Musician Michael Foster is a real self-starter. He's started his own record company (Big Bell Entertainment) that extends his ambitions for his jazz/funk/hip-hop horn ensemble, the Michael Foster Project. They have regular gigs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, plus two CDs on the market.

But in some ways, Foster still feels like he's just getting started.

The good-natured band leader outlined the next few steps along the road for the Michael Foster Project.

"Our plans once the next CD is finished is to tour around the United States in the spring and in the summer and fall go ahead and take it (the tour) international."

With more than a dozen years as a Baton Rouge-based musician, Foster is an ambitious talent who formed the MFP to literally create opportunities for himself and other struggling musicians when he was at a career crossroads.

"When I finished at Southern University in the early '90s, I wanted to originally do a symphony gig. I wanted to be a tuba player in a symphony, and those jobs are pretty hard to come by. So, I decided that I would create an organization," he said.

This evolved into the Michael Foster Project, which he saw as a practical way to keep playing.

"It was just something where guys coming out of universities who couldn't find jobs yet would be able to come play and tweak their technique and their talent." Foster said.

According to Foster, the big brass sound of his group springs from his rigorous training during his four years in the SU Marching Band, a.k.a. "The Human Jukebox." That experience taught Foster showmanship and helped develop his musical chops by his memorizing countless songs.

However, Foster is also quick to credit Alvin Batiste at the SU School of Music as another inspiration in his musical development.

"The melodic side, the jazz and all of these hip licks you hear, that side comes from Alvin Batiste," Foster said.

Foster also credits the other group members of the MFP, who have contributed their time, talent and musical ideas.

Many of his group's members also come from Southern University's top-notch music community, with some players moving on to other gigs, while others invest years in the Michael Foster Project.

Foster said drummer Chris Lee has been with him for around 12 years and trumpeter John Gray has been with him a very long time, as well. The pair joined Foster not long out of McKinley High School where Foster's original trombone player Frank Williams was their band director.

Among the current membership of the Michael Foster Project are Rod Jackson (alto sax), Steve Lands (trumpet), Chancelier 'Xero' Skidmore (auxiliary percussion), Terrance Taplin (trombone), John Gray (trumpet), Chris Lee (drums) and Michael Foster (bass and tuba).

Years of playing live polished the group's sound, which got Rampart Records to release "The Michael Foster Project Live at Donna's Bar & Grill: Kick Some Brass" in 1998. After that first CD, the band shifted from a revolving showcase for various musicians to a much more solid line up of musicians in order to tour the United States.

But recalling how hard it was for him to get opportunities to play when he was starting out, Foster still allows and encourages musicians from both the Southern University and LSU music programs to join them at local shows, usually on Wednesday nights.

For the group's 2005 follow-up, "The Weapons of Brass Destruction" CD, Foster released it under his own "Big Bell Entertainment" company in conjunction with Continuum Music. Their second CD is packed with 14 tracks including, "Margarita Moments," "Pocket Morrigan" and "Black Widow Blues."

While some bands form their own record label as the only way to release their music, the Michael Foster Project has turned down multiple CD deals from established mid-sized music labels. He wants to continue releasing music on his own label over the Web as part of his long-term plan.

"You can get a lot of sales this way. Instead of having all of these smaller kind of companies come at us that can't really give us what we want, we gather a lot of sales through the Internet, locally and wherever we travel, so that we might attract a larger label and get a better deal."

Foster said he feels that musical variety plays a big role in expanding the audience, because people who go out to a club want to have a good time and playing only one type of music gets boring for a band and any crowd.

"I think the thing that keeps us going and has kind of helped us is, first of all, having an open mind about the music and going along with the times. I don't try to confine the band to New Orleans-style jazz or just hip-hop and R&B. We might even slide in a little bit of rock and roll, some blues, some reggae," Foster said.

Michael Foster hopes to inspire everyone to open up to different styles of music.

"My main goal in doing this is to the person who would not normally listen to jazz, but they would listen to hip-hop. I'll throw in a hip-hop song with a twist of jazz. For the jazz listener who is not so much into hip-hop or blues, I will play a jazz song that has a hip-hop beat or blues feel to it,î he said.

When asked about the key to success for the Michael Foster Project, the band leader connects it right back to the public's response to what they do.

"It's about knowing your audience, seeing who is out there and trying to do something that they're going to be able to relate to,î he said. "To have them either dance or sing along, making them a part of the music."

Visit Michael Foster Project at CdBaby and Myspace.