Steve Reich

Jon Gibson, 1940-2020

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I had only a passing familiarity with Jon Gibson’s name when he died this week.  In its obituary of Gibson, Pitchfork notes he “performed in the premieres of Terry Riley’s In C in 1964 and Steve Reich’s Drumming in the early 1970s... Gibson was also a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble.”  Are you kidding me!  Gibson was the Zelig of American minimalism.  

I’m confident I was on the cusp of catching up with Gibson.  I traveled to outsider music festivals in 2018 and 2019.  And I heard Max Richter and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble in Austin last year.  Three Bang on a Can Marathons and viewings of Glass’ “Akhnaten” and "Einstein on the Beach" expanded my ears even further in recent months. 

The enlightening experiences primed me for Gibson’s Songs & Melodies, 1973-77.  Although it was released in February, I only investigated the compilation upon receiving news of Gibson’s death. 

Each of the seven compositions on the 80-minute reissue is more transparently emotional than the works of Reich and Glass.  The varying instrumentation and textures are made congruent by Gibson’s minimalism-meets-New Age treatments.  The particularly expressive "Melody IV" allows me to properly grieve the loss of the important artist.