Peter Gordon (born June 20, 1951,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) is an American

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

clarinetist This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet. Classical clarinetists * Laver Bariu * Ernest Ačkun * Luís Afonso * Cristiano Alves * Michel Arrignon * Dimitri Ashkenazy * Kinan Azmeh * Alexander Bader * Carl Baerma ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and experimental composer, whose influences include

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, disco, funk,

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, classical and world music. He has released several albums and composed scores for film and theater, and he has also toured and re-interpreted the music of Arthur Russell, on whose compositions he played, as well as that of

Robert Ashley Robert Reynolds Ashley (March 28, 1930 – March 3, 2014) was an American composer, who was best known for his television operas and other theatrical works, many of which incorporate electronics and extended techniques. His works often involve i ...

Early life and education

Gordon was born in

, and grew up in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He began piano lessons at age 7 and learned the clarinet in early childhood. He started to play the saxophone, which would become his main instrument, at age 14. HIs earliest musical influences were jazz artists from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, as well as

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...

, Igor Stravinsky,

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

The Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

and

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...

. When he was a senior in high school, Gordon made friends with Captain Beefheart and spent time at Beefheart’s home studio while he was recording

Trout Mask Replica ''Trout Mask Replica'' is the third studio album by the American band Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released as a double album on June 16, 1969, by Straight Records. The music was composed by Captain Beefheart (Don Van Vliet) and arrange ...

. He told the critic Geeta Dayal, “...it was really through Beefheart that introduced me to the idea that rock music and pop music could be art simultaneously, and you didn’t have to buy into the whole commercial record business. You could make really raw, funky music and have it be really smart at the same time.” He has said of the development of his style, “....once I started playing sax, I was trained more as a jazz musician than as a classical player. I did study classical music and composition in college, though from more of an experimental music perspective than a conservatory approach.” About jazz, though, he told the composer Nick Hallett, “I never really got into that play-the-head-take-turns-soloing-play-the-head-again type of jazz, that dependency on standard repertoire. Also there was something about the jazz players—it was almost athletic in a certain sense. It was always like, who plays the fastest solo? Who’s the hottest player? There was this sort of hierarchy, guys who knew all those be-bop solos and played really fast, and a lot of it seemed more about chops than about music. And I began being more interested in exploring a limited set of either musical skills or gestures, and really trying to look at things singularly from different points of view. Also, whatever you do in the jazz hierarchy, you’re always competing against

Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...

and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and raise ...

.” Gordon earned a BA in composition at

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

, where he studied with

Kenneth Gaburo Kenneth Louis Gaburo (July 5, 1926 – January 26, 1993) was an American composer. Life Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the Un ...

and

Roger Reynolds Roger Lee Reynolds (born July 18, 1934) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer. He is known for his capacity to integrate diverse ideas and resources, and for the seamless blending of traditional musical sounds with those newly enabled by ...

; he earned an MFA at the

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

Center for Contemporary Music, where he studied with

and

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for ...

. Discussing his time in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Gordon told

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

, “Initially, I had a very austere, modern, avant-garde classical schooling in San Diego and I rebelled against that….I always had a mission to create music which integrated the head and the body.”

Career

Gordon has led a varied career: He has helmed his ensemble The Love Of Life Orchestra, collaborated with other composers, and composed works for stage shows, particularly at Brooklyn Academy of Music. About his saxophone playing, Gordon has said, “I always liked the deep-throated R&B sound. Gene Ammons,

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sa ...

King Curtis Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician ...

, Though if I had to name a sax hero, that would be John Coltrane.” As a composer, he was heavily influenced by his teacher Terry Riley. Gordon co-founded The Love of Life Orchestra with

David Van Tieghem David Van Tieghem (born April 21, 1955) is an American composer, percussionist and sound designer, best known for his philosophy of utilizing any available object as a percussion instrument and for his collaborations with the experimental artists ...

in the late 1970s. At various points Arthur Russell,

Rhys Chatham Rhys Chatham (born September 19, 1952) is an American composer, guitarist, trumpet player, multi-instrumentalist (flutes in C, alto and bass, keyboard), primarily active in avant-garde and minimalism, minimalist music. He is best known for his "g ...

Kathy Acker Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, playwright, essayist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that dealt with themes such as childhood trau ...

, Ernie Brooks, Jill Kroesen and

Peter Zummo Peter Zummo (born 1948) is an American composer and trombonist. He has been described as "an important exponent of the American contemporary classical tradition." Meanwhile, he has been quoted as describing his own work as "minimalism and a whole ...

were collaborators in Love of Life Orchestra. Gordon was an early proponent of Tape Music, which according to musicologist and composer

Ned Sublette Ned Sublette (born 1951 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American composer, musician, record producer, musicologist, historian, and author. Sublette studied Spanish Classical Guitar with Hector Garcia at the University of New Mexico and with Emilio Puj ...

, “created an original kind of continuum between the composed and improvised, and between the acoustic and the virtual, one that gave performers a broad scope to create their own sound and their own parts while hewing to a carefully thought-out composition…” He collaborated with “Blue” Gene Tyranny a number of times, including for the ''Trust In Rock'' recordings, performed live at the University Art Museum in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

in 1976, and released as a recording on Unseen Worlds in 2019. He collaborated with writer Kathy Acker, artist

David Salle David Salle (born September 28, 1952; last name pronounced "Sally") is a Pictures Generation American painter, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and works in East Hampton, New York. He ear ...

and director

Richard Foreman Richard Foreman (born June 10, 1937 in New York City) is an American avant-garde playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Achievements and awards Foreman has written, directed and designed over fifty of his own plays, b ...

on the opera ''The Birth Of The Poet'', which opened in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

in 1984, and had its U.S. premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1985. His score for ''Otello'', a collaboration with the Neapolitan theater company Falso Movimiento, won the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...

’s Obie Award in 1985. That same year, Gordon composed the score for ''Secret Pastures'', a collaboration with choreographers Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane, artist

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

, and designer

Willi Smith Willi Donnell Smith (February 29, 1948 – April 17, 1987) was an American fashion designer. At the time of his death, Smith was regarded as one of the most successful African-American designers in the fashion industry. His company, WilliW ...

, which premiered at BAM in 1984. His work on that production, as well as ''Otello'', earned him a 1985 Bessie award in the category of Composer. His composition ''Return of the Native'', a collaboration with video artist Kit Fitzgerald, his wife and frequent creative partner, premiered at BAM in 1988. According to Sublette, it was “the first fusion of live orchestra and live video projection.” In fact, Gordon and Fitzgerald had merged projection and orchestration on earlier productions outside of New York City, including ''Return of the Animals'', a 1984 performance at Rivoli Castle in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. In 2015, Gordon directed a touring revival of Arthur Russell’s ''Instrumentals'', whose first showing he scored in 1975. In addition to his own work, and that with his

Love of Life Orchestra Love of Life Orchestra (LOLO) is an experimental music group formed by Peter Gordon in New York in April 1977. The band is associated with the 1970s New York downtown music scene. A number of the players that would form the band came together i ...

, he has appeared on or composed music for albums by

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

, Suzanne Vega,

David Johansen David Roger Johansen (sometimes spelled ''David Jo Hansen''; born January 9, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under ...

Elliott Murphy Elliott James Murphy (born March 16, 1949) is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, record producer and journalist living in Paris. Biography Elliott Murphy was born in Rockville Centre, New York, grew up in Garden City, Long Island ...

, Loose Joints, Dinosaur L, Gabe Gurnsey,

Museum of Love Museum of Love is an American band formed by LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instrument ...

, “Blue” Gene Tyranny,

The Flying Lizards The Flying Lizards were an experimental English new wave band, formed in 1976. They are best known for their eccentric cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money", featuring Deborah Evans-Stickland on lead vocals, which reached the UK and US re ...

Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an American conceptual artist. He was one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. His work often took the form of typographic texts, a form of word a ...

, and Arthur Russell. Gordon has collaborated on a number of occasions with

’s company Williwear, including the film ''Expedition'', used to introduce the designer’s 1986 collection, which was directed by Max Vadukul and shot on location in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

. In 2007, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of LCD Soundsystem used Gordon's classic Downtown tracks "Beginning of the Heartbreak" and "Don't Don't" to open and close their highly acclaimed dance mix FabricLive.36. In 2008 an excerpt of his opera (with artist

) ''The Society Architect Ponders the Golden Gate Bridge'' was issued on the compilation album Crosstalk: American Speech Music (Bridge Records) produced by Mendi + Keith Obadike. Gordon wrote the scores for the serial mystery drama ''The Necklace'', presented by The Talking Band. He worked on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

to Desperate Housewives. In 2010,

DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label founded in 2001 by Mo' Wax co-founder Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. They previously had a production team called The DFA, consisting of Goldsworthy and ...

released remixes by Gordon of "Beginning of the Heartbreak/Don't Don't" and "That Hat," cowritten with Arthur Russell. They released a compilation, ''Peter Gordon & Love Of Life Orchestra'', consisting of music Gordon and his ensemble recorded in the ‘70s and ‘80s, that same year.

Personal life

Gordon was involved romantically with Kathy Acker, whom he lived with for six years. He currently resides in

with his wife and collaborator, the video artist Kit Fitzgerald, and is a professor of Music Technology at

Bloomfield College Bloomfield College is a private college in Bloomfield, New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The college is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) through ...

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Star Jaws'' LP (

Lovely Music Lovely Music (full name: Lovely Music Ltd.) is an American record label devoted to new American music. Based in New York City, the label was founded in 1978 by Mimi Johnson, an outgrowth of her nonprofit production company Performing Artservices In ...

, 1978) * ''Deutsche Angst'', with Lawrence Weiner (

Les Disques du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label founded in Belgium. The label was founded in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré. It also had a prominent associated sublabel, Factory Benelux. Both are now run by former employee Ja ...

, 1982) * ''Secret Pastures'' (Artservices, 1984) * ''Innocent'' LP (CBS Masterworks, 1986) * ''Otello'' (

ROIR ROIR (pronounced "roar"), or Reachout International Records, is a New York City-based independent record label founded in 1979 by Neil Cooper. Background ROIR was founded the same year that the Sony Walkman launched, and initially, the label ex ...

, cassette 1987) * ''Brooklyn'' CD/LP (

CBS Masterworks Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired by S ...

, 1987) * ''Leningrad Xpress'' CD/LP (Newtone, 1990) * ''Still Life and the Deadman'' (with the Balanescu String Quartet, Newtone, 1994) * ''Symphony 5'' (Foom, 2015) * ''Condo'' (Foom Music EP 2017) * ''Eighteen'' (Foom, 2018)

W/ Love of Life Orchestra

* ''Extended Niceties'' EP (Lust/Unlust 1979) * ''Geneva'' LP (Lust/Unlust 1980) * ''Casino'' EP (Italian Records 1982) * ''Geneva and Extended Niceties'' CD (Newtone reissue, 1992) * ''Love of Life Orchestra: Quartet'' CD (New Tone Records, 1995)

Justine & Victorian Punks (aka Colette)

* "Beautiful Dreamer" b/w "Still You" 12” (Colette is Dead Records 1979/DFA 2010)

With "Blue" Gene Tyranny

* ''Trust In Rock'' CD/LP (Unseen Worlds, 2019)

With Tim Burgess

* "Oh Men" b/w "I Couldn’t Say it To Your Face" (O Genesis 2014) * "Tracks of My Past" b/w "Like I Already Do" (O Genesis 2015) * ''Same Language, Different Worlds'' CD/LP (O Genesis, 2016)

With David Cunningham

* ''The Yellow Box'' (Piano Records, 1996)

With Thomas Fehlman

* "Westmusik" 12" (Zickzack Records, 1983)

With Robert Ashley

* ''The Bar'' LP (Lovely Music 1980) * ''Music, Word, Fire'' EP (Lovely Music 1981) * ''Perfect Lives'' (with Robert Ashley et al., Lovely Music, 1991)

With Lawrence Weiner

* ''Deutsche Angst'' (Les Disques du Crépuscule, 1982) * ''The Society Architect Ponders the Golden Gate Bridge'' (excerpt on Bridge Records 2008)

With Arthur Russell

* "Clean On Your Bean" b/w "Go Bang" * "Kiss Me Again" 12" (Sire, 1978) * "Love is Overtaking Me" * "That Hat" (included on Gordon's record ''Innocent,'' 1986) * ''Instrumentals'' (reissued on Audika, 2017)

Compilations

* ''Sugar, Alcohol & Meat'' ( Giorno Poetry Systems, 1980) * ''Just Another Asshole'' LP (1981) * ''Fruit of the Original Sin'' (Disques Crepescule, 1982) * ''FabricLive.36'', curated by James Murphy & Pat Mahoney ( Fabric Records 2007) * ''Peter Gordon & Love of Life Orchestra'' ( DFA, 2010) * ''Late Night Tales'' LP/CD (

Late Night Tales ''Late Night Tales'' and its predecessor ''Another Late Night'' are the names of two related series of artist-curated compilation albums released by Azuli Records in the UK until 2009 when the independent record label Night Time Stories took o ...

, 2020)

References

External links

*
Gordon biography at Lovely Music
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Peter 1951 births Living people Musicians from New York City American jazz composers American male jazz composers American film score composers American male film score composers American keyboardists American male saxophonists American clarinetists American experimental musicians Bessie Award winners Jazz musicians from New York (state) 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians