Chester Thompson Talks New Music and New Supergroup 'Cosmic Cathedral'
Chester Thompson Revered Drummer Talks Cosmic Cathedral,Genesis, Weather Report,Frank Zappa,Unitopia and More!
PROG SUPERGROUP COSMIC CATHEDRAL RELEASING DEBUT ALBUM FEATURING NEAL MORSE…CHESTER THOMPSON…PHIL KAEGGY…BYRON HOUSE…
ZOOM SPECIAL EDITION WITH EX GENESIS DRUMMER CHESTER THOMPSON ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS
Hello everyone and we are back for another edition of Interviewing the Legends… I’m your host Ray Shasho.
How do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected of you? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House. As Keaggy comments: “It was an honor to be invited and included in the making of the Deep Water project with Neal, Chester and Byron.”
Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly “Time To Fly”, came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”
What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they're playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles! In Deep Water, the ‘New Revelation’ section is based on a jam that turned into something that could have been on a Sting album! So, there’s a lot of variety here.”
And Chester Thompson says, “I am super excited for people to hear this album. There was great communication between all the players. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever been a part of!”
And coming from someone who’s played with Genesis and Frank Zappa, that’s quite a statement!
The album will be available as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Album.
Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-Album
PLEASE WELCOME PROGRESSIVE ROCK/JAZZ DRUMMER FORMERLY OF GENESIS/THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION/WEATHER REPORT/SANTANA/ AND CURRENTLY UNITOPIA …CHESTER THOMPSON TO INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS …
PREORDER
DEEP WATER
BY COSMIC CATHEDRAL
featuring
Neal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton etc)
Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-Album
ALSO PURCHASE
THE MOST RECENT SOLO ALBUM
FROM
CHESTER THOMPSON
ENTITLED
‘WAKE UP CALL’
AVAILABLE
AMAZON.COM
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT
COSMIC CATHEDRAL
VISIT
https://nealmorse.com/product/cosmic-cathedral-deep-water/
Radiant Records
Neal Morse official website
Chester Thompson official website
Phil Keaggy official website
DISCOGRAPHY
SOLO
A Joyful Noise (1991)
Steppin (2019)
Wake-Up Call (2023)
Chester Thompson Trio
Approved (2013)
Simpler Times (2015)
As a member
Cosmic Cathedral
Deep Water 2025
Air Pocket
Fly On (1975)
Hunter (1985)
Breakfast for Dinosaurs (1988)
Caldera
Sky Islands (Capitol, 1977)
Fire Merchants
Fire Merchants (1989)
Genesis
Seconds Out (1977)
Three Sides Live (1982)
The Way We Walk, Vol I: The Shorts (1992)
The Way We Walk, Vol II: The Longs (1993)
Live over Europe 2007 (2007)
BBC Broadcasts (2023)
High Inergy
High Inergy (Gordy, 1981)
Santana
Beyond Appearances (Columbia, 1985) – rec. 1984
Weather Report
Black Market (Columbia, 1976)
As sideman
With Phil Collins
Serious Hits... Live! (Atlantic, 1990) – live
Finally, The First Farewell Tour (Warner Music Vision, 2004)[2DVD-Video]
With Steve Hackett
Please Don't Touch! (1978)
Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited (1996)
The Tokyo Tapes (1998)
With O'Donel Levy
Black Velvet (1971)
Breeding of Mind (1972)
Dawn of a New Day (1973)
Hands of Fire (1974)[2LP] – compilation
With Frank Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers of Invention
Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)
One Size Fits All (1975)
Bongo Fury (1975)
Studio Tan (1978) – rec. 1969, 1974–76
Sleep Dirt (1979) – rec. 1974 & 76
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988) – rec. 1974
PROG SUPERGROUP COSMIC CATHEDRAL RELEASING DEBUT ALBUM FEATURING NEAL MORSE…CHESTER THOMPSON…PHIL KAEGGY…BYRON HOUSE…
ZOOM SPECIAL EDITION WITH EX GENESIS DRUMMER CHESTER THOMPSON ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS
Hello everyone and we are back for another edition of Interviewing the Legends… I’m your host Ray Shasho.
How do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected of you? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House. As Keaggy comments: “It was an honor to be invited and included in the making of the Deep Water project with Neal, Chester and Byron.”
Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly “Time To Fly”, came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”
What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they're playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles! In Deep Water, the ‘New Revelation’ section is based on a jam that turned into something that could have been on a Sting album! So, there’s a lot of variety here.”
And Chester Thompson says, “I am super excited for people to hear this album. There was great communication between all the players. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever been a part of!”
And coming from someone who’s played with Genesis and Frank Zappa, that’s quite a statement!
The album will be available as a Limited CD Digipak, Gatefold 2LP & as Digital Album.
Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-Album
PLEASE WELCOME PROGRESSIVE ROCK/JAZZ DRUMMER FORMERLY OF GENESIS/THE MOTHERS OF INVENTION/WEATHER REPORT/SANTANA/ AND CURRENTLY UNITOPIA …CHESTER THOMPSON TO INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS …
PREORDER
DEEP WATER
BY COSMIC CATHEDRAL
featuring
Neal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton etc)
Pre-order now here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-Album
ALSO PURCHASE
THE MOST RECENT SOLO ALBUM
FROM
CHESTER THOMPSON
ENTITLED
‘WAKE UP CALL’
AVAILABLE
AMAZON.COM
FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT
COSMIC CATHEDRAL
VISIT
https://nealmorse.com/product/cosmic-cathedral-deep-water/
Radiant Records
Neal Morse official website
Chester Thompson official website
Phil Keaggy official website
DISCOGRAPHY
SOLO
A Joyful Noise (1991)
Steppin (2019)
Wake-Up Call (2023)
Chester Thompson Trio
Approved (2013)
Simpler Times (2015)
As a member
Cosmic Cathedral
Deep Water 2025
Air Pocket
Fly On (1975)
Hunter (1985)
Breakfast for Dinosaurs (1988)
Caldera
Sky Islands (Capitol, 1977)
Fire Merchants
Fire Merchants (1989)
Genesis
Seconds Out (1977)
Three Sides Live (1982)
The Way We Walk, Vol I: The Shorts (1992)
The Way We Walk, Vol II: The Longs (1993)
Live over Europe 2007 (2007)
BBC Broadcasts (2023)
High Inergy
High Inergy (Gordy, 1981)
Santana
Beyond Appearances (Columbia, 1985) – rec. 1984
Weather Report
Black Market (Columbia, 1976)
As sideman
With Phil Collins
Serious Hits... Live! (Atlantic, 1990) – live
Finally, The First Farewell Tour (Warner Music Vision, 2004)[2DVD-Video]
With Steve Hackett
Please Don't Touch! (1978)
Watcher of the Skies: Genesis Revisited (1996)
The Tokyo Tapes (1998)
With O'Donel Levy
Black Velvet (1971)
Breeding of Mind (1972)
Dawn of a New Day (1973)
Hands of Fire (1974)[2LP] – compilation
With Frank Zappa / Beefheart / Mothers of Invention
Roxy & Elsewhere (1974)
One Size Fits All (1975)
Bongo Fury (1975)
Studio Tan (1978) – rec. 1969, 1974–76
Sleep Dirt (1979) – rec. 1974 & 76
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 (1988) – rec. 1974
- Cosmic Cathedral
- Chester Thompson interview
- Neal Morse
- Phil Kaeggy
- Byron House
- Genesis
- Frank Zappa
- Weather Report
- Santana
- Ray Shasho
- Interviewing the Legends
- The Rock Star Chronicles
The Zoom interview can be seen at www.youtube.com/c/InterviewingtheLegends in its entirety.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.