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Peter Laurence Gordon (born June 20, 1951) is an American
saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...
, pianist 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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
,
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
,
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
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 Wale ...
,
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
, classical and
world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...
. 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.


Early life and education

Gordon was born in New York City, and grew up in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, and Los Angeles. 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 (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
, as well as
The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...
,
The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...
,
Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...
,
Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
,
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, currently billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals (featuring original frontman Eric Burdon) and also as Animals & Friends (featuring original drummer John Steel (drummer), John Steel), are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Ne ...
and
The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...
. When he was a senior in high school, Gordon made friends with
Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...
and spent time at Beefheart's home studio while he was recording Trout Mask Replica. 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 Saxophone, saxophonist, bandleader, and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of beb ...
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 Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...
.” Gordon earned a BA in composition at
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, 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; he earned an MFA at the
Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University in Oakland, California is part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was relocated to Oakland in ...
Center for Contemporary Music, where he studied with Robert Ashley and
Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...
. Discussing his time in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, Gordon told
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
, “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 The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
. About his saxophone playing, Gordon has said, “I always liked the deep-throated R&B sound.
Gene Ammons Eugene "Jug" Ammons (April 14, 1925 – August 6, 1974), also known as "The Boss", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. The son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons, Gene Ammons is remembered for his accessible music, steeped in soul and R ...
,
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 bar ...
,
King Curtis 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, he was also a musi ...
, 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 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 minimalist music. He is best known for his "guitar orche ...
,
Kathy Acker Kathy Acker (April 18, 1947 isputed– November 30, 1997) was an American experimental novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, critic, performance artist, and postmodernist writer, known for her idiosyncratic and transgressive writing that deal ...
, Ernie Brooks, Jill Kroesen and Peter Zummo were collaborators in Love of Life Orchestra. Gordon was an early proponent of Tape Music, which according to musicologist and composer Ned Sublette, “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 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 an American Postmodern painter, printmaker, photographer, and stage designer. Salle was born in Norman, Oklahoma, and lives and works in East Hampton, New York. He earned a B ...
and director Richard Foreman on the opera ''The Birth Of The Poet'', which opened in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...
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 publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Ma ...
's
Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...
in 1985.  That same year, Gordon composed the score for ''Secret Pastures'', a collaboration with choreographers
Bill T. Jones William Tass Jones, known as Bill T. Jones (born February 15, 1952), is an American Choreography, choreographer, director, author and dancer. He is the co-founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. The company's home in Manhattan. J ...
and
Arnie Zane Arnie Zane (September 26, 1948 – March 30, 1988) was an American photographer, choreographer, and dancer. He is best known as the co-founder and co-artistic director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Early years The second so ...
, artist
Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...
, 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, WilliWe ...
, 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 ( , ; ; , then ) 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 city is main ...
. 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, he has appeared on or composed music for albums by
Laurie Anderson Laura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson (born June 5, 1947) is an American avant-garde artist, musician and filmmaker whose work encompasses performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and sculpting,Amirkhanian, Cha ...
,
Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...
,
David Johansen David Roger Johansen (January 9, 1950 – February 28, 2025) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor best known as lead singer of the seminal proto-punk band the New York Dolls. He is also known for his work under the pseudonym Buster Po ...
, Elliott Murphy, Loose Joints, Dinosaur L, Gabe Gurnsey, Museum of Love, “Blue” Gene Tyranny, The Flying Lizards, David Van Tieghem,
Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an artist born and raised in New York City. One of the central figures in the formation of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Lawrence Weiner explored the potentials of language as a scu ...
, and Arthur Russell. Gordon has collaborated on a number of occasions with
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, WilliWe ...
'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 ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
.   In 2007, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of
LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...
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
Lawrence Weiner Lawrence Charles Weiner (February 10, 1942December 2, 2021) was an artist born and raised in New York City. One of the central figures in the formation of Conceptual Art in the 1960s, Lawrence Weiner explored the potentials of language as a scu ...
) ''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 a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
to
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
. In 2010,
DFA Records DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City. The label was originally founded in 2001 by Tim Goldsworthy, musician James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, and manager Jonathan Galkin. Goldsworthy and Mur ...
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 resides in New York City with his wife and collaborator, the video artist Kit Fitzgerald, and is a professor emeritus of Music Technology at
Bloomfield College Bloomfield College of Montclair State University is a public college in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Bloomfield, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is chartered by the State of New Jersey and Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...
.


Discography


Solo albums

* ''Star Jaws'' LP ( Lovely Music, 1978) * ''Deutsche Angst'', with Lawrence Weiner (
Les Disques du Crépuscule Les Disques du Crépuscule is an independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized ente ...
, 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, 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, 2020)


References


External links

*
Gordon biography at Lovely Music
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Peter 1951 births Living people Composers from New York City American jazz composers American male jazz composers American film score composers American male film score composers 20th-century 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 American clarinetists 21st-century American male musicians Love of Life Orchestra members