John Patton - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4John Eugene Patton was born on July 12, 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri. John began his career as pianist/band director for Lloyd Price and held that position for five years, co-writing the hit "Personality" among others. Upon the advice of drummer Ben Dixon who had noticed John's ability to develop wonderful left-hand basslines, John began the switch to the Hammond B3 organ. Along with Ben Dixon and guitarist Grant Green, Patton formed the basis of a unit that would record many of Blue Note Record's greatest soul jazz recordings. Backing Lou Donaldson initially, John wrote "Funky Mama" which became Lou's first big seller. Patton was then given the chance record on his own for Blue Note, "Along Came John" was the first of many legendary albums he made for the company. Patton was one of the few modern jazz organists who emerged in the 60's to go beyond the foundation laid down by Jimmy Smith. The musical language he created, cemented on classic Blue Note albums such as Let 'Em Roll, That Certain Feeling and Understanding, was free of clichÃ©s and spoke in the modern jazz language of the time. With fouths and suspensions in his right hand and intricate rhythmic basslines in his leftâ€¦ Patton forged a style unlike any other. Music critic Harvey Pekar fittingly dubbed him â€œThe Black Soulwickâ€ for his spiritual approach to the Hammond organ. When the Hammond B-3 and soul-jazz went out of fashion in the 1970s, Patton's career went into eclipse as well, and he settled in East Orange, NJ. There he continued to be part of a vibrant jazz scene throughout the 80's, playing with Pharoah Saunders, Eddie Gladden, Grachan Moncur III, Jimmy Ponder and others at such Newark Hotspots as Sparky J's (Formerly the Cadillac Club). During the mid 90's, Patton re-emerged with tours to Europe and Japan, and a string of successful albums on the DIW label. Proving that John's creative force had only grown stronger over the years. Sadly, John passed away March 19, 2002 at the age of 66.This is John Patton's Hammond B3. John told me he and Grant Green bought it at Macy's in downtown New York City in 1963

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/7/2007
Band Members:OUT NOW!!!!! SOUL CONNECTION OUT ON CD FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!
Influences: Be sure to check out the BLOG section!!!!! That's where the majority of information about John is gathered for the site.
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

New York Times reviews Patton/Zorn Performance

Pop and Jazz in ReviewBy PETER WATROUSPublished: September 11, 1993John Patton The Knitting FactoryIt's easy to understand why the composer and saxophonist John Zorn admires the work of John Patton, a...
Posted by John Patton on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:13:00 PST

New York Times Obituary of John Patton

John Patton, 66, Organ Player With a Jazzy, Laid-Back StyleBy BEN RATLIFFPublished: March 25, 2002Big John Patton, a soul-jazz organ player who was a mainstay of the East Coast organ-club circuit sinc...
Posted by John Patton on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:09:00 PST

Drummer Alvin Queen remembers Patton/Green/Briath from AAJ interview

George Braith/Grant Green/John PattonAAJ: Multi-reedman George Braith was also present at the Birdland Gretsch event. He offered you a place in his band which at this time also included Grant Green an...
Posted by John Patton on Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:05:00 PST

Interview with Ed Cherry, John’s guitarist in his later years

This is a short interview with Ed Cherry, John's guitarist of choice during the last part of his career. Question: When and under what circumstances did you meet John. Had you known about his music pr...
Posted by John Patton on Sat, 22 Sep 2007 04:56:00 PST

Complete John Patton Blue Note Discography

John Patton Leader Dates Fred Jackson, Harold Vick (ts) "Big" John Patton (org) Grant Green (g) Ben Dixon (d) Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 5, 1963 ..>..> ..> tk.2 The ...
Posted by John Patton on Mon, 28 May 2007 09:03:00 PST

1960's Downbeat Magazine Reader's Poll Results, Organ

1965 Downbeat Reader's Poll Results, Organ 1. Jimmy Smith 37052. Shirley Scott 4883. Jack McDuff 1854. Wild Bill Davis 1545. Clare Fischer 1546. Count Basie 1197. Larry Young 1128. Don Patterson 869. ...
Posted by John Patton on Fri, 25 May 2007 07:37:00 PST

Downbeat Review Of "Along Came John" Oct 10, 1963

by Don Nelson Three Stars On his first date as leader, Patton emerges as a musician who seems capable of a better report than this. He possesses a creditable array of eq...
Posted by John Patton on Thu, 24 May 2007 10:38:00 PST

Thesis on John Patton by Javier Gonzalez

THE FOLLOWING IS THE ONLY COMPREHENSIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE BIOGRAPHY DONE ON JOHN PATTON. IT IS A THESIS WRITTEN BY JOHN'S FRIEND JAVIER GONZALEZ. JAVIER DID AN UNBELIEVABLE JOB, WITH MANY PER...
Posted by John Patton on Mon, 14 May 2007 03:38:00 PST

All About Jazz's review of John's Mosaic Select Box Set

By C. Andrew Hovan John PattonMosaic Select 6 Mosaic The great thing about Mosaic's new Select series of reissues is that they are small enough to accommodate a variety of concepts that might not o...
Posted by John Patton on Thu, 10 May 2007 12:36:00 PST

Pete Fallico's article on Big John Patton

"Big" John Patton With the advent of numerous reissues claiming to be the 'Roots of Acid jazz', it might be nice to be updated on those artists (once described as 'Soul jazz' players) who have be...
Posted by John Patton on Thu, 10 May 2007 12:30:00 PST