Al Foster, jazz drummer for Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, dies at 82

Al Foster, the jazz drummer who performed in groundbreaking bands with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Sonny Rollins, has died. He was 82.

Foster’s partner Bonnie Rose Steinberg told NPR in a statement that Foster died “from a serious illness” at his home in New York City. Foster’s daughter, Kierra Foster-Ba, confirmed the death in an Instagram post .

Foster’s relentlessly creative and adaptable percussion work spanned eras and genres within jazz, driving elegant bepop and raucous fusion groups alike.

Davis wrote in his memoir “Miles: The Autobiography ” that Foster’s drumming “knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there ... Al could set s— up for everybody else to play off and then he could keep the groove going forever … for what I wanted