Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

For keyboard master Ronnie Foster, reunion with Stevie Wonder is just human nature

Organist Ronnie Foster

Paul A. Hebert / Invision / AP

Organist Ronnie Foster performs during Stevie Wonder’s 18th annual House Full of Toys Benefit Concert. Foster said, “Stevie and I are friends, we have been for a long time, and we actually did this last year in L.A. at Nokia Theater. It was a thrill.”

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Human Nature keyboardist and music director Ronnie Foster stands in front of Sands Showroom on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014, at the Venetian.

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Ronnie Foster plays the keyboard with The Other Guys.

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Ronnie Foster is the cornerstone of Funk Foundation, the band who backs Human Nature at Sands Showroom in the Venetian. Foster is the band’s music director, his hands gliding across the keyboard as his piano glides along the stage as it doubles as silver set piece.

At times, Foster grins and raises his hands, goading the audience to stand and groove with the four Aussie vocalists as they swing through the greatest hits of Motown. But otherwise, Foster does not foster much activity in the way of theatrics. He doesn’t need to.

Foster has made his mark, in concert and the studio, over a 50-year career. On Saturday night, he’s reunited with a friend he met ages ago in Buffalo, N.Y., when he backs Stevie Wonder at MGM Grand Garden Arena when Wonder revives the 1976 blockbuster album, “Songs in the Key of Life.”

This was Wonder’s 18th album (remarkable for that early period of his career) and spanned two albums along with a four-song EP. The length of the material was impressive — nearly 90 minutes of music — as was its inventive quality. “I Wish,” “Sir Duke” and “Isn’t She Lovely” were highlights, though the latter song was not released as a single.

As Wonder has said when explaining why he has chosen to perform this particular album, end-to-end, nearly 40 years after its release: “This is my celebration of song, life and love. What is amazing to me is how relevant this album is today. After all, I could never write all the songs in the key of life, but there will be others who will carry on the message of song, love and life.”

Foster’s contribution was as organist on “Summer Soft,” for which he’ll join Wonder’s band on Saturday night.

How’d it happen that Foster has become part of this reunion effort?

“How did this happen?” Foster says, laughing during a chat at Cafe Presse outside Sands Theater before a Human Nature performance this week. “Stevie and I are friends, we have been for a long time, and we actually did this last year in L.A. at Nokia Theater for his charity (the House Full of Toys Benefit Concert). It was a thrill. It was crazy. And on this tour, he finds the musicians who worked on that album who are close in proximity to the shows he’s performing; he’ll bring them in to perform.”

After that performance in L.A., Wonder told Foster to be ready for a call when the “Songs in the Key of Life Tour” hit Las Vegas. As the centerpiece in the band that backs one of the Strip’s most popular acts, Foster was not hard to track down.

“He’s grabbed people who were on the original album and those who were not,” Foster says. “He’s had India.Arie as a guest and (the great bassist) Esperanza Spaulding, John Mayer.”

The original album was loaded with powerhouse guest musicians, either established or about to be. Herbie Hancock played on “As,” George Benson on “As.” Minnie Ripperton and Deniece Williams were featured vocalists on “Another Star,” and ace studio guitarist Michael Sembello (most famous for “Flashdance”) played many numbers. Greg Philliganes, whose credits include session work with Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and Toto (and who also helped design the music in “Michael Jackson One” at Mandalay Bay), played keyboards throughout.

Foster’s introduction to Wonder was made years earlier, personally and professionally. As a great organ and keyboard player, Foster had backed Benson — a relationship that would last 15 years, onstage and in the studio — and had known of Wonder when the two met at a club in Buffalo.

“I heard he (Stevie Wonder) was at a club, and I rushed over, and he was coming out with his brother,” Foster says. “I told him who I was, that I had been with George — we were in our early 20s at the time — and we connected that way. It was crazy, at the Blue Point, was the name of the place.”

Foster also has been a sideman for Lionel Ritchie, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Chet Atkins and The Jacksons (he’s on the 1980 “Triumph” album). He’s also produced and performed with Latin star Chayanne.

“Musically, I don’t like to sit in one place,” he says. “I like to move around.” The fact that he is the music director for four Aussies who perform Motown standards is proof of his dexterity. One of the songs performed in the show is “Uptight,” a Motown oldie that was a hit for Wonder in 1966.

“We were born a day apart,” says the 64-year-old Foster. “I was born a day earlier than him, on May 12. I always give him a hard time because I have that one day on him. I tell him, ‘Respect your elders.’ ”

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.

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