Patrick Gorman is a composer and performer of instrumental solo piano pieces that falls stylistically into the realms of contemporary classical and new age. Free from any formal training, his exploratory approach to the instrument infuses streaks of melodic passages with dynamically rhythmic and thematic movements, resulting in a sound and style that very much remains his own.

In October of 2004, Patrick contacted the founder of Windham Hill Records and grammy award winning recording artist and producer William Ackerman, who agreed to take the healm as producer for his debut album, Sounds From The Wishing Well. The album was independantly released in September of 2005...

A FEW WORDS FROM WILL ACKERMAN...

"When Patrick Gorman called to me to ask whether I would assist him in the production of his first solo piano recording I assumed he knew of my history as a label founder and producer. He didn’t. As time progressed and we talked further I realized that he’d never listened to George Winston and had never heard of Liz Story, Phil Aaberg or even Keith Jarrett. He was a little like the child raised by wolves who knows nothing of the outside world. Patrick’s music is so distinctively his own for this very reason. He’s not steeped in recent piano music, but came up in a musical world of his own sounds.

I love it that these beautiful, sometimes classical-seeming pieces come from a musician whose primary instrument is drums. He talks of how he perceives the piano as a percussion instrument and I understand why he feels that way. Once again there is a layer of insulation between him and the sizeable outside world of piano music and once again Patrick emerges as possessing what is very much his own sound… remarkable in someone anticipating his first recording.

And it’s not just musical ideas that he has such a grasp of. I was incredulous when he told me he wanted to record this project in a day. I told him what any responsible producer would tell him; that this was recklessly unrealistic. It would be nearly impossible in a person of years of training and performance experience and really out of the question for a drummer moonlighting in piano music. Nonetheless I smugly agreed to meet Patrick (for the first time) on the day of our session at Futura Studios outside of Boston where I found Patrick sitting at a Steinway Grand piano.

The room was somewhat complex to record and we spent nearly two and a half hours setting mics for the session. It was now 12:30 PM.

Patrick then set about to do exactly what he said he would do. I demanded the same precision and expression from him that I would in any session. There was no compromising. I watched and listened to him do what he promised to do and by 7:30 that evening Patrick had recorded Sounds From The Wishing Well. It was one of the most remarkable performances I have had the pleasure to witness."

Will Ackerman
Windham County Vermont