An evening of music with Canadian producer and composer David Foster is a bit like going through the modern history of contemporary music. He’s been awarded the nickname Hitman, not because of his wrestling moves, but because of his work on more than 80 chart hits for stars ranging from Celine Dion and Whitney Houston to Chicago and Josh Groban.
Foster returned to Caesars Windsor this past week for one such evening on Sunday, June 9 as part of his first ever tour of Canada. For Windsor though, it wasn’t his first time here – audiences were flabbergasted last year when the hitmaker performed a selection of his hits with guest vocalists and a killer backup band, all intertwined with stories about the writing or recording of those songs.
For this show, Foster repeated that formula with a stunning backup band and a trio of astonishing singers including Pia Toscano, (American Idol), Sheléa Frazier (Stevie Wonder) and Fernando Varela (America’s Got Talent). Each singer brought their own style and uniqueness to the show, but remarkably stayed true to the original sound of those massive hits.
Some of the hits we were treated to tonight included Celine Dion hits Power Of Love, The Prayer (with Andrea Bocelli) and Tell Him (with Barbara Streisand), a few Whitney Houston hits like I Will Always Love You and I Have Nothing, some John Legend, Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, the immaculate St. Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) which was originally inspired by Rick Hansen’s journey across in a wheel chair for the dream of creating an accessible and inclusive world and finding a cure for spinal cord injury. In a comprehensive tale, Foster explained how the song ended up becoming the theme song to the St. Elmo’s Fire movie.
Along with the in-house musicians and singers, Foster was also joined by celebrities Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Kenny G. by video.
It was a fabulous night of storytelling about some of the greatest songs written in the last couple decades by the man who either wrote or produced them. With a little bit of piano skills, a killer band and astonishing singers, it was an evening to remember. Even if Foster admittedly can’t sing worth a darn.
All photos by Dan Savoie
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