Luminary Award
Stephen “Cat” Coore was born in Kingston, Jamaica. His father, the Honorable David Hilton Coore, was a Jamaican scholar, Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica 1972- 1976 as well as serving the government under 3 ministries. His mother, Rita Angela Innis Coore was Trinidadian and studied music and broadcasting at McGill University in Montreal Canada and later at the Royal College London.
Angela was taught by Lloyd Webber, whose son Andrew Lloyd Webber became one of the most famous Broadway writers of all time. From a very early age Cat’s mother noticed that when she played music in the house that it had an impact on the young Stephen, and when he was 4 she began to teach him a few simple things on the piano, Rita at the time had become one of Jamaica’s most respected music teachers and a favorite adopted daughter of Jamaica. However, Cat did not show a great deal of love for the piano but would walk in circles every time she played her Pablo Casals records, since Casals was probably the greatest cellist ever she thought, “Maybe I’ll send him to cello lessons”.
This proved to be the right move as Cat immediately took to the instrument and thus started his love for string instruments. He studied with Noel Foster Davis, whom Cat credits for the rest of his musical background, he performed on many stages with the cello. Two of the more memorable ones were when he played the piece, “The Swan” for Princess Anne at Kings House and winning a silver medal in the Jamaica festival at age ten when all other contestants were much older.
When Cat turned twelve, he fell in love with Ska and Pop music, and later Rocksteady and Reggae. He loved the Beatles and asked his mom for a guitar and she obliged, and this started a love like no other. He progressed so fast that he joined the Inner Circle when he thirteen as lead guitarist. He stayed with Inner Circle for four years and performed throughout Jamaica and the Caribbean and did one or two shows in North America. In 1971, Cat played on the top festival song, “Cherry O Baby”, which went on to win the Jamaica Festival Song Competition as was his first commercial recording credit. He received 10 Jamaican Dollars!
At age seventeen and longing to do something different, Cat started a group with his friend Colin Leslie and shortly thereafter was joined by his lifelong friend Ibo Cooper. This was the genesis of Third World. Cat has been the guitarist and cellist for 50 years with THIRD WORLD during which there have been great successes, top charted hits, 9 Grammy nominations, The United Nation Medal of Peace and various other awards both globally and in Jamaica. Cat was awarded the National Honors with the Order of Distinction of Jamaica in 2005.
Cat has received various awards and accolades including the Key to the Cities of Key West, FL, Brooklyn, NY, Atlantic City, NJ, Hollywood,FL and Hartford, CT. The National Black Arts Awards by the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, The JaRia Instrumentalist of the Year, Lifetime Achievement Awards by Jamaica Jazz and Blues and Reggae Sumfest, Island Records, IRAWMA’s and more.
Cat is the Ambassador for the Alligator Head Foundation in Port Antonio, Jamaica as well as the Goodwill Ambassador for the Issa Trust Foundation in Jamaica.
Cat’s main musical inspirations are Pablo Casals, Jaquelin DePre , Bob Marley, Carlos Santana. Besides his passion of music.