Don Patterson (organist)

Don Patterson (July 22, 1936 – February 10, 1988) was an American jazz organist.

Don Patterson
BornJuly 22, 1936
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
DiedFebruary 10, 1988 (aged 51)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
GenresJazz
InstrumentsOrgan

Early life

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Patterson played piano from childhood and was heavily influenced by Erroll Garner in his youth. In 1956, he switched to organ after hearing Jimmy Smith play the instrument.

Career

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In the early 1960s, he began playing regularly with Sonny Stitt, and he began releasing material as a leader on Prestige Records from 1964 (with Pat Martino and Billy James as sidemen). His most commercially successful album was 1964's Holiday Soul, which reached #85 on the Billboard 200 in 1967.[1]

Personal life

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Patterson's troubles with drug addiction hobbled his career in the 1970s, during which he occasionally recorded for Muse Records and lived in Gary, Indiana.[2] In the 1980s, he moved to Philadelphia and made a small comeback, but his health deteriorated over the course of the decade, and he died there in 1988.

Discography

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As leader

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LP/CD compilations

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  • The Best Of Don Patterson (Prestige 7704, 1969)
  • The Best Of Don Patterson & The Jazz Giants (Prestige 7772, 1969)
  • Sonny Stitt/Booker Ervin/Don Patterson – Soul People (Prestige, 1993) (compilation of Soul People + 2 tracks from Tune Up!, and 1 track previously unissued from the Soul Happening! sessions)
  • Dem New York Dues (Prestige, 1995) (compilation of Opus De Don + Oh Happy Day)
  • Legends Of Acid Jazz: Don Patterson/Booker Ervin (Prestige, 1996) (compilation of The Exciting New Organ Of Don Patterson + 1 track from Hip Cake Walk, and 1 track from Patterson's People)
  • Legends Of Acid Jazz: Sonny Stitt/Don Patterson, Vol. 2 (Prestige, 1999) (compilation of Funk You! + Soul Electricity!)
  • Legends Of Acid Jazz: Sonny Stitt (with Don Patterson) – Low Flame (Prestige, 1999) (compilation of Low Flame + Shangri-La)
  • Legends Of Acid Jazz: Don Patterson/Booker Ervin/Houston Person – Just Friends (Prestige, 1999) (compilation of Four Dimensions, Hip Cake Walk [4 tracks], Patterson's People [2 tracks] + 1 track from Tune Up!)
  • The Boss Men (Prestige, 2001) (compilation of Night Crawler, The Boss Men + 2 tracks from Patterson's People)
  • Brothers 4 (Prestige, 2001) (compilation of Brothers-4, Donny Brook + 1 track from Tune Up!)

As sideman

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With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

With Eric Kloss

With John Simon

  • Legacy (Muse, 1986 [rel. 1996])

With Sonny Stitt

References

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