Born: June 25, 1948 Primary Instrument: Piano
Born in Toronto, Patrick began playing piano for church dances in 1960 at age 12. Early influences were Fats Domino, Henry Mancini, Leonard Bernstein and JS Bach. He played and sang in a number of Toronto rock bands, including the Omegas, The Diplomats, and RCA recording artists Simon Caine. His performances led to session work with many well known Canadian musicians including Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLaughlan, Raffi, Marc Jordan, Shirley Eikhard, Ben Mink, Daniel Lanois, Ken Whiteley, David Essig, Fraser and Debolt and Mendelson Joe.
His work with singer Len Udow took him to Winnipeg one Summer around 1970, where he met Richard Condie and wrote the music for Richard's first animation, “Oh Sure”. So began a friendship which continues today; Patrick has scored all of Richard's animations including the Academy Award nominated classics The Big Snit and La Salla and most recently, Etudes and Impromptus.
Patrick has worked with many other animators, including David Fine and Alison Snowden for whom he scored the Oscar winner Bob's Birthday and all 52 episodes of the resulting TV series Bob and Margaret, seen around the world. There are links to many of these shows from Patrick's Animations page.
In demand as a producer, Patrick created the evocative soundscapes and was associate producer on the million-selling Classical Kids productions Mr. Bach Comes To Call, Mozart's Magic Fantasy, and Beethoven Lives Upstairs, and he has produced albums featuring artists such as Holly Cole, The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band, The Lafayette String Quartet, and Michael Jones.
Patrick's personal recording career to date includes his most recent release Still Life Still, 8 improvisations recorded on his new Yamaha S6 grand piano.
Blue Night, described by Heartsong Review as ...”electronic music at it's best...captivating! “ and Strange Rain were released in 1995 and 1996.
Critics greeted his first album, Ancient Ships...as “the surfacing of a major talent”, possessing “an enormous sense of calm and joy”. Keyboard noted the music's “clarity and grace”. Released in 1980, Ancient Ships is now available on CD.
Released in 1982, Downbeat gave Bells Of Earth four stars, Cadence called it “the most distinctive solo piano LP of the previous two years” and The Montreal Gazette described it as...” a refuge in troubled times”.
Of 1985's Small Circus, The Globe and Mail said “The harpsichord pieces team with ideas and roll along with a wonderful kinetic sort of energy; the instrument has never been as funky....”.
Of his solo piano concert at The Montreal International Jazz Festival, The Montreal Gazette wrote...”positively spiritual...the stunning material he played to an awe-struck crowd ranged freely from Bach to boogie, with flat-out jazz, romance and the hypnotic music of the East filling in the spaces in between...he kept the audience in mute wonder with the delicate beauty of his melodies, superhuman left hand patterns, and a right that moved with the delicacy of a butterfly in flight.”
Patrick continues to perform in concert and teaches improvisation, composition and song writing at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Victoria BC.
In concert he plays a mix of piano music both composed and improvised, and songs, mostly originals, with some favorites ranging from George Gershwin and Harold Arlen to Bruce Cockburn and the Beatles.
Primary Instrument:
Piano
Location:
North Saanich, BC
Willing to teach:
Advanced students only.
Credentials/Background:
Contact Victoria Conservatory of Music
http://www.vcm.bc.ca
