John Patton RIP
DJ Steve
a bio I wrote a while back...(Bio by Gilles)
John Patton was born in 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri. His mother played
piano in local churches and social groups, but he says he's mostly
self-taught, picking up the instrument at the age of 12. John had planned
to attend Howard University, and was working in a service station and
sitting in at clubs when he auditioned for Lloyd Price. John stayed with
Lloyd for almost 6 years, becoming the musical director and de facto band
manager. He wrote several songs for Lloyd, and recorded some 10 albums
during that time, which also saw him touring the US and Australia. John
says he'd fool around with any organ that would happen to be in a club, but
he didn't switch until later.
In the summer of 1961, John moved to New York City because he wanted to
play Jazz. He got a room at the Flanders Hotel on 47th Street which was a
musician's hangout. There were often jam sessions in someone's room, and he
got to know many musicians that way. Thanks to Luther Dixon who worked with
Lloyd Price, John got a job at Sceptre Records capitalizing on his talents
as a songwriter. Among other tunes, he wrote "Wedding Day" performed by The
Shirelles.
During this time, John played around town at clubs like Brankers, Basie's,
Minton's, The Barron, The Red Rooster, The 5 Spot, Shalimar, and at the New
York World's Fair. He played with musicians like Calvin Newborn, Donald
Byrd, Ben Dixon, Babs Gonzales, Harold Vick and Grant Green. Later on, he
also became friends with Clifford Jarvis and sat in with the Sun Ra band
several times.
He also met Herman Greene (of Lionel Hampton's band) while playing the
strip in Asbury Park. It was Greene who, along with Ben Dixon, persuaded
John to switch to the organ. He got a chance to play exclusively the organ
with Greene, and decided to go with it. Grant Green, who was working with
Gloria Coleman at the time, told Lou about John and invited him over to
Blue Note. That was the start of a 10 year stay with the label.
1963 was John's most prolific year, as he recorded 9 albums: 2 as a leader
(although Blue John was only released in 1986), 2 with Lou Donaldson, and 1
each with Grant Green, Johnny Griffin & Mathew Gee, Red Holloway, Harold
Vick, and Don Wilkerson. In fact, John, Green and Ben Dixon formed Blue
Note's strongest rhythm section in the Soul-Jazz vein, backing artists like
Donaldson, Vick, Wilkerson, George Braith, as well as playing on John's and
Green's own albums as leaders. John went on to record 10 more albums as a
leader for Blue Note, including the classics The Way I Feel with Fred
Jackson and Let 'Em Roll with Bobby Hutcherson both with Green and Dixon,
and his most daring Understanding with Harold Alexander and Hugh Walker.
Blue Note not only issued for the first time Blue John in 1986, but in the
last two years have issued 2 of John's shelved projects, Boogaloo also with
Alexander and George Edward Brown on drums, and more recently Memphis to
New York Spirit with Marvin Cabell and James Ulmer. Among the many
musicians John has played with, his two most memorable associations were
with Alexander, and with Pharoah Sanders during a tour of Austria with
Betty Carter in the late 60's.
Unfortunately, the death of Alfred Lion and the drastic changes at Blue
Note from its purchase by United Artists, along with the "death" of the B-3
organ and birth of cheap synthesizers, forced John out of the recording
industry. Aside from 5 sessions as a sideman with Johnny Lytle, Jimmy
Ponder and John Zorn, John only recorded one album as a leader during the
70's and 80's, Soul Connection, with Grachan Moncur III, Melvin Sparks,
Grant Reed and Alvin Queen.
In the 90's however, with the resurrection of the Hammond B-3 organ, John's
career is picking up again. On top of the 2 recently released Blue Note
sessions from the 60's, he recorded two new albums. Blue Planet Man is
mostly new material played in a sextet with John Zorn, Bill Saxton, Pete
Chavez, Ed Cherry, Eddie Gladden, with Lawrence Killian and Rorie Nichols
adding some color with the congas and vocals on one track. This album,
produced by John's wife Thelma, was recently issued domestically by
Evidence.
DIW released Minor Swing, re-recordings of John's tunes from the 60's in a
quartet setting with John Zorn, Ed Cherry and Kenny Wolleson. This album
(produced in an elegant packaging like a miniature record with folding
sleeve), while not yet available domestically, has gotten excellent reviews
and is widely available as an import. The band opened up for Medeski Martin
& Wood four nights in a row in November 1995! DIW also recorded John doing
new material with Dave Hubbard, Ed Cherry, Eddie Gladden and Lawrence
Killian. This One's For Ja was Patton's last release
On a last note, while John's songwriting credits may come as a surprise to
some fans of his organ playing, it will probably surprise most people to
know that he has also coached musicians, most recently and notably,
Cassandra Wilson.
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Patrick Denny
the other day. RIP, Big John.
"DJ Steve" <spo...@nyc.rr.com> wrote:
> Big John Patton passed away Tuesday 3/19/02, may he rest in peace. Here's
> a bio I wrote a while back...(Bio by Gilles)
>
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