photo by: Chance Parker

Former University of Kansas band director Bob Foster conducts during halftime of Kansas' game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.

Thanks to COVID, it had been nearly two years since former director of bands Bob Foster had climbed that ladder with baton in hand to conduct the KU Alumni Band on the football field.

Not that Foster was particularly worried about the layoff. The organizers, after all, had given him the song to conduct in advance — and he had heard of it.

Maybe you have too: “I’m a Jayhawk.”

While members of the Alumni Band arrived early Saturday morning for a couple of hours of rehearsal for that and other pieces, Foster laughed when asked whether he had to spend much time preparing to conduct the classic Mount Oread tune.

“I conduct ‘I’m a Jayhawk’ like I breathe — you don’t think about it,” he told the Journal-World on Friday. “I’ve done it a few times.”

And at halftime on Saturday, he did again. A breath of fresh air, as KU homecoming traditions began to reemerge after nearly all were wiped out last year as a result of the pandemic.

photo by: Chance Parker

The University of Kansas Alumni Band performs during halftime of Kansas’ game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.

photo by: Chance Parker

The University of Kansas Alumni Band performs during halftime of Kansas’ game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.

The fact that Foster would be a part of it all should be no surprise. This is the 50th year Foster has been associated with the KU band program, which almost by default means that he’s a lover of homecoming.

“They’re here because they had a great experience at KU,” Foster said of the Alumni Band members who make the trek back to Lawrence each year to perform at the KU football homecoming game. “It is a one-weekend opportunity to come back and see a lot of friends you haven’t seen in a while. Homecoming is great for that.”

Being a part of it all for 50 years is kind of special. But the number 50 actually wasn’t the number on Foster’s mind Friday when the Journal-World talked to him. Foster served as KU’s director of bands from 1971 to 2002, and he’s remained in Lawrence and in touch with the band program since then too. That equals 50 years that Foster has been associated with the KU band program. But it wasn’t until an interviewer mentioned it that Foster realized it.

Rather, the number three was the number on his mind in the hours leading up to the Alumni Band performance. Saturday’s performance marked the first time that three generations of the Foster family had played in the Alumni Band. Foster was on the ladder conducting, son Rob was on the trumpet, and grandson Dylan also was part of the trumpet section of the Alumni Band. A fourth Foster, Ragan, also was on the field as one of the drum majors of the current batch of the Marching Jayhawks.

“It is going to be a pretty neat moment for the Foster family,” Rob Foster, who was both a member of the marching band and the KU football team in the 1980s, said Friday. (No, KU didn’t resort to shoving band members into the game in the ’80s. Rather, Foster was a football player first, but a broken wrist his freshman year put him on the sidelines, which also let him jump in the band.)

Rob Foster estimated he has played in the Alumni Band for about 20 years. His father started the Alumni Band program in 1974. Bob Foster has been a long believer in the Alumni Band concept as a way to build tradition and pride in a band program. After playing in the University of Texas band as a student, he helped form an Alumni Band program there. He did the same at the University of Florida, where he was an assistant director before coming to KU.

As the KU Alumni Band rapidly approaches its 50th anniversary, Bob Foster has been pleased with how it has worked here. It produces good memories and good music too. There are quite a few Alumni Band members who play their instruments fairly frequently, at least the more common ones like trumpets, clarinets and such.

“The marching equipment is not something they keep in their closets at home,” Foster said. “Very few people have their own sousaphone or tuba.”

While there are several opportunities for alumni to keep their music skills sharp during the year, one observer guessed that surely members didn’t do much marching during the course of a year.

“You are right about that,” Foster said.

But even that goes pretty well.

“You really don’t forget the basics,” he said. “But what you do lose is the muscle tone. Your body is not as young as it once was. But it is pretty good for a little while. It will be plenty good for a good halftime show.”

But, of course, the show is only part of this show. Even the applause and adoration that comes with standing in the middle of a stadium can become secondary, especially for someone who has done it as many times as Foster.

“What is really fun,” Foster said, “is being with some good people. It is great to get together for happy reasons.”

Once again.

photo by: Chance Parker

Former University of Kansas band director Bob Foster conducts during halftime of Kansas’ game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021.