chester thompson
chester thompson
Drummer and percussionist Chester Thompson joined The Mothers in
1973. He recorded and toured with Frank Zappa until the end of 1974.
Later, he joined Weather Report and also recorded and performed with Genesis.
Not to be confused with keyboard player Chester Thompson (who recorded with Power of Tower, Santana, ...), although Chester did drum for Santana, while the other Chester played the keyboards...
selected discography
| o'donel levy: breeding of mind (1974, lp, usa, groove merchant records) - feat.chester thompson |
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| o'donel levy: dawn of a new day (1973, lp, usa, groove merchant records) - feat.chester thompson |
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| o'donel levy: hands of fire (1974, lp, usa, groove merchant records) - feat.chester thompson |
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19 |
zappa / mothers: roxy & elsewhere (1974, 2lp, usa, discreet) |
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20 |
frank
zappa and the
mothers of invention: one size fits all
(1975, lp, usa, discreet) |
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21 |
zappa / beefheart / mothers: bongo
fury (1975, lp, usa, discreet) |
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| air pocket:
fly on (1976, lp, ??, ??) - feat. fowler brothers, albert wing, mike miller, chester thompson // reissued on cd in 2002 |
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| weather report: black market (1976, lp, usa, cbs) - feat.chester thompson |
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| hermeto pascoal: slaves mass (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| alphonso johnson: yesterday's dreams (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| caldera: sky islands (1977, lp, usa, capitol) - feat.chester thompson, ralph humphrey |
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| genesis: seconds out (1977, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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24 |
frank
zappa: studio tan
(1978, lp, usa, discreet) |
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| david pritchard: light year (1978, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| flora purim: everyday, everynight (1978, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| steve hackett: please don't touch! (1978, lp, usa, charisma) - feat.chester thompson |
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25 |
frank
zappa: sleep dirt
(1979, lp, usa, discreet) |
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| freddie hubbard: love connection (1979, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| tony banks: curious feeling (1979, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| ahmad jamal: night song (1980, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| freddie hubbard: splash (1981, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| genesis: three sides live (1982, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| santana: beyond appearances (1984, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| genesis: mama tour live (1984, lp, usa, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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fowler brothers airpocket: hunter (1985, lp, usa, fossil records fbr 001) - feat. albert wing, chester thompson // reissued on cd in 1993 |
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| rodney franklin: it takes two (1986,??, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| peter cetera:
solitude / solitaire (1986,??, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| fowler
brothers: breakfast for dinosaurs (1988, cd, usa, fossil fbr 1002) - feat. albert wing, chester thompson, vinnie colaiuta, ike willis |
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| 51 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.1 (1988, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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52 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.2 (1988, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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| genesis: follow you follow me (1989,??, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| fire merchants: fire merchants (1989,??, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| 54 | frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.3 (1989, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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| richard souther: cross currents (1989,??, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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bruce fowler:
ants can count (2) (1990, cd, us, terra nova tnd-9002) - inside cover art by don van vliet / feat.various zappa alumni |
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| phil collins: serious hits ... live! (1990, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| tom brooks: all nations worship (1991, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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57 |
frank zappa: you can't do that on
stage anymore vol.4 (1991, 2cd, usa, ryko) |
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| frank zappa: piquantique (1991, cd, usa, rhino foo-eee records r2 70544) |
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| zappa / mothers: unmitigated audacity (1991, cd, usa, rhino foo-eee records r2 70540) |
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| 1 | chester thompson:
a joyful noise (1991, cd, usa, blue moon / moo records r2 79341) - feat.charles owens, walt fowler, steve fowler, bruce fowler and george duke |
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| steve fowler: the last
blue sky (1992, cd, usa, fossil records) - feat.walt, bruce and tom fowler, albert wing, chester thompson and ed mann |
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| mark connor: all nations worship (1992, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| don moen: worship with don moen (1992, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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tom fowler:
heartscapes (1992, cd, usa, fossil records) - feat. lots of zappa alumni |
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| tom brooks: lift him up (1992, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| genesis: genesis live: the way we walk (1992, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| steve
fowler: the last blue sky (2) (1992, cd, usa, fossil records) - feat.walt, bruce and tom fowler, albert wing, chester thompson and ed mann |
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| sonya jason: tigress (1993, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| george duke: muir woods suite (1993, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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bruce fowler:
entropy (3) (1993, cd, us, fossil records fbr 1005) - feat.steve, tom & walt fowler, a.wing, ch.thompson, k.mcgettrick |
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| ron kenoly: god is able (1994, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| kathy troccoli: kathy troccoli (1994, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| rebecca st. james: rebecca st. james (1994, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| ron kenoly: lift him up with ron kenoly (1995, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| ron kenoly: sing out (1995, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| beverly crawford: jesus, precious king (1995, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| larnelle harris: unbelievable love (1995, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| denny jiosa: moving pictures (1995, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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64 |
frank zappa: the lost episodes
(1996, cd, usa, ryko) |
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| neil diamond: tennessee moon (1996, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| billy & sarah gaines: come on back (1996, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| denny jiosa: inner voices (1996, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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65 |
frank zappa: läther
(1996, 3cd, usa, ryko) |
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66 |
frank zappa: frank zappa plays the
music of frank zappa (1996, cd, usa, barking pumpkin) |
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| duane eddy: ghostrider/great guitar hits (1996, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| denny jiosa: among friends (1999, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| napoleon murphy brock:
balls (1) (2002, cd, usa, nmb 3118) - feat.chester thompson, mike keneally, jerry outlaw |
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| weather
report: live and
unreleased (2002, 2cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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| frank black: honeycomb (2004, cd, ??, ??) - feat.chester thompson |
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74 |
frank zappa: quaudiophiliac (2004, dvda, usa, dts entertainment 69286-01125-9-9) |
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81 |
frank zappa: the dub room special (2007, cd, usa, zappa records) |
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83 |
frank zappa: one shot deal (2008, cd, usa, zappa records) |
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| various artists:
dc collection: vol.1 - the drummers of frank zappa (2009, dvd, usa, drum channel dc dvd) - feat. terry bozzio, ralph humphrey, chester thompson, chad wackerman & ruth underwood |
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| weather report: live in berlin 1975 (2011, cd & dvd, ??, ??) - feat. chester thompson |
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| frank zappa:
penguin in bondage - the little known history of the mothers of
invention (2011, download, usa, zappa records) |
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| billy sherwood:
the fusion syndicate (2012, cd, usa, purple pyramid records) - feat. chad wackerman, chester thompson |
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97 |
frank zappa: a token of his extreme soundtrack (2013, cd, usa, zappa records) |
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| 2 | chester thompson
trio: approved (2013, cd, usa, ??) |
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101 |
frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, cd+dvd, eu, eagle vision eagdv050) |
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| frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, dvd, eur, eagle vision) |
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| frank
zappa & the mothers: roxy the movie (2015, blu-ray, eur, eagle vision) |
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| 3 | chester
thompson trio: simpler times (2015, cd, usa, ??) |
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| 4 | chester thompson
trio: steppin' (2019, cd, usa, ??) |
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videography
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random notes
From: unknown
After I purchased the new Neil Diamond cd, Tennessee Moon (please no hate mail), I noticed that Chester played on two of the tracks. Looks like he is moving on to bigger and better things..
Chester is now living and working in Nashville, TN. He does keep quite busy with doing sessions, but he does not rule out that he will be touring with Genesis after the new album comes out. He was replaced on the last PC solo tour by Ricky Lawson, who previously has worked for Michael Jackson, etc.
Chester
has played drums with Genesis, Phil Collins, and Weather Report.
Chris Cawthray(drumz@inforamp.net) sez:
Chester has been gone from Genesis and the Phil Collins touring bands for some time
now. He has relocated to Nashville
and is blessing Music City with his presence
as both a studio and live drummer. I saw him some time ago on TV backing
up new country female singer Martina McBride for a TV special.
From: Naji Chmayssani (naji@village.uunet.be)
It seems Phil Collins decided to hire Chester Thompson as a drummer after hearing
"Don't You ever wash that thing" on Roxy & Elsewhere.
Jan van Kemenade sez:
Chester Thompson, Ian & Ruth Underwood play on Alphonso Johnson's Yesterday Dream
(FAQ only mentions Chester).
Jan van Kemenade sez:
Chester Thompson plays on 1 track of Sky Islands by Caldera ('77), on an other
track of that same album : Ralph Humphrey on drums.
Richard C Williams said:
Besides Genesis, He's been playing in a band called Fire Merchants with Brand
X guitarist John Goodsall
Dave Lane responds to Richard:
That was just one album way back in '89.
More recently, he's played with
George Duke on some orchestral stuff of his... A live recording, "Muir
Woods Suite", came out last year.
From: Keith Buchanan (akbuchan@indiana.edu)
Chester was recently seen in Indianapolis, In., playing keyboards for Carlos Santana.
From: Tom Grose (tomgrose@atl.mediaone.net)
This has to be the OTHER Chester Thompson, who played organ, piano, clav and
synth for Tower of Power.
From: Rick Weren (R.Weren@student.kun.nl)
In '85 Chester Thompson played on an album called R.O.A.R. It's on CBS and it sucks!
It's kind of a eighties latin-pop crap. Chester plays all kinds of electronic
instruments on it, which asides from the latin percussion (played by
amongst others Oresto Vilates) and a very white singer (Alex something) accounts
for most of the music on the album. Like I said, it sucks. Oh man, does
it suck!! It reminded me of the Miami Sound Machine, only with a guy singing.
That's pretty much it.
From: "Weiss, Paul" (Paul.Weiss@lexis-nexis.com)
Chester plays on the most recent release by Steve Hackett: Watcher of the Skies,
Genesis Revisited. He only plays on
2 tracks, but it's real good.
From: GodLike20@aol.com
Chester Thompson is on Steve Hackett's The Tokyo Tapes Live in Japan CD/Video.
From: "Robinson, Leon, HMR/US" (Leon.Robinson@hmrag.com)
Date: Tue, 11
May 1999
I briefly talked to Chester Thompson backstage at one of a series of concerts
presenting the United States debut of
George Duke's orchestral piece
"Muir Woods Suite". He
appeared with George Duke, Airto, Christian McBride,
and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He
mentioned that he's currently
living in Nashville doing studio work. He
also mentioned that he was
scheduled to work with Phil Collins again soon.
From: Brian Tannehill (brianobrian@webtv.net)
Chester was playing drums on the 1 hour abc special promotional hypathon for
disney's "tarzan"... june 1999...exquisite power-pop execution.
From: Brandon
Chester Thompson plays drums on a forthcoming Frank Black album called
"Honeycomb". A whole bunch of other storied musicians are on the
album, although the only one I can remember off the top of my head is Steve
Cropper of MG's and Blues Brothers fame.
Informants
to this page:
- Ed Worcester, Charles Ulrich
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