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Nn n n n n nnnmommmimemmmntonmemmenmmionmmmmnmntmstimmemimetienemmr mmm â€"ifty f pound| t the t olborne‘s Percy Foster loves to jam on Jazz & big .â€"â€", â€" Pss and standards â€" but in decades of entertaining S5c9 &# °W . â€" r ) C 7 *% w;}xpk ie ‘Mm% ; egion Hall audiences, he‘s played ‘Danny Boy ~ TCl n aore than a few times too. #$ */ f PETER J. McCONNELL kept busy at the "88" in the pubs in eny & P ecial to The Independent his home town. He early on develâ€" y s When Colborne‘s Percy Foster first oped a fondness for jazz and Big 54 t aaal t .l rived in Toronto in ‘53 from his Band tunes, but he‘s played "Danny hessk ce uy tive Leeds, England, about the first Boy" and â€" "Lovely â€" Bunch of f igas s * m L j ing he did was to go Tooking for a _ Coconuts" more times than he cares #he astes j s ano that didn‘t have somebody sitâ€" . to remember (and more times than "*‘:’ e ti: e s ig at it. Today, in an age of comâ€" he ever cared to in the first place). To K pei T o. ict, portable. keyboards,. a piano _ Still, as he‘s continued to do for the & “‘,)v %*i’a . h ‘a% ayer can carry his "axe" pretty well â€"past halfâ€"century in this country, he‘d : Y 4E _._\_â€" * ‘: ’.;; F u. Aingais on h; t etdat a .l o oc reg ib :f:f,:-:::‘;“,::""i'f‘ D Pieocemmce “3"'7“':""'“”:':' '1.#?&{‘1::‘&?‘(:‘ id to take practice time when and _ Vermont" orice in a while or some hemal fae «fw’(:»m‘v“‘*ih’ here a bigpaoous(ic jobbie â€" be it Gershwin or Cole Porter. mt se iedaera ts "‘“Qi&%%f‘f’é%&« m~% pright or grand â€" could be found. Once in Toronto, he soon joined \â€" e : x e e ;3-¢:_ ya s But Percy who, then as now, the Royal Canadian Legion and, of | y@@@ t i e n $ semeraenmiele . pellalpimgine ) M rould rather play than eat, had course, every hall had a piano. It . MMil = , .. PR eermcmcontmemeni inmeaine Iready covered a lot of ground â€" wasn‘t long before he was juggling ; es i & . l s t es nd waterâ€" before he finally fetched _ gigs at every Branch in the east end. s ' Â¥ i4 '\ ; s o 3 ip in Canada and settled in for the â€" And so it went until he moved to f d / ‘ k ; & ! y °_ luration. He‘d spent six years in the Colborne in 1975. He still found himâ€" m 4 4 Ee 2 4 | wote oyal Navy, for the entire Greatâ€" self playing "Danny Boy" before last go on it anymore. A touch of arthriâ€" in the hearts of WW II vets and their onflict from @39 through ‘45, and . call most nights (‘The hangersâ€"on get . tis has diminished the strength and . wives. He‘s one of their own, after all. _ Above, Percy & Glady Foster nade one unexpectedly pleasant a little maudlin by then. They fexibility in his hands. He brings an But his music â€" and especially his ; the music room /n the baseâ€" voyage to Australia and back. request it; demand it, more like. â€" electronic keyboard with him these enthusiasm for it â€" make the * io : i © s # B1 Iatol ment of their Durham Street we‘d sailed from home port to They like to cry in their beer, 1 days, one of the two he keeps in his â€" younger folks dig him too. . help the Yanks in the South Pacific. guess."), but he was discovering a music room, his "domain" in the _ You see, Percy is "only" 83. He‘s home in Colborne. Below, We no sooner got there than they whole slew of newer tunes he liked basement of the comfortable bungaâ€" . still got a lot of music left in him and â€" Petty Officer Percy Foster told us to get the hell out. They didâ€" too; titles like "Misty" and "My Way."" low on Burnham Street he shares he likes to share it He‘s no egotistiâ€" departing Sydney Harbour in ut need us. Had everything under _ Of course, once he hit Colborne, with wife, Glady. cal "solo artist" either. There‘s nothâ€" â€" Mgy, 1945, departing control by then. We had a nice trip he became and remains a fixture at Mind you, he hasn‘t limited his ing he likes better than jamming . qystrg/ig bound for Creat all the same. The weather was a lot Branch 187. He‘s got his own little appearances only to the Colborne with other musicians and singers, . p ; ,; better than we were used to in the corner of the lounge where he sets Branch. He‘s regularly guested over particularly those who respect the P . North Atlantic." up. He‘s right beside the durable the years at Brighton, Grafton, â€" material the way he does. i ng s en In the years following his diss acoustic upright, but he seldom has a Trenton and Wellington branches Three years ago, along with fellow If you were to drop in at 187 charge until he emigrated, Percy too. He‘s always had a special place Colborne singer/musician and freâ€" almost any Friday evening of Fhe § 5 quent _ playing . partner, Rex year, you‘d be very likely to find j',’j}ljjr._;‘;,‘ y t e c i ‘:j.:;;;ié,z‘;::e{ 2 &“ Dillabough, Percy organized a kind Perfiy. lll;s alwayfs Eeen his “snookefl ui e o P t J@Z‘i””‘w“’“’mfi‘?;”‘eu’“,@"**“’””r?‘f“”“ of loosely structured informal "Jam . night" But as 0 this autumn, you‘ fiflgfi%%fi X'“”’ifiyffiffl&é{fiifi?gj& session" );t Branch 187 taking p{ace only spot him on the end of his cue "‘-w‘f:,"?fi;%?g-’%}w?wa_, 4 ,fi;@w{%fi%i%@;fl on one Sunday afternoon per month. â€" every other Friday. On the alternate m "M"fi“w&\”“;"fi*g;?“'?{w"f@"fif '5“7 i%fww o ies *~, Mm;”mr;,y ___| _ The Branch collects a modest cover â€" ones, he and Rex have got something -;:%z*w'&,“‘ e avfi:\;;»__ Q~m‘£‘3’ _ ""= _ charge from spectators, and performâ€"â€" new going. ¢ ; 'Q%W- d L zdldiiemae ol ers Come iN free. The word went out _ It‘s a bit more laid h:ack. this sesâ€" t -'"":”77' rrasemecsaee umss 3 es * W d and spread quickly. The thing grew . S10N. They do mainly oldies, Tss poa ie mss is i 6 y e plseltee es â€" like Topsy. They pack the place now flavoured with Percy‘s beloved jazz _6 ?é?}iaim npsne 5 * mscc 22| â€" and if‘s not unusual to have 20 or . along with a folk ditty or tWo from e . Eemaiin e V es 0 ""\ . more enterlainers participating over â€" Rex. They are joined by ‘OCE;: piano s d ys* es es oi | the fourâ€"hour stretch. - teacher, Marilyn Babcocl@ (s e:L got 3 f 32 Momieâ€"~ esn ies 1a o. es 3 oo Percy started out as the M.C,, introâ€" that nice strong left hand in the ass) : o t s o. o El % en eR 1 ESW T\ _ duced every performer and generally and her husband Ray who is right in F * Fowe: 2 ns 1 n e us * * * Abnemand [A omemesti| _ directed traffic. But before lon he his element crooning the likes of in pogcrâ€"mert"=olun l M s e 3 " a R e 5 ind "Shanly I f on td w n oi T uim s ol ley 6000 00| â€" realized it had become so successful "My Blue Heaven an anty in .. ... ccommmaccsmen= $ ;, py snn e iz 4| _ that it was d little more than he Old Shanty Town." Percy doesn‘t rngpinppyresseiy p W Q gp i wanted to deal with. After all, he was have to announce anfhmg 0:1 ::Eyt m 0 .. V ut gen insy en e %‘ e sR raal > w Buy who was always happiest just baFiy over the microp olne. and thai Cl o /.. â€". .. _ ocm O | akding the wories, He was relieved | ®Ws MM (MQ, 5,)fde to pop in and '*f”f“»%"“‘%»’fzma?‘féi*-‘fl% v%;j*“:‘:‘% to hand over the job to Emnic But if you do decide to POP :j" i d }u&z”#’s*:“mfl;‘g n mc en ~ *\ stoneman, and Ernie has taken to it avail yourself of a beaker of suds an "‘”"m”'i"%» ?,f?’m“ . O ts e 0| _ like cheese to cider. you walk it down to a table near the .s'“’ ‘ *A ““9*”%":?:,’,5:{ M ~_ _ |_ an idea whose time had come kguw all the words.(yo On the Sunny % &ég;%;fi:éfgwfi n imennmens, . ~â€". E. “'; | _ because other branches seized upon Ssde' o_f the Street," and you think hy a" 00 sto~~t9â€"â€"n8 Es 1 bino And Emie Stoneman, now an . yeuldlike to get OB B0 BC L af;fiia;&&;%af/y%fi;u #: *fl*;}c“%fl%fi% 1 Paa s > experienced Cllwfil # 'a:nd good at I'it â€" ::ei)ceolglx:lgy:)luout â€" they‘d be sure to ic c e c oo l UMmmzee .c | is in demand. He‘s busy somew NOC e you. 3 “%%%;"“&Tww&sm Emm .. iust chout curl Sunday afternoon _ Especially Porey. Ho MB 1 20E & Sooal e o oR e o