Tom Coster

Tom Coster ( born August 21, 1941 in Detroit ) is an American keyboardist, who has emerged especially in the fusion and smooth jazz in the area.

Life and work

Coster, who grew up first in Michigan and then in California, learned as a child accordion to switch after ten years of teaching the piano, which he studied at the College of San Mateo. During his five years of military service, he played in an Air Force band. In 1969 he moved to San Francisco and was one of the jazz-rock group Loading Zone on. 1971, he moved to Gábor Szabó. From 1972 to 1978 he was a member of the band by Carlos Santana. There he worked on several albums such as Caravanserai or Welcome with, was also known as a composer and played " especially in live shows its quality as an improviser with a strong sense of diverse musical styles from ". At the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978, he has performed with Billy Cobham. After three years out of the music scene, he led his own bands. On his album Ivory Expeditions his son of the same plays with. Under his own name he has released albums on Fantasy Records, Headfirst, and JVC who came to the part in the top 10 Contemporary Jazz Billboard charts. Between 1983 and 1986 he again worked with Carlos Santana, he played with Vital Information. He also worked with Third Eye Blind, Coryell / Coster / Smith, Claudio Baglioni, Boz Scaggs, Joe Satriani and Frank Gambale.

Among the most famous compositions Coster include " Europe ( Earth 's Cry Heaven's Smile) ", " Flor D' Luna ( Moonflower ) " and " Dance, Sister, Dance ( Baila Mi Hermana ) " for Santana and "The Perfect Date " for Vital Information.

Lexical entries

• Wolf Kampmann Reclams Jazz Encyclopedia Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-010528-5