Biography
Born in Los Angeles, California and raised in the Pacific Northwest, O'Hearn began his professional music career at age 15 when he joined the Musicians Union and began playing night clubs in Portland, Oregon. Upon graduating from Sunset High School in 1972, he moved to Seattle, Washington. There, he briefly attended Cornish College of the Arts and, as well, studied privately with bassist Gary Peacock.
In 1973, he moved to San Francisco, California and soon became involved in the Bay Area jazz scene of that time, playing bass for established artists Charles Lloyd, Joe Henderson, Dexter Gordon, Joe Pass, Woody Shaw, Eddie Henderson, and Bobby Hutcherson. He also collaborated with musicians his own age, including Terry Bozzio, Mark Isham and Peter Maunu.
While on tour in Los Angeles in 1976, O'Hearn met musician Frank Zappa, who offered him a job as bass player in his band—a position he held for over two years. During this period, O’Hearn shifted from the acoustic bass to the electric bass guitar, and also became increasingly interested in electronic music. Zappa encouraged O’Hearn to explore his collection of synthesizers, and also introduced him to the technical aspects of music production, audio engineering, and home studio audio recording equipment.
In 1979, O'Hearn teamed with trumpet player Mark Isham and guitarist Peter Maunu to form Group 87. They only produced two LPs—Group 87 in 1980, and A Career in Dada Processing in 1984. Isham and Maunu would appear as collaborators on several of O'Hearn's subsequent solo releases.
1980s and solo career
In 1981, drummer and former Zappa bandmate Terry Bozzio invited O’Hearn to join his emerging new wave band, Missing Persons along with guitarist and fellow Zappa alumnus Warren Cuccurullo and Dale Bozzio, who had performed vocals in several Zappa productions and recently married Terry. O'Hearn shifted from electric bass to synthesizers. Missing Persons recorded three albums for Capitol Records: Spring Session M (1982), Rhyme & Reason (1984), and Color In Your Life (1986). The band dissolved in early 1986; subsequently, O'Hearn joined with former Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor and former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones for one album, Thunder (1987), and a brief tour.
O'Hearn's solo career was spurred in large part by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann, who had been conceiving of a new music label that would showcase progressive instrumental music—a niche earlier explored by Group 87. Baumann formed the Private Music label in late 1984, and produced O'Hearn's debut solo album, Ancient Dreams (1985).
O'Hearn followed Ancient Dreams with two more albums—Between Two Worlds (1987), which earned the artist his first Grammy nomination, and Rivers Gonna Rise (1988). O'Hearn began to receive greater airplay on jazz and new-age radio stations. O'Hearn also co-produced several tracks for guitarist Colin Chin's Intruding on a Silence, featuring Mark Isham on trumpet. O'Hearn released his fourth solo album Eldorado in 1989, which blended elements of World Music with warm keyboard textures.
1990s
The next O'Hearn release was Indigo in 1991. Winding up their contract, Private Music assembled a compilation album in 1992 titled The Private Music of Patrick O'Hearn. This album included three previously unreleased tracks titled "Down Hill Racer", "Irene", and "Step".
In 1992, O'Hearn composed and performed the music score for White Sands, a police thriller starring Willem Dafoe and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was directed by Roger Donaldson. Later that year he composed the score to Silent Tongue , written and directed by Sam Shepard and starring Alan Bates, Richard Harris, River Phoenix and Dermot Mulroney.
O'Hearn released Trust in 1995 under the newly formed Deep Cave record label. Featuring contributions from David Torn and former bandmates Terry Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo, Trust earned O'Hearn his second Grammy nomination. [1] Shortly after the release of his next album, Metaphor (1996), the Deep Cave record label folded. Also released in 1996 was the soundtrack to the film Crying Freeman.
There have been a few various artists albums that O'Hearn has contributed new material to. In 1998, his 12-minute composition "35th Parallel" appeared on the five-artist album The Ambient Expanse. In 2000, his version of a Johann Sebastian Bach piece called "Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1" appeared on the compilation A Different Prelude: A Contemporary Collection. In 2003 his version of the Joaquín Rodrigo composition "Adagio from Fantasy for a Gentleman" appeared on the compilation Adagio: A Windham Hill Collection. This last track can also be found on the various artists compilation Sundown: Windham Hill Piano Collection, released in 2006.
2000s
O'Hearn's next solo project, So Flows the Current (2001), was recorded over a three-year period from 1997 to 2000.
In 2002, cinematographer David Fortney created a film of landscape images paired with O'Hearn music. The result was Timeless - A National Parks Odyssey which was released on DVD in 2002. This also includes a new version of the track "Beauty In Darkness," originally from O'Hearn's debut album.
Beautiful World was O'Hearn's next release in 2003, and it was voted the No. 1 album on the nationally syndicated radio program Echoes . This was followed by Slow Time in 2005. O'Hearn dedicated the track "Music For Three Vibraphones" in memory of his mentor Frank Zappa.
In 2006, O'Hearn released three recordings via iTunes online delivery only. The first two of these are the soundtrack EP to Sean Garland's short film The Wheelhouse, and the soundtrack album to the Sam Shepard stage play Simpatico (originally recorded in 1994). These were followed by The So Flows Sessions, which is a full-length album of previously unreleased material from the recording sessions in 1997–2000 that produced So Flows The Current.
The next year in 2007 O'Hearn released the CD Glaciation, inspired by images of Earth's Arctic regions. In the summer of 2007, O'Hearn was introduced to singer-songwriter John Hiatt and played bass on Hiatt's Same Old Man album. Hiatt subsequently asked him to join his band and tour in support of the album's 2008 release. O'Hearn continued to tour with Hiatt through 2010 and recorded on his following releases: The Open Road (2010), Dirty Jeans and Mudslide Hymns (2011), and Mystic Pinball (2012).
2010s
O'Hearn's 13th album Transitions was released digitally on August 23, 2011, and on CD on October 4. It was voted No.1 album of 2011 on the Echoes Listener's Poll.
In December 2013, a various artists album titled Nashville Indie Spotlight was released, which includes a new piece by Patrick O'Hearn and Peter Maunu called "Out of Reach".
His daughter, Rachel, is an electronic musician, performing under the names Chromatiq and Black Sound Effects. [2]
2020s
In October 2020, Patrick O’Hearn released a new track online titled “Rivulet”, which also had a second version titled “Rivulet (Tranquility Mix)”.
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1989 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.
Missing Persons is an American rock band founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They later added bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild. Dale's quirky voice and heavy makeup made the band a favorite on MTV in the early 1980s.
John Robert Hiatt is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded a variety of other distinctions in the music industry.
Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.
U.K. were a British progressive rock supergroup originally active from 1977 to 1980. The band was founded by bass guitarist John Wetton and drummer Bill Bruford, formerly the rhythm section of King Crimson. The band was rounded out by violinist/keyboardist Eddie Jobson, and guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Bruford and Holdsworth left in 1978, and Bruford was replaced by drummer Terry Bozzio. Jobson, Wetton and Bozzio reformed U.K. for a world tour in 2012.
Quaudiophiliac is a compilation album featuring music by Frank Zappa, released in DVD-Audio format by Barking Pumpkin Records in 2004. It compiles recordings he made while experimenting with quadraphonic, or four-channel, sound in the 1970s. Zappa prepared quadraphonic mixes of a number of his 1970s albums, with both Over-Nite Sensation (1973) and Apostrophe (') (1974) being released in discrete quadraphonic on Zappa's DiscReet Records label.
Spring Session M is the debut studio album by American rock band Missing Persons. It was released on October 8, 1982, by Capitol Records. The title of the album is an anagram of the band's name. Produced by Ken Scott with the songs written by Terry Bozzio, Dale Bozzio and Warren Cuccurullo, Spring Session M is a new wave rock album with elements of synth-pop.
Rhyme & Reason is the second studio album by American band Missing Persons, released in 1984. It was a commercial disappointment. A video was created for "Surrender Your Heart" featuring animations from Peter Max. "Give" and "Right Now" were also released as singles, and videos made for both received airplay on MTV. Missing Persons embarked on a successful tour, but the album quickly fell off the sales charts.
Color in Your Life is the third studio album by American band Missing Persons, released in 1986. It was the band's last studio album with the original line-up, with the sole exception of Chuck Wild, who left the group in 1985 and was not replaced. The album was produced by Bernard Edwards.
Frank Zappa Plays the Music of Frank Zappa: A Memorial Tribute is a posthumous album by Frank Zappa.
Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar is a series of three albums - Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar, Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar Some More, and Return of the Son of Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar - released by Frank Zappa in 1981. The albums consist solely of electric guitar instrumentals and improvised solos (mostly) played live by Zappa and featuring a wide variety of backing musicians.
Zoot Allures is the 22nd album by the American rock musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1976 and his only release on the Warner Bros. Records label. Due to a lawsuit with his former manager, Herb Cohen, Zappa's recording contract was temporarily reassigned from DiscReet Records to Warner Bros.
Dale Frances Bozzio is an American rock and pop vocalist. She is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the '80s new wave band Missing Persons and for her work with Frank Zappa. While with Zappa, she performed significant roles in two of his major works, Joe's Garage (1979) and Thing-Fish (1984). Bozzio has released four solo albums and one EP.
You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6 is the last of six double-disc collection volumes of live performances by Frank Zappa recorded between 1970 and 1988. All of the material on disc one has a sexual theme. Zappa used the monologue in "Is That Guy Kidding or What?" to ridicule Peter Frampton's album I'm in You with its double entendre title and pop pretensions. Disc two includes performances from Zappa's shows between 1976 and 1981 at the Palladium in New York City, as well as material like "The Illinois Enema Bandit" and "Strictly Genteel" that he frequently used as closing songs at concerts. It was released on October 23, 1992, under the label Rykodisc.
Trance-Fusion is an album by Frank Zappa. Released posthumously in 2006, 13 years after the musician's death, the album forms the third in a trilogy of instrumental albums which focus on Zappa's improvised guitar solos, after Shut Up 'n Play Yer Guitar (1981) and Guitar (1988). Trance-Fusion was among the last albums completed by Zappa before his death, along with The Rage & The Fury: The Music Of Edgard Varèse, Dance Me This and Civilization Phaze III. It was also among the first releases by Zappa to be made available digitally via iTunes through Gail Zappa's distribution deal with Universal Music Enterprises.
Peter F. Wolf is an Austrian composer, producer, songwriter and arranger. In 2002, he was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class. Wolf is married to fashion model and songwriter Lea Wolf-Millesi, and lives in Malibu, California.
Castalia (1988) is an album by the American trumpeter/synthesist Mark Isham. The title refers to the mythical spring Castalia on Mount Parnassus in Greece.
One Shot Deal is an album by Frank Zappa, posthumously released in June 2008.
Lost Tracks is a compilation album by American new wave band Missing Persons, released in 2002. Compiled by former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, it contains a selection of previously unreleased studio and live recordings.
