- Early in his career he worked a day job in a bank while playing clubs at night to break into the Bay Area music scene.
- As a youth played piano and organ with his church choir.
- Settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1969 when the Rudy Johnson Trio split up.
- At age 19 he joined a trio led by Rudy Johnson and spent 3 years touring the country with the group.
- A fan of jazz by age 13, this has been a major influence on his playing even though he has worked primarily in the worlds of pop, rock, and soul music.
- Started playing piano at age five when he was able to play by ear songs he heard on the radio in his home in Oklahoma City.
- Not to be confused with drummer Chester Thompson who is known for his work with Frank Zappa, Weather Report, Genesis, and Phil Collins.
- Keyboard player with Tower of Power from 1973 to 1983.
- By age 16 he focused mainly on Hammond B-3 organ playing with rock bands in high school.
- Keyboard player with Santana from 1983 to 2009.
- Released a solo album, "Powerhouse," in 1971 on the Black Jazz Records label as leader of a soul-jazz quartet (organ, sax, trombone, & drums) that featured Rudy Johnson on sax. He composed all songs on the album.
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