Deep Water is the impressive new studio collaboration between progressive rock stalwart Neal Morse and former Genesis drummer Chester Thompson, alongside guitarist Phil Keaggy and bassist Byron House, known as Cosmic Cathedral. Morse and Thompson discuss the formation of the band and the album that offers so much promise for the future.
Age is no impediment to creativity and virtuosity. Such is the case with Cosmic Cathedral, a new collaboration between Neal Morse and erstwhile Genesis drummer Chester Thompson, with veteran guitarist Phil Keaggy and bassist Byron House. The average age of the four members heard on debut album Deep Water is 70.
Yet despite the benefits of that much experience, it’s not always easy to maintain your chops, as Thompson explains: “For me, practising is an ongoing thing. I’m at an age now where part of my practice is to retain what I’ve always done. But I’m always looking to improve and go to new places.”
Since he left Spock’s Beard in 2002, Morse has enjoyed a prolific solo career that’s included epic productions with concepts centred around his Christian faith. But there have also been more secular-oriented collaborations, including Transatlantic, Flying Colors and The Resonance. And while Cosmic Cathedral offers sonic aspects familiar to Morse fans, the creative process was rather different.
“I’d gone to see the Steve Hackett Band here in Nashville,” Morse explains. “I went backstage and Chester and Steve were together in the dressing room. I was like a fly on the wall, listening to them talk about the old days. As I was driving away, I felt like I should collaborate with Chester somehow.”
Thompson continues: “We had lunch, then we came to my place and jammed for a bit, just to see where it went. Neal said it could be nice to add some other guys. So we started kicking around who to invite. It turns out the people that I had in mind were people he had history with – Phil and Byron.
“We got together and jammed just to see where the music would go naturally. We just started playing; some of it ended up on the final recording. Neal is a great arranger, so he was able to take the bits and pieces we did and give them shape and form, and he also added some bits.”
Morse is full of praise for Thompson’s ability to adapt to any playing location or style. “Chester had a little Triton keyboard. I’d never played with him before and I didn’t want to play too loud, but I was amazed that we could jam together in the same room with live drums and be able to hear everything.
“Chester plays in the room to taste, and I just thought it was so cool and different. With most of the drummers I play with, you won’t hear yourself if you’re in the same room, unless you had a Marshall stack.”
Thompson says it’s part of his musical DNA. “Starting from the very first drum set lessons, I’ve played a lot of acoustic jazz, so I’m used to performing in a room with an acoustic piano and bass. I really enjoy that. I taught for 20 years at a university here in Nashville, and one of the things I’ve always worked on with my students is learning how to listen.”
Thompson, who’d been reintroduced to progressive music several years ago, toured Europe in 2023 with Australian band Unitopia. It was a baptism of fire since he was still recovering from a serious leg injury. “I’m back playing and everything’s fine now,” he says. “I’m still having to work on being more fit; for a while I had to back off a little bit.
“Doing the tour with Unitopia was the first time I played after the injury – I was in excruciating pain after every show, but I knew I needed to get through it. It was great that Neal refused to accept a pedestrian approach. Neal pushed me in a direction I hadn’t visited in several years, which was to really dig in and go for it.”
“I cracked the whip!” Neal says. “I thought it was all flowing pretty well. We were working with Jerry Guidroz, the engineer that I’ve used for a long time. I’ve got to give him a lot of credit for editing all the jam session tapes, because we did a lot of playing with just Byron and myself and Chester. So there were a lot of things to pull out, but that included some beautiful little sections.”
“Jerry was pretty much a part of the band,” adds Thompson. “His instrument was the recording equipment. He was very present –he’s a drummer himself and he got it. Some guys are really technical but have never played an instrument. Jerry understood exactly what we wanted.”
While the other musicians were crucial to the tone of Deep Water – although neither come directly from prog backgrounds. “Phil Keaggy is a virtuoso guitar player; he’s a real legend and he’s won a huge number of awards,” Morse says. “I’m mainly familiar with his music that he created with [70s jam band] Glass Harp. I’ve done some improvisations with him and he sang and played on my One album in 2004, and I’ve been wanting to do more stuff with Phil for years. I was especially excited for us to sing harmonies together – that’s a really magical thing.
“Byron played on [2003’s] Testimony as a hired standup bass player. He’s also local; I wanted to have local Nashville guys so it wouldn’t be such an extravaganza just to get together. Phil suggested Byron because they’d made a jam album. I didn’t know Byron was such a good improviser, but I had a really good feeling about him right away. I think you can hear that on the record.”
I just say what I feel in that moment… It’s a challenge as a Christian and as an artist to try to say it in a way that’s honest
Neal Morse
Deep Water treads a fine line between the more structured prog familiar to Morse ffans – especially in the 38-minute titular suite – and the material that originated from their jam sessions, with its looser, open feel, closer to the softer jazzier rock of vintage Steely Dan or Toto.
Opener The Heart Of Life begins with a startling burst of jazz fusion before settling into a more familiar prog structure. Meanwhile the gorgeous Time To Fly and the catchy Walking In Daylight (with lyrics by Keaggy) might be labelled – for want of a better phrase – yacht rock. Prog wonders if those shifts in tone were intentional and if the whole album might have been more in that jazzier style.
“I think as musicians, we don’t label it so much,” says Thompson. “We play what we hear, then it’s up to the consumer to decide what to call it. I’ve gotten in trouble occasionally because my background is so varied. It’s like, ‘What are you? Are you a jazz guy? Are you a rock guy?’ But I get it. If I buy a box of corn flakes I want corn flakes – I don’t expect something else in the box. But at the same time, I think this album was a really honest reflection of what came out of this combination of players.”
Another aspect of Deep Water that may intrigue listeners is the lyrical content, which balances between Morse’s favoured Christian inspiration with material of a more fluid meaning. For instance, the heartfelt ballad I Won’t Make It could refer to the influence of a deity, but might equally reference a loved one or friend. Morse admits it can be a tricky balance to achieve.
Most of the things I’ve planned fall through and then something much better comes along!
Chester Thompson
“When I’m writing lyrics, I don’t know how people are going to take things. I just say what I feel in that moment, and also what seems appropriate to that piece of music. It’s a challenge as a Christian and as an artist to try to say it in a way that’s honest.
“Sometimes things can be too ‘on the nose,’ as one collaborator of mine calls it. They’ll say, ‘That’s a little too on the nose. Can we go around that a little?’ And I appreciate that. Sometimes this album gets pretty on the nose; other times, it does not. But hopefully it’s a good blend.”
Both musicians see Cosmic Cathedral as more than just a studio project. “It’ll be interesting to see how people receive it,” says Thompson. “If there’s an audience for it, I’d love to play this stuff live. But then, I’ve got to memorise it – we did a lot of it in sections.”
Morse wants to take Deep Water on stage too: “We’re playing Morsefest and we’ve got feelers out for some other festivals. One of the things about bands is if you enjoy being with each other, it’s great to get out and play, so you get to spend more time together.”
Of course, both musicians remain busy. Morse reels off a string of activities including a joint tour with The Resonance and The Flower Kings scheduled for the summer.
Thompson continues to work with Unitopia, and does a lot of recording work from his home in Nashville, as well as some local jazz gigs. “But I’m not a big planner,” he admits. “In fact, most of the things I’ve planned fall through and then something much better comes along!”
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