Tom Coster

During his tenure with Santana in the 1970’s, Tom Coster made his mark as a keyboard player and composer of versatility and power. 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 Air Force. He then invaded the Bay Area club scene, soon acquiring his reputation as a standout keyboard player. After successful tenures with the rock group The Loading Zone and jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo, Coster was asked by Carlos Santana in 1972 to bring more jazz fusion influence to that phenomenally successful band.

This historic alliance produced six classic Santana albums -- "Caravanserai," "Welcome," "Lotus," "Borboletta," "Amigos," and "Moonflower." Coster also performed on three Devadip Carlos Santana solo albums (including "Illuminations" with Alice Coltrane). "Europa," "Flor D’Luna" and "Dance Sister Dance" are three timeless examples of Coster’s contributions to these projects.