Gordon has led a varied career: He has helmed his ensemble The Love Of Life Orchestra, collaborated with other composers, and composed works for stage shows, particularly at
Brooklyn Academy of Music. About his saxophone playing, Gordon has said, “I always liked the deep-throated R&B sound.
Gene Ammons,
Plas Johnson,
King Curtis, Though if I had to name a sax hero, that would be John Coltrane.” As a composer, he was heavily influenced by his teacher Terry Riley. At various points Arthur Russell,
Rhys Chatham,
Kathy Acker, Ernie Brooks,
Jill Kroesen and
Peter Zummo were collaborators in Love of Life Orchestra. He collaborated with writer Kathy Acker, artist
David Salle and director
Richard Foreman on the opera
The Birth Of The Poet, which opened in
Rotterdam in 1984, and had its U.S. premiere at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1985. His work on that production, as well as
Otello, earned him a 1985 Bessie award in the category of Composer. His composition
Return of the Native, a collaboration with video artist Kit Fitzgerald, his wife and frequent creative partner, premiered at BAM in 1988. In 2015, Gordon directed a touring revival of Arthur Russell's
Instrumentals, whose first showing he scored in 1975. In addition to his own work, and that with his
Love of Life Orchestra, he has appeared on or composed music for albums by
Laurie Anderson,
Suzanne Vega,
David Johansen,
Elliott Murphy,
Loose Joints,
Dinosaur L, Gabe Gurnsey,
Museum of Love, “Blue” Gene Tyranny,
The Flying Lizards,
David Van Tieghem,
Lawrence Weiner, and
Arthur Russell. Gordon has collaborated on a number of occasions with
Willi Smith's company
Williwear, including the film
Expedition, used to introduce the designer's 1986 collection, which was directed by
Max Vadukul and shot on location in
Dakar. In 2007,
James Murphy and Pat Mahoney of
LCD Soundsystem used Gordon's classic Downtown tracks "Beginning of the Heartbreak" and "Don't Don't" to open and close their highly acclaimed dance mix
FabricLive.36. In 2008 an excerpt of his opera (with artist
Lawrence Weiner)
The Society Architect Ponders the Golden Gate Bridge was issued on the compilation album
Crosstalk: American Speech Music (Bridge Records) produced by
Mendi + Keith Obadike. Gordon wrote the scores for the serial mystery drama
The Necklace, presented by
The Talking Band. He worked on the
soundtrack to
Desperate Housewives. In 2010,
DFA Records released remixes by Gordon of "Beginning of the Heartbreak/Don't Don't" and "That Hat," cowritten with Arthur Russell. They released a compilation,
Peter Gordon & Love Of Life Orchestra, consisting of music Gordon and his ensemble recorded in the ‘70s and ‘80s, that same year. == Personal life ==