Don Patterson (July 22, 1936, – February 10, 1988 was an American jazz organist known for very quick bebop lines, which, rumour has it, he played using just three fingers on his right hand. Patterson often used no percussion, but he pulled the last drawbar out to get a whistle sound.
Patterson was born in Columbus, OH, on July 22, 1936, and
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began studying piano as a child. He was heavily influenced by Erroll Garner in his youth. In 1956, he switched to organ after hearing Jimmy Smith play the instrument.
The trio of Patterson, guitarist Paul Weeden and drummer Billy James struck up a fruitful cooperation with saxophone giant Sonny Stitt from 1959 to 1964 (Patterson and Billy James kept recording with Sonny Stitt throughout the sixties); Patterson also played on albums of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and sax prodigy
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Eric Kloss. Many of his Prestige albums included the crackerjack guitar work of Pat Martino.
Overshadowed by pioneering legend Jimmy Smith and ‘the Coltrane of organ jazz’ Larry Young, Patterson nevertheless contributed significantly to organ jazz playing. A melodic player and a master of restraint, Patterson squeezed every little bit out of the tenor/organ combo format and cooperated with first-class adventurous musicians as Booker Ervin and Eddie Daniels. Having started out as a pianist, Patterson favored a combination of long, flowing bebop lines and tasteful blues statements.
If not a quantum leap, Patterson’s development from Goin’ Down Home to his official 1964 debut as a leader, The Exciting New Organ Of Don Patterson, is remarkable. His Cadet album fits nicely in the format of the Chess subsidiary label, focusing on basic but nifty r&b and blues lines. A big foot remains in the field of
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forefather Wild Bill Davis, as Patterson employs a rather dated ‘open register’. It’s the kind of work Patterson delivered on the 1962 albums of Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, I Only Have Eyes For You and Trackin’ and Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons’ Boss Tenors In Orbit.
forefather Wild Bill Davis, as Patterson employs a rather dated ‘open register’. It’s the kind of work Patterson delivered on the 1962 albums of Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, I Only Have Eyes For You and Trackin’ and Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons’ Boss Tenors In Orbit. A smaller foot is set in the area of intense, linear playing with the modern jazz sound as invented by Jimmy Smith. Patterson’s rare ability to stack surprise upon surprise in John Brown’s Body (a tune Patterson played on Stitt/Ammons’ Boss Tenors In Orbit and revisited on Satisfaction) cautiously foreshadows the
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adventurous hard bop of 'S Bout Time from The Exciting New Organ Of Don Patterson. A striking aspect of the album is the spirited interplay between Patterson and Billy James. And you’ll want this album for Patterson’s version of Duke Ellington’s I’m Just A Lucky So-And-So. Blues seldom comes as graceful as this.
His most commercially successful album was 1964's Holiday Soul, which reached #85 on the Billboard 200 in 1967. Patterson also played with numerous other soul-jazz sax greats over the course of the '60s, before settling in Gary, IN, toward the end of the decade.
Drugs-related problems haunted Patterson at the turn of the decade.
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Patterson made a comeback in the early seventies with two albums
on Muse, arguably Patterson’s ‘masterpieces’: The Return Of Don Patterson and These Are Soulful Days
Drugs-related problems haunted Patterson at the turn of the decade.
on Muse, arguably Patterson’s ‘masterpieces’: The Return Of Don Patterson and These Are Soulful Days
In the 1980's he moved to Philadelphia and made a small comeback, but his health worsened, forcing him to take dialysis frequently. He recorded one more album "Legacy" by John Simon Trio Featuring Don Patterson before he died on February 10, 1988.
(Edited from Wikipedia & flophouse magazine)