Jon Gibson

Born on March 11, 1940 in Los Angeles, California, Jon Gibson was a flutist, clarinetist, saxophonist, composer and visual artist from the minimalist school of contemporary music. He is best known as one of the founding members of the Philip Glass Ensemble along with Steve Reich and Glass himself. Originally studying at Sacramento State University, Gibson then went to San Francisco State University and studied under Henry Onderdonk and Wayne Peterson before graduating. In 1964, he recorded two albums with the New Music Ensemble featuring Richard Swift, Larry Austin, Wayne Johnson, and Stanley Lunetta. Gibson co-founded the Philip Glass Ensemble in 1968 alongside Glass, Reich, James Tenney, and Michael Riesman. Influenced by Glass, Reich, Moondog and Terry Riley, Gibson performed several of their works, notably Reed Phase (1967), which Steve Reich composed for him. After a brief membership in LaMonte Young's Theater of Eternal Music and studying under Pandit Pran Nath lessons, Gibson recorded his first solo album Visitations (1973), which was released on Philip Glass's Chatham Square label. He followed that album with Two Solo Pieces (1977) (also on Chatham Square), In Good Company (1992), Criss x Cross (2006), The Dance (2013) and Relative Calm (2017), with compositions for the stage and the opera Violet Fire: An Opera About Nikola Tesla (2019). In 2020, he released the compilation Songs & Melodies (1973-77). Like his previous albums, Gibson also provided the cover artwork for the album. Jon Gibson died of a brain tumor on October 11, 2020 at the age of 80.