American jazz organist and pianist, also known as 'Big' John Patton, born July 12, 1935 in Kansas City, Missouri, died March 19, 2002 in Montclair, New Jersey.
Patton started his career as pianist with the Lloyd Price touring band from 1954 to 1959, before moving to New York. Once there, he began to make the transition from piano to organ and recorded with Lou Donaldson for Blue Note from 1962 to 1964.
In the mid 1980's, Patton was rediscovered by a younger generation, particularly John Zorn, who began using his sound on recordings, and Patton continued to release new recordings into the 1990's, including two on the Japanese label DIW Records.