Patrick Gleeson
American synthesist who brought a Moog modular into Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band and co-founded Different Fur Recording Studio.
Born November 9, 1934, Patrick Gleeson taught 18th-century English literature at San Francisco State University before leaving academia for music full-time; hearing Wendy Carlos’s Switched-On Bach (1968) led him to take up a Moog III modular. He co-founded Different Fur Recording Studio in San Francisco’s Mission District and engineered Terry Riley’s Persian Surgery Dervishes (1972), recorded live in Los Angeles and Paris. Separately, hired by Herbie Hancock as a synthesizer technician for Crossings (1972) and Sextant (1973), he was soon asked to join Hancock’s Mwandishi band full-time, touring on an ARP 2600 and pioneering live synthesizer performance in jazz. He later scored film work, including leading the synthesizer team on Apocalypse Now, and continued releasing solo electronic recordings until his death on July 19, 2026, at 91.
Works in the Library
Terry Riley, Patrick Gleeson ALBUM 1972
Terry Riley's 1972 double LP of two long electric-organ improvisations, drawing on his study of Hindustani classical music.
TIME TUNING
Patrick Gleeson ALBUM 1980
Patrick Gleeson's 1980 electronic-jazz album, recorded at his own Different Fur studio.
INSTRUMENTS
Herbie Hancock, Patrick Gleeson ALBUM 1973
Herbie Hancock's 1973 album, the Mwandishi sextet's densest electronic fusion, built around Patrick Gleeson's ARP 2600.
INSTRUMENTS
