Leon Patillo

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Leon Patillo entered the professional music business by fronting the San Francisco-area band Creation, which later took the name Leon's Creation. This multi-racial funk-pop ensemble, styled after Sly & the Family Stone, featured Patillo on keyboards, Jimmy Calhoun on bass, Barry Frost on percussion, Billy Gerst on trumpet, Lenny Goldsmith on additional keyboards, Gerry Peterson on reeds, Carol Stallings on violin, and Orlando Stallings on guitar. The group issued three independent LPs and held a recording contract with Atlantic Records for a time.

Patillo joined Santana in 1973. His vocals and piano appear on the 1974 album Borboletta and on the live set Festival, released in 1976. He toured with the band until 1979, when he departed to launch a solo career and signed with Word Records.

Combining dance, R&B, soul, and gospel within an influential contemporary Christian music framework, Patillo issued several Word albums: Don't Give In (1981), I'll Never Stop Lovin' You (1982), Live Experience (1983), The Sky's the Limit (1984), and A Funny Thing Happened (1986). He also hosted the TBN series Leon and Friends.

Since 1999 Patillo has performed internationally at Get Motivated conferences and has built his own ministry. He founded the Positive Pop label and delivered two albums in 2005, Breathe on Me and Live Experience 2, the latter recorded at Crossroads Community Church in Las Vegas, NV.

In addition to his solo catalog and Santana work, Patillo has collaborated with Funkadelic and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas. An ordained Christian minister, he continues to seek intersections between music and the Christian experience.