’s Fire” really has nothing to do with the movie (it’s about wheelchair-bound athlete Rick Hansen). Foster’s place is firmly solidified in the music history books, but his next adventure will see him take on Broadway. He will write the music for a new musical about the iconic, animated character Betty Boop, which will be directed by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell and he is writing the music for a musical based on the Amy Bloom novel and New York Times bestseller Lucky Us, directed by Tony Award-nominee Sheryl Kaller. He is also developing a scripted narrative one-man show based on the story of his career that he will perform himself.

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