Don Patterson, born July 22, 1936 in Columbus, Ohio, and died February 10, 1988 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was an American jazz organist. Patterson was a pianist since childhood. He was greatly influenced by Erroll Garcianer during his youth. After hearing Jimmy Smith play it, Patterson switched to the organ in 1956. He began playing with Sonny Stitt in the 1960s and began to release material on Prestige Records as a leader from 1964, along with Pat Martino, Billy James, and other musicians. Holiday Soul, his most commercially successful album, reached #85 on Billboard 200 in 1967. His drug addiction hampered Patterson’s career during the 1970s. He lived in Gary, Indiana and occasionally recorded for Muse Records. He made a small return to music in the 1980s, moving to Philadelphia. However, his health declined over the next decade and he was buried there in 1988. Text contributed by users is available under Creative Commons By–SA License. It may also be available under GNU FDL.
