Chester Thompson - Unsung Hero

[BennyAndTheSkins]

I'm listening to Weather Report's Black Market, and was listening to Zappa's Inca Roads (off of Sofa?). Man what a bad ass Chester was! Fantastic player that I dont think really got his kudos like other cats of his time (Gadd, Lenny White, Cobham, etc....)

[Randy walker]

He was always great live with Genesis.

[BennyAndTheSkins]

Yeah, Phil knew who to chose. Maybe Genesis was the first example of a pop act tapping a jazz guy to fill the chair.......

Three Sides Live still rules (In The Cage Medley)

[FuseU1]

CT rox the hizz... saw him in clinic 2 or 3 times... & had the 'lucky' fortune of seeing him on tour w/ Genesis [tho, unfortunately, not w/ Zappa]; then, that night, after the Gen. show he showed up & sat in at a local popular jazz club at the time here in town - you should here the guy play JAZZ - he tore the roof off the joint [incidentally, it's gone now; coincidence, perhaps?! [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] - i wish i had taped it; he made those local cats SWEAT & GRIMACE... [img]wink.gif[/img] ... & he's a very down-to-earth, kind, nice chap.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ September 03, 2003 04:35 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>

[Clintuplet]

Of the very few autographs that I have, Chester's is one. As Fuse said very down-to-earth. Saw him twice a couple years ago and was blown away. I used to wear the 'Three Sides Live' tape out when I was a kid. Still one of my favorite Genesis recordings.

Clint

[tombo74]

A couple years ago I went to a Sabian clinic announced with Terry Bozzio. It was the first time Terry came in town and the hall was packed with guys who wanted to see the marvel for a very long time. But the kit on stage was a lot smaller then we thought it would be [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img] ...

The host came onstage and told there was a little change in the agenda: Terry could not make it at the very last minute and Sabian was kind enough to flew for us another great artist. So just out of the plane here's CHESTER THOMPSON...

And the crowd to start: OOOOOOOOOH! and: Who the hell is this guy! and: We want Terry! and leaving.

I knew Chester from Genesis 3 sides Live which is an awesome show, but I must admit I was kind of disapointed.

But the guy came onstage with this big smile and started joking on his "filling in" for Terry to break the ice, verry cool!

And then he started playing and ALL DOUBTS DISAPEARED. Were were in for a treat!! The guy has it all: groove, chops, sound.
And he played/talked about Zappa and Genesis stuff.

Great player + great and inviting personality. I remember myself asking 3-4 questions which I don't do too often (oooh my horrible accent!) and he was very responsive and warm!

Terry came a few months later cause he knew he was expected. Although the chops were impressive, the clinic was cold as ice...

Cheers to Chester!! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[benrand]

The first clinic I saw was Chester at DRUMS in Crafton, PA and after he spent what seemed like two hours tuning a single tom, he played some of the craziest stuff I had ever seen. I can still hear that bell from his Formula 602 21" ride. A clear ringing bell. He used it this one really wild beat using two 16ths on the second tom and an upbeat on the snare.

But his playing was really clean and fast and inventive. Up to that point, I thought I knew a bit about drumming through Rush and the Doors. But when you see a guy play around the kit as fast as Chester it changes the way you think.

Yeah, he made a big impression.

[buga]

Chester Thompson is MONEY, and I hear ya on the underrated comment, it seems as tho when everyone mentions the "gods" 9 out of 10 times Chester's name won't come up. But that's understandable unlike Vinnie or Porcaro, Chester hasn't played as many "name gigs" besides Genesis/Phil Collins and Zappa.

I would venture to say he grooved harder than a young Vinnie with Zappa on "Inca Roads" particularly on "Willie The Pimp" [img]cool.gif[/img]

[beat Hit]

YEAH!!!

Can someone please dig up the MD article "Reflections with Vinnie Colaiuta" released like 1 or 2 years ago? And please quote what Vinnie said on Chester? (Randy on your MD DVD archive maybe?), thanks in advance...

Yeah, Chester's got that well disciplined-consistent-that-won't-move-Groove. Nice tasty tom fills, scary chops, etc...

For me I love Genesis "Second Out" so much. If I am not mistaken, he had just gotten the gig when this was recorded so there is a "freshness" to it that I really, really dig. How he played in duo with Phil fits so well. I also really like Zappa's "Roxy's and Elsewhere", "One Size Fits All"... I don't have them on CD, only LP so I have not heard them in years... [img]frown.gif[/img]

Unsung Hero is right...

His site:

www.chesterthompson.com

[McKenzie]

Yes I agree this GREAT drummer deserves much more praise. His work with Zappa and Genesis is fantastic. Like some of you guy's I totally dug "3 Sides Live" I played along with that I do not know how many times and he was Killer with Zappa. Great Feel and Great chops and taste to boot and he has such a cool laid back Persona. Never had the chance to see him live, wish I had.

Digital