Tom Coster (born August 21, 1941) is an American keyboardist, composer, and longtime backing musician for

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

Early years

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

-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.bandofthepacific.af.mil
/ref>

Career

Coster has played with and/or composed for many groups and musicians including

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 They were formed in Berkeley, California in 1966 by singer ...

Gábor Szabó Gábor István Szabó (March 8, 1936 – February 26, 1982) was a Hungarian American guitarist whose style incorporated jazz, pop, rock, and Hungarian music. Early years Szabó was born in Budapest, Hungary. He began playing guitar at the ag ...

, Billy Cobham,

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

, Coryell/Coster/ Smith, Claudio Baglioni,

Stu Hamm Stuart Hamm (born February 8, 1960) is an American bass guitar player, known for his session and live work with numerous artists as well as for his unconventional playing style and solo recordings. Career Born in New Orleans, Hamm spent his chil ...

, Boz Scaggs, Zucchero and Bobby Holiday,

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

, 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 are " 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.

Personal life

Coster's son was born in 1966, also called Tom Coster, also a keyboardist and composer.

Solo discography and personnel

* ''T.C.'' (Fantasy, 1981) ** Tom Coster - keyboards, Linn-1 drum machine programming ** Joaquin Lievano - guitar ** Randy Jackson - bass ** Steve Smith - drums * ''Ivory Expeditions'' (Fantasy, 1983) ** Tom Coster - keyboards ** Joaquin Lievano - guitar ** Randy Jackson - bass ** Steve Smith - drums ** Walter Afanasieff - additional keyboards **

Tommy Coster Thomas Joseph Coster Jr. (born June 10, 1966) is an American keyboardist and composer. He played on his first song titled "Zulu" with Santana in 1977 receiving his first gold record the following year in 1978. In the following years he co-w ...

- additional keyboards * ''Did Jah Miss Me?!?'' (Headfirst/JVC, 1989) ** Tom Coster - keyboards **

- keyboards ** Jordan Rudess - keyboards ** Ernie Watts - alto, soprano and tenor saxophones, and Yamaha WX-7 wind driver ** Norbert Stachel - tenor saxophone ** Frank Gambale - acoustic and electric guitars ** Randy Jackson - electric bass ** Dennis Chambers - drums ** Steve Smith - drums ** Larry Grenadier - acoustic bass * ''From Me to You'' (Headfirst/JVC, 1990) ** Tom Coster - keyboards **

- keyboards ** Mark Russo - saxophones ** Corrado Rustci - guitar ** Kai-Eckhardt Karpeh - bass ** William Kennedy - drums ** Armando Peraza - congas, bongos ** Jimi Tunnell - vocals * ''Gotcha'' (JVC, 1992) ** Tom Coster - keyboards, computer programming, synth and drum programming ** Mark Russo - saxophones ** Chris Camozzi - guitar **

Alphonso Johnson Alphonso Johnson (born February 2, 1951) is an American jazz bassist active since the early 1970s. Johnson was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1973 to 1975, and has performed and recorded with numerous high-profile rock ...

- electric and fretless bass ** Dennis Chambers - drums ** Norbert Stachel - saxophones * ''Let's Set the Record Straight'' (JVC, 1993) ** Tom Coster - keyboards ** Bob Berg - saxophones ** Frank Gambale - acoustic and electric guitars **

- electric and fretless bass ** Dennis Chambers - drums **

Raul Rekow Santana is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1966 by American guitarist Carlos Santana. The band has undergone multiple recording and performing line-ups in its history, with Santana the only consistent member. After signing with ...

- congas, bata, vocals **

Karl Perazzo Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

- congas, bongos ** Steve Smith - drums **

- Producer, keyboards and synth * ''The Forbidden Zone'' (JVC, 1994) ** Tom Coster - keyboards, synthe bass ** Bob Berg - tenor saxophone ** Scott Henderson - guitars ** Jeff Andrews - electric bass **

- electric and fretless bass ** Dennis Chambers - drums **

- congas, bata, chekere, vocal chant **

- timbales, congas, miscellaneous percussion **

- Producer * '' Interstate '76'' Soundtrack (w/Bullmark) (Activision, 1996) ** Tom Coster - keyboards ** Arion Salazar (Third Eye Blind) - electric bass ** Bryan Mantia (Primus) - drums & percussion ** Jon Bendich - ** Les Harris (Curveball) - ** Dave Schul (Curveball) - * ''From the Street'' (JVC, 1996) ** Tom Coster - keyboards, synth bass ** Bob Malach - tenor saxophone **

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of ...

- tenor saxophone ** Dean Brown - rhythm guitar ** Steve Cardenas - lead guitar ** Dennis Chambers - drums ** Sheila E. - percussion **

- electric bass ** Mark Isham - trumpet and cornet **

Tim Landers Timothy Gerard Landers (born November 1, 1956) is an American bassist best known for his contribution to the 1970s-80s jazz-fusion genre and his work with Al Di Meola, Billy Cobham, and Gil Evans. Landers is a session musician and was a memb ...

- electric and acoustic bass **

- Producer

References

External links

All About Jazz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coster, Tom American jazz organists American male organists Santana (band) members Keytarists Living people 1941 births Musicians from Detroit Jazz musicians from Michigan 21st-century organists American male jazz musicians 21st-century American keyboardists Vital Information members 20th-century American keyboardists Fantasy Records artists JVC Records artists United States Air Force Band musicians United States military musicians