Chester Thompson

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Chester Cortez Thompson (born 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland) (not to be confused with the Santana keyboard player) made his name as a session drummer, going on to play in Frank Zappa's touring band (as part of the much loved 1973-1974 lineups which also featured percussionist Ruth Underwood and jazz keyboardist George Duke) and with Weather Report. He played on such noted Zappa albums as "One Size Fits All, "Roxy& Elsewhere", and "Overnite Sensation". His longest standing gig was with Genesis from 1977, playing on their tours in that year, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983/4, 1986/7 and 1992/3 and is featured on their live albums Seconds Out, Three Sides Live and The Way We Walk Volume 1 and Volume 2. Thompson continues to work with Phil Collins on his solo concert tours, appears on Phil Collins' Serious Hits... Live! live album, and has released his own solo album, A Joyful Noise.

Chester's playing style is widely acknowledged and respected, and can be seen on numerous live videos of Genesis, from late 70's up to early 90's. His live playing with the band is an amazing mixture of his own style and Collins' own, being equally comfortable with acoustic and electronic drums.