Tom Coster
Encyclopedia
Tom Coster is an American keyboardist
and composer
. Detroit-born and San Francisco-raised, Coster played piano
and accordion
as a youth, continuing his studies through college and a productive five-year stint as a musician in the U.S. Air Force Band
.
Coster has played with and/or composed for many groups and musicians including The Loading Zone
, Gábor Szabó
, Carlos Santana
, Billy Cobham
, Third Eye Blind
, Coryell
/Coster/Smith
, Claudio Baglioni, Stu Hamm, Boz Scaggs
, Zucchero
and Bobby Holiday, Joe Satriani
, Frank Gambale
, and Vital Information
. Coster also produced several solo jazz fusion
recordings as a leader for Fantasy, Headfirst, and JVC.
Some of Coster's best known compositions include "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)", "Flor D'Luna (Moonflower)" and "Dance, Sister, Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" performed by Santana
, and "The Perfect Date" performed by Vital Information
.
His son Tom Coster, Jr. is also a keyboardist.
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. Detroit-born and San Francisco-raised, Coster played piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
as a youth, continuing his studies through college and a productive five-year stint as a musician in the U.S. Air Force Band
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
.
Coster has played with and/or composed for many groups and musicians including The Loading Zone
The Loading Zone
The Loading Zone was an American rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s. They issued two albums worth of material, with differing band lineups, before disbanding in 1971.-Career:...
, Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...
, Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, Billy Cobham
Billy Cobham
William C. Cobham is a Panamanian American jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, who has called Switzerland home since the late 1970s....
, Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind is an American alternative rock band formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco. The songwriting duo of Kevin Cadogan and Stephan Jenkins signed the band's first major label recording contract with Elektra records in 1996 resulting in two multi platinum albums. The band's lineup...
, Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...
/Coster/Smith
Steve Smith (musician)
Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
, Claudio Baglioni, Stu Hamm, Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
, Zucchero
Zucchero
Adelmo Fornaciari, Commander , more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero /ˈtsukkero/, is an Italian rock singer. His music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces.Zucchero is the...
and Bobby Holiday, Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
, Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale
Frank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...
, and Vital Information
Vital Information
Steve Smith and Vital Information is an American jazz fusion group led by drummer Steve Smith.Vital Information was formed from the two groups, Frank Keyboard and The Keyboards and Pennywhistle Pokkett, both massively influential on the jazz and blues scene, by Steve Smith in 1983 with friends Tim...
. Coster also produced several solo jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
recordings as a leader for Fantasy, Headfirst, and JVC.
Some of Coster's best known compositions include "Europa (Earth's Cry Heaven's Smile)", "Flor D'Luna (Moonflower)" and "Dance, Sister, Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" performed by Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, and "The Perfect Date" performed by Vital Information
Vital Information
Steve Smith and Vital Information is an American jazz fusion group led by drummer Steve Smith.Vital Information was formed from the two groups, Frank Keyboard and The Keyboards and Pennywhistle Pokkett, both massively influential on the jazz and blues scene, by Steve Smith in 1983 with friends Tim...
.
His son Tom Coster, Jr. is also a keyboardist.
Solo Discography and Personnel
- T.C. - Fantasy 1981
- Tom Coster: Keyboards, Linn-1 Drum Machine Programming
- Joaquin Lievano Guitar
- Randy JacksonRandy JacksonRandall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
Bass - Steve SmithSteve Smith (musician)Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
: Drums
- Ivory Expeditions - Fantasy 1983
- Tom Coster: Keyboards
- Joaquin Lievano Guitar
- Randy JacksonRandy JacksonRandall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
Bass - Steve SmithSteve Smith (musician)Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
: Drums - Walter AfanasieffWalter AfanasieffWalter Afanasieff is a multiple Grammy-award-winning record producer and songwriter. He is best known for his long association with Mariah Carey, for whom he was producer and co-writer for several years, beginning in 1990...
: Additional keyboards
- Did Jah Miss Me?!? - Headfirst/JVC 1989
- Tom Coster: Keyboards
- Tom Coster Jr.: Keyboards
- Jordan RudessJordan RudessJordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...
: Keyboards - Ernie WattsErnie WattsErnest James "Ernie" Watts is an American jazz and rhythm and blues musician. He plays saxophone and flute. He might be best known for his work with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and his Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist...
: Alto, Soprano and Tenor saxophones, and Yamaha WX-7 Wind Driver - Frank GambaleFrank GambaleFrank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...
: Acoustic and Electric guitars - Randy JacksonRandy JacksonRandall Darius "Randy" Jackson is an American bassist, singer, record producer, music manager, A&R executive, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is best known as a judge on American Idol and executive producer for MTV's America's Best Dance Crew...
Electric Bass - Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
: Drums - Steve SmithSteve Smith (musician)Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
: Drums - Larry GrenadierLarry GrenadierLarry Grenadier is an American jazz double bassist.His father, Albert, was a trumpet player, and his two brothers, Phil and Steve, would eventually play trumpet and guitar respectively. Grenadier too began on trumpet when he was 10 years old. His father taught him to read music and gave him his...
: Acoustic Bass
- From Me To You - Headfirst/JVC 1990
- Tom Coster: Keyboards
- Tom Coster Jr.: Keyboards
- Mark Russo: Saxophones
- Corrado Rustci: Guitar
- Kai-Eckhardt KarpehKai EckhardtKai Eckhardt is a German musician and composer who plays bass, best known for his work with John McLaughlin, Vital Information, the band he co-founded Garaj Mahal and Billy Cobham...
: Bass - William Kennedy: Drums
- Armando PerazaArmando PerazaArmando Peraza is a Latin jazz percussionist. Through his long associations with jazz pianist George Shearing, vibraphonist Cal Tjader and guitarist Carlos Santana, he has been internationally known from the 1950s through to the 1990s...
: Congos, Bongoes - Jimi TunnellJimi TunnellJimi Tunnell is an American jazz musician and guitarist/vocalist originally from Denton, Texas. Although Tunnell is known for his work with the guitar, his career began as a jazz trumpet player. In his time as a diverse professional musician, Tunnell has worked with acts such as Yukihiro Takahashi,...
: Vocals
- Gotcha - JVC 1992
- Tom Coster: Keyboards, Computer programming, Synth and Drum Programming
- Mark Russo: Saxophones
- Chris CamozziChris CamozziChristopher Allen Camozzi is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Camozzi mostly fought in local promotions, as well as the Maximum Fighting Championship, appearing on HDNet Fights on more than one occasion...
: Guitar - Alphonso JohnsonAlphonso JohnsonAlphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
: Electric and fretless bass - Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
: Drums - Norbert Stachel: Saxophones
- Let's Set The Record Straight - JVC 1993
- Tom Coster: Keyboards
- Bob BergBob BergBob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
: Saxophones - Frank GambaleFrank GambaleFrank Gambale is an Australian jazz fusion guitarist. He has released eleven studio albums over a period of more than two decades, and is renowned for his use of the sweep picking and economy picking techniques.-Recording career:...
: Acoustic and electric guitars - Alphonso JohnsonAlphonso JohnsonAlphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
: Electric and fretless Bass - Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
: Drums - Raul Rekow: Congos, Bata, Vocals
- Karl Perazzo: Congos, Bongoes
- Steve SmithSteve Smith (musician)Steve Elliott Smith is an American drummer who has worked with hundreds of artists in his career, but is mostly known for being the drummer of the rock band Journey during their peak years of success. Modern Drummer magazine readers voted him the #1 All-Around Drummer five years in a row...
: Drums - Tom Coster Jr.: Keyboards and Synth
- The Forbidden Zone - JVC 1994
- Tom Coster: Keyboards, Synthe Bass
- Bob BergBob BergBob Berg was a jazz saxophonist originally from Brooklyn, New York City. He started his musical education at the age of six when he began studying classical piano. He began playing the saxophone at the age of thirteen. Bob Berg was a Juilliard graduate influenced heavily by the late 1964–67 period...
: Tenor Saxophone - Scott HendersonScott HendersonScott Henderson is a fusion and blues guitarist best known for his work with the band Tribal Tech.-Early days:Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, Henderson began playing guitar at an early age...
: Guitars - Jeff AndrewsJeff AndrewsJeffrey J. Andrews is an American former professional baseball player and current coach. He was the pitching coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008, having been fired after one season at the position. Andrews spent each of the last 22 years as a minor league pitching coach/coordinator, the last...
: Electric Bass - Alphonso JohnsonAlphonso JohnsonAlphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
: Electric and fretless bass - Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
: Drums - Raul Rekow: Congos, Bata, Chekere, Vocal chant
- Karl Perazzo: Timbales, Congas, Miscellaneous percussion
- Interstate '76Interstate '76Interstate '76 is a vehicular combat video game for Windows. It was developed and published by Activision and released in March 1997.-Gameplay:...
Soundtrack (w/Bullmark) - Activision 1996- Tom Coster: Keyboards
- Arion SalazarArion SalazarArion Salazar is the former bassist for Third Eye Blind. Salazar was considered to be the most connected with the fans through the internet out of all the band members. He was previously in the Fremont, California band, Fungo Mungo.Salazar also played in a sessions band called Bullmark...
(Third Eye Blind): Electric bass - Bryan MantiaBryan MantiaBryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
(Primus): Drums & Percussion - Jon Bendich:
- Les Harris(Curveball):
- Dave Schul(Curveball):
- From The Street - JVC 1996
- Tom Coster: Keyboards, Synthe bass
- Bob Malach: Tenor saxophone
- Michael BreckerMichael BreckerMichael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
: Tenor saxophone - Dean Brown: Rhythm guitar
- Steve CardenasSteve CardenasStephen Antonio Cardenas is a former Mexican-American actor and martial artist, perhaps most noted for playing Rocky DeSantos in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series....
: Lead Guitar - Dennis ChambersDennis ChambersDennis Chambers is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke, Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among...
: Drums - Sheila E.Sheila E.Sheila Escovedo , known by her stage name Sheila E., is an American drummer and percussionist, perhaps best known for her work with Prince, George Duke and Ringo Starr.-Early life and Prince period:...
: Percussion - Stu Hamm: Electric Bass
- Mark IshamMark IshamMark Isham is an American trumpeter, synthesist, and film composer. He works in a variety of genres, including jazz, electronic, and film.-Life and career:...
: Trumpet and Cornet - Tim LandersTim LandersTimothy Gerard Landers is an American bass guitarist, composer and record producer.He graduated from Brockton High School in 1975 and attended the Berklee College of Music from 1976 to 1977, studying under Neil Stubenhaus and Whit Browne...
: Electric and Acoustic bass