Synth Doctor Patrick Gleeson

Patrick Gleeson grew up in Seattle, taking piano lessons from age six but soon found himself interested, at a very young age, in jazz music. Dreaming of a career as a jazz pianist, he began taking the initiative to try to learn jazz piano--even trying to teach himself from Mary Lou Williams' jazz piano books--but then quit music for 15 years when his parents and piano instructor refused to back his pursuit of jazz studies. So he turned his energies to his school studies, earning a Bachelor's degree (unconfirmed; perhaps from the University of Washington?), and then a PhD in 18th Century English literature from the University of California Berkeley (despite completing his dissertation--in 33 days--while working under the supervision of a favored [more liberal-minded] professor from the University of Washington). (Unconfirmed.) Upon securing a teaching position in the English Department at San Francisco State in the early 1960s, Patrick became active politically. He also began experimenting at this time with drugs--including the new LSD--a phenomenon that seemed to contribute to his rekindling of his interest in music. He began hanging out at the San Francisco Tape Music Center where his curiosity for the new sounds and techniques being experimented with in studio recording made him become a fixture there. This led to his fascination and involvement with the world of musique concrète. Eventually, his political activism at San Francisco State got him censured (and perhaps dismissed/fired; unconfirmed). His interest and expertise in new sound technologies soon turned into invitations to add his experimental sounds and wisdom to local musicians' stage performances. This is when he decided to turn away from teaching to become a full-time musician.

     Upon hearing Walter Carlos' Switched on Bach album in 1968, Pat bought a Moog synthesizer and opened his Different Fur recording studio in San Francisco. Around this time he befriended "San Francisco's 'only' legit big-time music producer," David Rubinson, their bond sealing over the synth playing Pat had been experimenting with over the songs on Miles Davis' Bitches Brew album. When Patrick heard that Rubinson had signed Herbie Hancock and was preparing to record a new record for Herbie's band (the followup to Mwandishi--the record that would become Crossings), Patrick begged to be allowed to play on the recording sessions. David convinced Herbie to meet Patrick at his Different Fur studio. After recording one side of the new album at Pacific Recording Studios in San Mateo (a 16-track studio founded in 1968 by Mojo Men guitarist Paul Curcio and site of the recording of Blue Cheer's Outsideinside, Santana'a debut album as well as parts of Abraxas, The Grateful Dead's third album, Aoxomoxoa, Moby Grape's 20 Granite Creek, and The Doobie Brother's debut),  Herbie brought the raw tapes of his band's recordings to Patrick's studio where the two listened to them. Then and there Herbie asked Patrick to demonstrate what he could do. He then went so far as to encourage Patrick record his synthesizer inputs straight onto the tapes--in fact leaving the Crossings tapes in Patrick's hands overnight despite Patrick's urging the jazz great to play the synthesizer notes himself. Herbie said, "No. You're fine. Record it.… I'll come back tomorrow." A couple months later the album is released and room is made on stage for Patrick and an ARP 2600 to try to improvisationally fit into the weave of the seven other acoustic musicians--all of whom were among the best who ever played--and off they went on tour together for the next several months.

     Despite being resented a bit for his "amateurish" presence--and moreso for being the only white guy in the band--Herbie continued to enlist the presence and inputs of "Dr. Pat" over the course of his next few albums--even beyond both the "Mwandishi" and "Headhunters" phases of his esteemed career. Patrick's sound wizardry even managed to win over his fellow "Mwandishi" band mates--to the point that his services and sounds were enlisted as integral parts to several other Mwandishi-off shoot albums, including Sextant, Julian Priester's 1974 solo release (as "Pepo Mtoto"--using all of the same lineup from the Crossings and Sextant sessions), Love, Love, and Eddie Henderson's Realization and Inside Out albums as well as some of Bennie Maupin's late 70s album releases. Pat's contributions to Herbie and the Mwandishi gang's albums, as well as those of local heroes Coke Escovedo and Santana, led to his employ, Lenny White, and Santana albums and tracks as well a key role on Lenny White's game-changing 1975 release, Venusian Summer, and Pablo Cruise's breakout album in 1977, A Place in the Sun as well as Carmine Coppolo's soundtrack to his son Francis' 1979 film, Apocalypse Now.

     Herbie Hancock's integration of Dr. Pat's synthesizer sounds--as a stand-alone studio and stage-worthy instrument--is considered one of the leaps forward in the progression of the Jazz-Rock Fusion campaign bandwagon. Without it there might never have been the creation and stage performance of one of my all-time favorite tunes, Kool And The Gang's Summer Madness!