Steppin’ Out: Chester Thompson Records Raw New Release at Sweetwater Studios

Fort Wayne, IN – Chester Thompson has spent the last forty-plus years developing a singular rhythmic resume; playing with jazz giants Weather Report, progressive auteur Frank Zappa, and touring with arena-rockers Genesis among other projects. More recently, Thompson found himself in Sweetwater Studios laying down the energetic live sessions for his latest release, Steppin’. Although Thompson is no stranger to recording with a tight jazz band in live, all-at-once takes, what made this session unique was that it took place during a sold-out session of one of Sweetwater’s Master Classes with the full participation of the attending students, supervised by Sweetwater Senior Producer/Engineer Mark Hornsby. The album is set to be released on May 1st, 2019, and will be available through CD Baby.

Class in Session

The idea to involve Thompson in the Master Class Series, Sweetwater’s unique educational offering that allows aspiring engineers to learn the art of recording alongside well-known artists, had been percolating with Hornsby for a while. “I’ve known Chester for a long time,” says Hornsby. “He’s been involved with workshops here at Sweetwater in the past and we’ve done some sessions together over the years, both here and in Nashville. Getting him involved in his own Recording Master Class was an obvious next step.” Thompson has done his fair share of teaching on his own -- having taught drums at Belmont University in Nashville for the last twenty years as well as participating in countless drum clinics -- so when Hornsby approached him about using his upcoming sessions for educational purposes with Sweetwater’s Master Class series, he was immediately intrigued. “The idea really appealed to me,” Thompson explains. “Being able to help people get further down the path of excellency in music is always something that is worthwhile to me.”

Thompson and his