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Wikipedia / Patrick Gleeson

Patrick Gleeson (November 9, 1934 – July 19, 2026) was an American musician, synthesizer pioneer, composer and producer. He was known for working with jazz musician Herbie Hancock, and for scoring film and television.

Life and career

Gleeson moved to San Francisco in the 1960s to teach in the English Department at San Francisco State. Gleeson began experimenting with electronic music in the mid-'60s at the San Francisco Tape Music Center using a Buchla synth and other devices. He resigned his teaching position to become a full-time musician. In 1968, "upon hearing Walter Carlos' Switched-On Bach", he bought a Moog synthesizer and opened the Different Fur recording studio in San Francisco.

He worked with Herbie Hancock in the early 1970s on two albums (Crossings and Sextant) and subsequent tours, pioneering synthesizers as a live instrument. Hancock initially hired Gleeson as a synthesizer technician and instructor, but ended up asking him to become a full-time band member, expanding the ensemble from six to seven musicians. Hancock has credited Gleeson with introducing him to synthesizers and teaching him technique. Sextant and Headhunters were both recorded in part at Different Fur studios. Gleeson subsequently worked with many other Jazz musicians, including Julian Priester, Lenny White, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Earland, Eddie Henderson and Joe Henderson.

Gleeson recorded a number of solo albums, starting with Beyond the Sun – An Electronic Portrait of Holst's "The Planets" in 1976, to which Carlos contributed the sleeve notes. The album was nominated for a "best engineered recording-classical" Grammy in 1976. Beyond the Sun was followed in 1977 by a more commercial album, Patrick Gleeson's Star Wars.

He worked as a producer and engineer on the 1978 Devo album Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, part of which was recorded at Different Fur. He sold his interest in Different Fur in 1985.

Gleeson was involved in the scoring of a number of film soundtracks, including The Plague Dogs, Apocalypse Now, Crossroads and The Bedroom Window. He also scored nine television series, including Knots Landing.

In 2017 Gleeson retired from film and television scoring and returned to live performance, both as a solo artist and with a trio (Michael Shrieve, drums, and Sam Morrison, reeds).

Gleeson died on July 19, 2026, at the age of 91.

Notes

Discography

As leader or co-leader

As sideman (partial listing)

With Paul Kantner, Grace Slick

With Charles Earland

With Herbie Hancock

With Eddie Henderson

With Joe Henderson

With Meat Beat Manifesto

With Julian Priester

With Lenny White

Further reading

Danny Sofer and Doug Lynner, Interview with Patrick Gleeson, Synapse (magazine), Vol. 1, No. 5, January/February 1977

References