Jon Gibson (minimalist musician)
{{Short description|American minimalist musician (1940–2020)}}
{{About|the minimalist musician|the Christian musician|Jon Gibson (Christian musician)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jon Gibson
| image =
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1940|03|11|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|10|11|1940|03|11|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
| education = {{Unbulleted indent list|Sacramento State University|San Francisco State University}}
| occupation = {{Hlist|Flutist|Saxophonist|Composer|Visual artist}}
| organizations = Philip Glass Ensemble
| website =
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Jon Gibson (March 11, 1940{{spnd}}October 11, 2020) was an American flutist, saxophonist, composer and visual artist, known as one of the founding members of the Philip Glass Ensemble. He was a key player on several seminal minimalist music compositions. He was born in Los Angeles to Charles and Muriel (née Taylor) Gibson, both educators, and grew up in El Monte, a suburb.{{Cite magazine|last=Powell|first=Britton|date=2016-07-20|title=Jon Gibson|url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/jon-gibson/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921084946if_/https://bombmagazine.org/articles/jon-gibson/|archive-date=2018-09-21|magazine=BOMB Magazine|access-date=2018-08-10|language=en|df=mdy-all}}
Education
Gibson studied at Sacramento State University and later at San Francisco State University with Henry Onderdonk and Wayne Peterson, where he earned a BA in 1964. His earliest work as an improviser and composer also dates from around this time, when he performed in the New Music Ensemble with composers Larry Austin, Richard Swift, and Stanley Lunetta.{{Cite book|last=Strickland|first=Edward|url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000042724|title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|date=2001-01-20|publisher=Macmillan Publishers|isbn=9780333608005|editor-last=Sadie|editor-first=Stanley|editor-link=Stanley Sadie|edition=2nd|location=London|at=Gibson, Jon (Charles)|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.42724|oclc=222818097|editor-last2=Tyrrell|editor-first2=John|editor-link2=John Tyrrell (musicologist)|url-access=subscription|df=mdy-all}}
Career
Gibson used various instruments from around the world in his performances of jazz and classical music. He was a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble,{{Cite web|last=Hussey|first=Allison|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/jon-gibson-minimalist-composer-dead-at-80/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016073315if_/https://pitchfork.com/news/jon-gibson-minimalist-composer-dead-at-80/|archive-date=2020-10-16|title=Jon Gibson, Minimalist Composer, Dead at 80|website=Pitchfork|date=2020-10-13|access-date=2020-10-14|language=en|df=mdy-all}} and his mastery of circular breathing techniques made him crucial to the development of Glass' sound. Glass stated, "To put it bluntly, the music wouldn’t have happened without that.”{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Steve|date=2020-10-19|title=Jon Gibson, Minimalist Saxophonist and Composer, Dies at 80|language=en-US|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/arts/music/jon-gibson-dead.html|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=2022-08-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019193016if_/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/arts/music/jon-gibson-dead.html|archive-date=2020-10-19|issn=0362-4331|df=mdy-all}} Gibson performed in the premieres of In C by Terry Riley and Drumming by Steve Reich, as well as Reich's 1967 composition Reed Phase, which Reich wrote especially for him. For a time in the 1960s, alongside Philip Glass & Steve Reich, Gibson performed the music of Moondog during weekly sessions with the composer, recordings of which were made by Reich.{{Cite book|last=Scotto|first=Robert M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/154705304|title=Moondog, the Viking of 6th Avenue: The authorized biography|last2=Moondog|last3=Reich|first3=Steve|last4=Glass|first4=Philip|last5=Gibson|first5=Jon|publisher=Process|year=2007|isbn=978-0-9760822-8-6|location=Los Angeles|at=Preface|language=en|oclc=154705304|df=mdy-all}} He was briefly a member of the Theatre of Eternal Music with La Monte Young, and in the 1970s Gibson studied with Pandit Pran Nath.{{Cite web|last=Young|first=La Monte|last2=Zazeela|first2=Marian|last3=Choi|first3=Jung Hee|last4=Budhkar|first4=Naren|year=2017|title=The Just Alap Raga Ensemble: Marian Zazeela 78th Birthday Tribute Celebration|url=https://www.melafoundation.org/JARE_Apr_2018.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824143006if_/https://www.melafoundation.org/JARE_Apr_2018.html|archive-date=2021-08-24|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Mela Foundation|location=New York City|pages=12, 15|language=en|df=mdy-all}}
He also performed and recorded with other composers, some of them minimalists, as well as composing for choreographers, including Christian Wolff, David Behrman, Harold Budd, Alvin Curran, Arthur Russell, Annea Lockwood, Robert Ashley, Lucinda Childs, Robert Wilson and Frederic Rzewski.
In 1973, Gibson's debut solo recording Visitations was released on the Chatham Square label, run by Philip Glass.{{Cite web|title=Jon Gibson Discography|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/223143-Jon-Gibson-2|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160213180141if_/https://www.discogs.com/artist/223143-Jon-Gibson-2|archive-date=2016-02-13|website=Discogs|access-date=2016-12-25|language=en|df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web|year=2020|title=Jon Gibson Albums and Discography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jon-gibson-mn0000254698/discography|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016081207if_/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jon-gibson-mn0000254698/discography|archive-date=2020-10-16|website=AllMusic|access-date=2020-10-14|language=en|df=mdy-all}} Visitations is a departure from the structured repetitions of his minimalist contemporaries, instead using field recordings, ambient flutes, synthesizers and free-flowing percussive textures. In 1977, Two Solo Pieces was also released on the Chatham Square imprint, consisting of the droning organ composition Cycles and Untitled, a piece for solo alto flute.
Gibson was also an accomplished visual artist.{{Cite magazine|date=June 1993|title=Jon Gibson In Good Company|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/reviews/review?slug=jon-gibson-in-good-company|url-status=live|department=Reviews|magazine=Gramophone|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016232603if_/https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/jon-gibson-in-good-company|archive-date=2020-10-16|access-date=2020-10-14|df=mdy-all}} Throughout his career, he created numerous graphic text based works laden with musical information.{{sfn|Powell|2016}} He also created the cover artwork for albums such as Two Solo Pieces and Criss X Cross. In 2017, Gibson performed at Moogfest.{{Cite web|date=2017-03-07|title=Moogfest expands 2017 lineup (Flying Lotus, Animal Collective, Gotye, more)|url=https://www.brooklynvegan.com/moogfest-expands-2017-lineup-flying-lotus-animal-collective-gotye-more/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200810113943if_/https://www.brooklynvegan.com/moogfest-expands-2017-lineup-flying-lotus-animal-collective-gotye-more/|archive-date=2020-08-10|access-date=2022-08-21|website=BrooklynVegan|language=en|df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web|title=May 18, 2017: Moogfest 2017 at Durham, North Carolina, United States|url=https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/moogfest-2017-e50d5e4e-0b3f-4811-8b88-b03b27efb404|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309075318if_/https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/moogfest-2017-e50d5e4e-0b3f-4811-8b88-b03b27efb404|archive-date=2022-03-09|website=Concert Archives|access-date=2022-08-21|language=en|df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web|last=Lewin|first=Elisabeth McLaury|date=2017-03-07|title=Moogfest Unveils Performer Lineup, Program Highlights|url=https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2017/03/07/moogfest-unveils-performer-lineup-program-highlights/|website=Synthtopia|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170308053031if_/http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2017/03/07/moogfest-unveils-performer-lineup-program-highlights/|archive-date=2017-03-08|access-date=2022-08-21|language=en|df=mdy-all}}
Gibson died on October 11, 2020, from complications of a brain tumor.{{Cite web|last=Hughes|first=Josiah|date=2020-10-13|title=R.I.P. Minimalist Composer Jon Gibson|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/r_i_p_minimalist_composer_jon_gibson|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014075352if_/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/r_i_p_minimalist_composer_jon_gibson|archive-date=2020-10-14|website=Exclaim!|access-date=2020-10-13|language=en|df=mdy-all}}
Discography
- Visitations (1973) (Chatham Square)
- Two Solo Pieces (1977) (Chatham Square)
- In Good Company (1992) (Point Music)
- Criss X Cross (2006) (Tzadik Records)
- The Dance (2013) (Orange Mountain Music)
- Relative Calm (2016) (New World Records)
- Violet Fire: An Opera About Nikola Tesla (2019) (Orange Mountain Music)
- Songs & Melodies: 1973-1977 (2020) (Superior Viaduct)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{AllMusic|id=mn0000988032}}
- [https://www.superiorviaduct.com/collections/jon-gibson Jon Gibson] (artwork) superiorviaduct.com
- {{Discogs artist|Jon Gibson (2)}}
- Bill Pearis: [https://www.brooklynvegan.com/jon-gibson-philip-glass-ensemble-more-rip/ Jon Gibson (Philip Glass Ensemble & more), RIP ] brooklynvegan.com; October 13, 2020
{{Authority control}}
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Category:20th-century American saxophonists
Category:21st-century American male musicians
Category:21st-century American saxophonists
Category:American male saxophonists
Category:California State University, Sacramento alumni
Category:American contemporary classical music performers
Category:Pupils of Pran Nath (musician)
Category:San Francisco State University alumni
Category:Tzadik Records artists