Pat Metheny Group
Encyclopedia
The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz
group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist
and bandleader
Pat Metheny
, composer, keyboardist
and pianist
Lyle Mays
(who was part of the group's inception in 1977), and bassist
and producer Steve Rodby
(joined in 1980). Other long-standing members include Paul Wertico
who was the drummer for 18 years.
first emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-1970s with a pair of solo albums; Bright Size Life
released in 1976 - a trio album with virtuoso
bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius
and Bob Moses
, followed by Watercolors
in 1977, featuring Eberhard Weber
on bass, pianist
Lyle Mays
, and drummer Danny Gottlieb
.
Despite the constant categorization of Metheny's music as "fusion", it was always his intention to create improvised music that had a greater emphasis on bringing out harmony than anything common to what was called "fusion" of the time. Pastorius, with whom Metheny struck up a friendship while the two toured in Joni Mitchell
's backing band during her transition from her earlier folk rock
compositions to jazz
, had at the same time explored melodic lines for his instrument within the melodies normally heard, rather than just providing a simple bassline with the drummer, revolutionizing the way the bass guitar was viewed by the musical establishment. The two friends would sit up late during the early 1970s and discuss the new possibilities their instruments held.
In 1977, bassist Mark Egan
joined, with Mays, Metheny, and Gottlieb, and the first version of the Pat Metheny Group had been formed. Metheny's follow-up album formalized the relationship, and featured several songs co-written with Mays; the album was released in 1978 as the self-titled Pat Metheny Group on the ECM
label. The second group album, American Garage
(1979), was a breakout hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and crossing over onto the pop charts as well, largely on the strength of the up-tempo opening track "(Cross the) Heartland" which would become an early signature tune for the group. This first incarnation of the group included drummer Danny Gottleib and Mark Egan
on bass guitar. The group built upon its success through lengthy tours in the USA and Europe. The early group featured a unique sound, particularly due to Metheny's Gibson
ES-175
guitar coupled to two digital delay units and Mays' Oberheim synthesizer and Yamaha Organ. Even in this early state the band played in a wide range of styles from experimental to grassroots music. Later on, Metheny began working with the Roland
GR300 guitar synthesizer and a Synclavier System
, while Mays expanded his setup with a Prophet 5
synthesizer designed by Sequential Circuits
, and later with many other synthesizers.
Travels
, in 1983 won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
in 1984. From 1982 to 1985 the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp
in 1982, a live album, Travels
in 1983, and First Circle
in 1984. The Falcon and the Snowman
followed in 1985; a soundtrack
album for the film of the same name
. The latter featured the song "This Is Not America
", a collaboration with David Bowie
which reached #14 in the British Top 40 in early 1985 and #32 in the USA.
Offramp
marked the first recorded appearance of bassist Steve Rodby
in the group (replacing Mark Egan), and also featured Brazil
ian "guest artist" Naná Vasconcelos
. Vasconcelos had appeared on the Pat Metheny
/Lyle Mays
album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
, and his work on percussions and wordless vocals marked the first addition of Latin-South American music shadings to the Group's sound. Offramp was also the group's first recording to win a Grammy Award
, marking the start of more-or-less unbroken series of wins for the group, up to and including their latest release The Way Up, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
. The South American influence would continue and intensify on First Circle with the addition of Argentine
multi-instrumentalist
Pedro Aznar
. First Circle also marked the group debut of drummer Paul Wertico
(replacing Danny Gottlieb). This period saw the commercial popularity of the band increase, especially thanks to the live recording Travels. First Circle would also be Metheny's last project with the ECM label; Metheny had been a key artist for ECM but left over conceptual disagreements with label founder Manfred Eicher
.
Then next three Pat Metheny Group releases would be based around a further intensification of the Brazilian rhythms first heard in the early '80s. Additional South American musicians appear as guests, notably Brazilian percussion player Armando Marcal. Still Life (Talking)
, (1987) was the Group's first release on new label, Geffen Records
, and featured several tracks which have long been popular with the group's followers, and which are still in their setlist. In particular, the album's first tune, "Minuano (Six Eight)", represents a good example of the Pat Metheny group compositional style from this period: the track starts with a haunting minor section from Mays, lifts off in a typical Methenian jubilant major melody, leading to a Maysian metric and harmonically-modulated interlude, creating suspense which is finally resolved in the Methenian major theme. Another popular highlight was "Last Train Home", a rhythmically relentless piece evoking the American Midwest. The 1989 release Letter from Home
continued this approach, with the South American influence becoming even more prevalent in its bossa nova
and samba
rhythms.
Metheny then again delved into adventurous solo and band projects, and four years went by before the release of the next record for the next Pat Metheny Group. This was a live set recorded in Europe entitled The Road to You, and it featured tracks from the two Geffen
studio albums alongside new tunes. By this stage, the group had integrated new instrumentation and technologies into its sound, including Mays' addition of midi-controlled synthesized sounds to acoustic piano solos, accomplished via a pedal control.
Mays and Metheny refer to the following three Pat Metheny Group releases as the triptych
: We Live Here
in 1995, Quartet, 1996, and Imaginary Day
in 1997. Moving away from the Latin style which had dominated the releases of the previous decade, these albums were the most wide-ranging and least commercial Group releases, including experimentations with hip-hop drum loops, free-form improvisation on acoustic instruments, and symphonic signatures, blues and sonata
schemes.
, marking another change in direction through the addition of younger musicians. Joining the core players (Metheny, Mays and Rodby), were drummer Antonio Sanchez from Mexico City, Vietnamese trumpet player Cuong Vu
and bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist Richard Bona
from Cameroon
.
Following the group's 2003 tour, Bona left to concentrate on his solo career, but appeared as one of two guest artists (the other being mallet cymbalist Dave Samuels
) on the group's latest release, 2005's The Way Up
, together with a new group member: Swiss-American harmonica player Grégoire Maret
. The Way Up is a large-scale concept record which consists of a single 68 minute-long piece (split into four sections only for CD navigation). Metheny has said that one of the inspirations for the labyrinthine piece was a reaction against a perceived trend for music requiring a short attention span and which lacks nuance and detail. Many of the textures in The Way Up are created from interlocking guitar lines --Steve Reich
is credited on the CD as an inspiration, along with Eberhard Weber
, and there are large open sections for solo improvisation and group interplay. On the group's 2005 tour (when its lineup was supplemented by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist
Nando Lauria), The Way Up was played in its entirety as the first half of the concert. The final performance of the piece was at a free show for more than a hundred thousand people at the close of the 2005 Montreal Jazz Festival.
The Way Up was released through Nonesuch Records
. It is planned that all of Metheny's Geffen and Warner Bros. Records
albums are to be rereleased on the label.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, composer, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
and pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
(who was part of the group's inception in 1977), and bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
and producer Steve Rodby
Steve Rodby
Steve Rodby is an American bassist.He joined the Pat Metheny Group in 1981. Prior to joining Metheny, he was a member of the Simon-Bard Group and the Fred Simon ensemble. Rodby continues to collaborate with Simon .Rodby studied bass at Northwestern University, a student of Warren Benfield of the...
(joined in 1980). Other long-standing members include Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests. Metheny heard the Simon Bard Group with Wertico and bassist Steve Rodby, and invited...
who was the drummer for 18 years.
1970s
Founder Pat MethenyPat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
first emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-1970s with a pair of solo albums; Bright Size Life
Bright Size Life
Bright Size Life is Pat Metheny's debut album, released in 1976, when Metheny was only 21. It is notable for the maturity of its compositions as well as the strength of Metheny's sidemen, as fellow fusion pioneer Jaco Pastorius was on bass along with drummer Bob Moses.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Pat...
released in 1976 - a trio album with virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
and Bob Moses
Bob Moses (musician)
Rakalam Bob Moses is an American jazz drummer born in New York City.Moses played with Roland Kirk in 1964-65 while he was still a teenager. In 1966 he and Larry Coryell formed The Free Spirits, a jazz fusion ensemble, and from 1967 to 1969 he played in Gary Burton's quartet...
, followed by Watercolors
Watercolors (album)
Watercolors is Pat Metheny's second album, released in 1977.The Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell awards the album 4 stars and states: "Metheny's softly focused, asymmetrical guitar style, with echoes of apparent influences as disparate as Jim Hall, George Benson, Jerry Garcia, and various...
in 1977, featuring Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, Weber is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing...
on bass, pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
, and drummer Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group and Mahavishnu Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a fulltime Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies.- Biography :Danny graduated from the...
.
Despite the constant categorization of Metheny's music as "fusion", it was always his intention to create improvised music that had a greater emphasis on bringing out harmony than anything common to what was called "fusion" of the time. Pastorius, with whom Metheny struck up a friendship while the two toured in Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's backing band during her transition from her earlier folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
compositions to jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, had at the same time explored melodic lines for his instrument within the melodies normally heard, rather than just providing a simple bassline with the drummer, revolutionizing the way the bass guitar was viewed by the musical establishment. The two friends would sit up late during the early 1970s and discuss the new possibilities their instruments held.
In 1977, bassist Mark Egan
Mark Egan
Mark Egan is an American jazz bass guitarist and trumpeter, arguably best known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group from 1977 to 1980, and the Gil Evans Orchestra...
joined, with Mays, Metheny, and Gottlieb, and the first version of the Pat Metheny Group had been formed. Metheny's follow-up album formalized the relationship, and featured several songs co-written with Mays; the album was released in 1978 as the self-titled Pat Metheny Group on the ECM
ECM (record label)
ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
label. The second group album, American Garage
American Garage
-Track listing:-Personnel:* Pat Metheny - 6 & 12-String Guitar* Lyle Mays - Piano, Oberheim, Autoharp, Organ* Mark Egan - Bass* Dan Gottlieb - Drums-Charts:Album - Billboard-Trivia:...
(1979), was a breakout hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and crossing over onto the pop charts as well, largely on the strength of the up-tempo opening track "(Cross the) Heartland" which would become an early signature tune for the group. This first incarnation of the group included drummer Danny Gottleib and Mark Egan
Mark Egan
Mark Egan is an American jazz bass guitarist and trumpeter, arguably best known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group from 1977 to 1980, and the Gil Evans Orchestra...
on bass guitar. The group built upon its success through lengthy tours in the USA and Europe. The early group featured a unique sound, particularly due to Metheny's Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
ES-175
Gibson ES-175
The Gibson ES-175 is an electric guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, currently still in production. It is a 24 3/4" scale full hollow body guitar with a trapeze tailpiece and Tune-O-Matic bridge...
guitar coupled to two digital delay units and Mays' Oberheim synthesizer and Yamaha Organ. Even in this early state the band played in a wide range of styles from experimental to grassroots music. Later on, Metheny began working with the Roland
Roland Corporation
is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...
GR300 guitar synthesizer and a Synclavier System
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
, while Mays expanded his setup with a Prophet 5
Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Sequential Circuits in San Jose, California between 1977 and 1984. The Prophet-5 was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first analog synthesizers to implement patch memory, a feature which stored user settings of every parameter...
synthesizer designed by Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits
Sequential Circuits Inc. was a California-based synthesizer company that was founded in the early 1970s by Dave Smith and sold to Yamaha Corporation in 1987. The company, throughout its lifespan, pioneered many groundbreaking technologies and design principles that are often taken for granted in...
, and later with many other synthesizers.
1980s
Travels (album)
Travels is the Pat Metheny Group's first live album, released in 1983. The album consists of two CDs worth of live material recorded at various venues including Philadelphia, Dallas, Sacramento and Hartford. Along with Pat Metheny, the album features Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, Dan Gottlieb and the...
, in 1983 won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances...
in 1984. From 1982 to 1985 the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp
Offramp
Offramp is the Grammy Award winning third album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1982. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1983.Offramp is the first studio recording on which Metheny used the guitar synthesizer....
in 1982, a live album, Travels
Travels (album)
Travels is the Pat Metheny Group's first live album, released in 1983. The album consists of two CDs worth of live material recorded at various venues including Philadelphia, Dallas, Sacramento and Hartford. Along with Pat Metheny, the album features Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, Dan Gottlieb and the...
in 1983, and First Circle
First Circle (album)
First Circle is a Grammy Award winning album by Pat Metheny Group released in 1984. On the album Pat Metheny is joined by Lyle Mays on piano and keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, drummer Paul Wertico and vocalist and percussionist Pedro Aznar...
in 1984. The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman (album)
The Falcon and the Snowman is an album of original music for the soundtrack of the Orion Pictures feature length film with the same title, composed and "co-produced" by both Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays....
followed in 1985; a soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
album for the film of the same name
The Falcon and the Snowman
The Falcon and the Snowman is a 1985 film directed by John Schlesinger about two young American men, Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee , who sold U.S. security secrets to the Soviet Union...
. The latter featured the song "This Is Not America
This Is Not America
"This Is Not America" is a song from the soundtrack for the film The Falcon and the Snowman.The track is the result of a collaboration between the jazz fusion Pat Metheny Group and rock singer David Bowie who provided the lyrics and vocals....
", a collaboration with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
which reached #14 in the British Top 40 in early 1985 and #32 in the USA.
Offramp
Offramp
Offramp is the Grammy Award winning third album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1982. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1983.Offramp is the first studio recording on which Metheny used the guitar synthesizer....
marked the first recorded appearance of bassist Steve Rodby
Steve Rodby
Steve Rodby is an American bassist.He joined the Pat Metheny Group in 1981. Prior to joining Metheny, he was a member of the Simon-Bard Group and the Fred Simon ensemble. Rodby continues to collaborate with Simon .Rodby studied bass at Northwestern University, a student of Warren Benfield of the...
in the group (replacing Mark Egan), and also featured Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian "guest artist" Naná Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
. Vasconcelos had appeared on the Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
/Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays
Lyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls
As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls is a collaborative album by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, released in 1981. The title makes reference to Wichita, Kansas and Wichita Falls, Texas...
, and his work on percussions and wordless vocals marked the first addition of Latin-South American music shadings to the Group's sound. Offramp was also the group's first recording to win a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, marking the start of more-or-less unbroken series of wins for the group, up to and including their latest release The Way Up, which won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album
The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances...
. The South American influence would continue and intensify on First Circle with the addition of Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
. First Circle also marked the group debut of drummer Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico
Paul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests. Metheny heard the Simon Bard Group with Wertico and bassist Steve Rodby, and invited...
(replacing Danny Gottlieb). This period saw the commercial popularity of the band increase, especially thanks to the live recording Travels. First Circle would also be Metheny's last project with the ECM label; Metheny had been a key artist for ECM but left over conceptual disagreements with label founder Manfred Eicher
Manfred Eicher
Manfred Eicher is a German record producer and the founder of ECM Records and its subsidiaries.Eicher studied music at the Academy of Music in Berlin. He is a record producer and a double-bass player. In 1969 he founded a record label in Munich called ECM - Edition of Contemporary Music...
.
Then next three Pat Metheny Group releases would be based around a further intensification of the Brazilian rhythms first heard in the early '80s. Additional South American musicians appear as guests, notably Brazilian percussion player Armando Marcal. Still Life (Talking)
Still Life (Talking)
Still Life is an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1987. This is the first group's album released by Geffen Records. It features fusion and crossover jazz, combining Brazilian jazz-influenced harmonies with jazz, folk, and pop elements...
, (1987) was the Group's first release on new label, Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
, and featured several tracks which have long been popular with the group's followers, and which are still in their setlist. In particular, the album's first tune, "Minuano (Six Eight)", represents a good example of the Pat Metheny group compositional style from this period: the track starts with a haunting minor section from Mays, lifts off in a typical Methenian jubilant major melody, leading to a Maysian metric and harmonically-modulated interlude, creating suspense which is finally resolved in the Methenian major theme. Another popular highlight was "Last Train Home", a rhythmically relentless piece evoking the American Midwest. The 1989 release Letter from Home
Letter from Home
Letter from Home is an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1989 by Geffen Records. It picks up where Still Life leaves off, continuing to infuse Brazilian elements into light jazz.-Track listing:...
continued this approach, with the South American influence becoming even more prevalent in its bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
and samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
rhythms.
1990s
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
studio albums alongside new tunes. By this stage, the group had integrated new instrumentation and technologies into its sound, including Mays' addition of midi-controlled synthesized sounds to acoustic piano solos, accomplished via a pedal control.
Mays and Metheny refer to the following three Pat Metheny Group releases as the triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
: We Live Here
We Live Here
We Live Here is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1995 by Geffen Records. This album shows a high level of collaboration between Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny having composed almost all the songs together except "Episode D'Azur"....
in 1995, Quartet, 1996, and Imaginary Day
Imaginary Day
Imaginary Day is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. It also won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, while "The Roots of Coincidence" won Best Rock Instrumental Performance....
in 1997. Moving away from the Latin style which had dominated the releases of the previous decade, these albums were the most wide-ranging and least commercial Group releases, including experimentations with hip-hop drum loops, free-form improvisation on acoustic instruments, and symphonic signatures, blues and sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
schemes.
2000s
After another hiatus, the Pat Metheny Group re-emerged in 2002 with the release Speaking of NowSpeaking of Now
Speaking of Now is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2002 by Warner Bros.-Track listing:# "As It Is" – 7:40# "Proof" – 10:13# "Another Life" – 7:08# "The Gathering Sky" – 9:22...
, marking another change in direction through the addition of younger musicians. Joining the core players (Metheny, Mays and Rodby), were drummer Antonio Sanchez from Mexico City, Vietnamese trumpet player Cuong Vu
Cuong Vu
is a jazz trumpeter and vocalist.Born in Saigon, he left Vietnam with his family at the age of five in 1975, settling in Bellevue, Washington...
and bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist Richard Bona
Richard Bona
Richard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...
from Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
.
Following the group's 2003 tour, Bona left to concentrate on his solo career, but appeared as one of two guest artists (the other being mallet cymbalist Dave Samuels
Dave Samuels
Dave Samuels is an American vibraphone player who has worked with various jazz and fusion artists, such as Spyro Gyra. Currently, he plays in an ensemble called The Caribbean Jazz Project, a Grammy-winning jazz-Latin music group...
) on the group's latest release, 2005's The Way Up
The Way Up
The Way Up is the Grammy award winning thirteenth album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2005. The album consists of one 68 minute-long piece, split into four tracks solely for CD navigation...
, together with a new group member: Swiss-American harmonica player Grégoire Maret
Gregoire Maret
Grégoire Maret was born in 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland. He began playing the harmonica at the age of 17. He graduated from high school in 1994....
. The Way Up is a large-scale concept record which consists of a single 68 minute-long piece (split into four sections only for CD navigation). Metheny has said that one of the inspirations for the labyrinthine piece was a reaction against a perceived trend for music requiring a short attention span and which lacks nuance and detail. Many of the textures in The Way Up are created from interlocking guitar lines --Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
is credited on the CD as an inspiration, along with Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber
Eberhard Weber is a German double bassist and composer. As a bass player, Weber is known for his highly distinctive tone and phrasing...
, and there are large open sections for solo improvisation and group interplay. On the group's 2005 tour (when its lineup was supplemented by Brazilian multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Nando Lauria), The Way Up was played in its entirety as the first half of the concert. The final performance of the piece was at a free show for more than a hundred thousand people at the close of the 2005 Montreal Jazz Festival.
The Way Up was released through Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP...
. It is planned that all of Metheny's Geffen and Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
albums are to be rereleased on the label.
Current lineup
- Pat MethenyPat MethenyPatrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
Guitars, guitar synthesizers - Lyle MaysLyle MaysLyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group...
Piano, synthesizers - Steve RodbySteve RodbySteve Rodby is an American bassist.He joined the Pat Metheny Group in 1981. Prior to joining Metheny, he was a member of the Simon-Bard Group and the Fred Simon ensemble. Rodby continues to collaborate with Simon .Rodby studied bass at Northwestern University, a student of Warren Benfield of the...
, since 1980 (Bass) - Antonio Sanchez, since 2002 (Drums, percussion)
- Cuong VuCuong Vuis a jazz trumpeter and vocalist.Born in Saigon, he left Vietnam with his family at the age of five in 1975, settling in Bellevue, Washington...
, since 2002 (Trumpet, vocals, percussion, guitar) - Grégoire MaretGregoire MaretGrégoire Maret was born in 1975 in Geneva, Switzerland. He began playing the harmonica at the age of 17. He graduated from high school in 1994....
, since 2005 (Harmonica, vocals, percussion) - Nando Lauria, since 2005 (Guitar, Vocals, various percussion and instruments)
Past members
- Mark EganMark EganMark Egan is an American jazz bass guitarist and trumpeter, arguably best known for his membership in the Pat Metheny Group from 1977 to 1980, and the Gil Evans Orchestra...
, 1977-1980 (Bass) - Danny GottliebDanny GottliebDanny Gottlieb is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group and Mahavishnu Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a fulltime Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies.- Biography :Danny graduated from the...
, 1977-1982 (Drums) - Nana VasconcelosNaná VasconcelosNaná Vasconcelos is a Brazilian Latin jazz percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player, most notable for his works with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, and Gato Barbieri....
, 1981-1982 (Vocals, percussion) - Pedro AznarPedro AznarPedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
, 1983–1985, 1989-1992 (Vocals, percussion, bass, guitars, saxophone) - Paul WerticoPaul WerticoPaul Wertico is an American drummer. He gained recognition as a member of the Pat Metheny Group from 1983 until 2001, leaving the group to spend more time with his family and to pursue other musical interests. Metheny heard the Simon Bard Group with Wertico and bassist Steve Rodby, and invited...
, 1983-2001 (Drums) - David BlamiresDavid BlamiresDavid Blamires is a vocalist and composer and was born in Bradford, England but moved to Toronto, Canada and is one of Canada's most versatile and sought after session musicians...
, 1987-1997 (Vocals, various instruments) - Mark LedfordMark LedfordMark Ledford was an American trumpet player, vocalist and guitarist.Ledford was most famous for his multi-instrumentalism, and from his membership in the Pat Metheny Group....
, 1987-1998 (Vocals, various instruments) - Armando Marçal, 1987-1996 (Percussion)
- Jeff Haynes, 1997-1998 (Percussion, vocals, various instruments)
- Philip Hamilton, 1997-1998 (Vocals, various instruments)
- Richard BonaRichard BonaRichard Bona is a jazz bassist and musician. His real African name, as he said live in Montreal in a show with Bobby McFerrin, is Bona Pinder Yayumayalolo...
, 2002-2005 (Percussion, vocals, electric bass, acoustic guitar) - Faith Hendricksen, 1986-c. 1999 (Synclavier, backup vocals)
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Studio albums
| Date of release | Title | Label | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Pat Metheny Group Pat Metheny Group (album) Pat Metheny Group is the first album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1978. It features Pat Metheny on guitar, Lyle Mays on piano and keyboards, Mark Egan on bass, and Dan Gottlieb on drums.-Track listing:-Personnel:... |
ECM ECM (record label) ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres... |
|
| 1979 | American Garage American Garage -Track listing:-Personnel:* Pat Metheny - 6 & 12-String Guitar* Lyle Mays - Piano, Oberheim, Autoharp, Organ* Mark Egan - Bass* Dan Gottlieb - Drums-Charts:Album - Billboard-Trivia:... |
ECM ECM (record label) ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres... |
|
| 1982 | Offramp Offramp Offramp is the Grammy Award winning third album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1982. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1983.Offramp is the first studio recording on which Metheny used the guitar synthesizer.... |
ECM ECM (record label) ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres... |
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances... |
| 1984 | First Circle First Circle (album) First Circle is a Grammy Award winning album by Pat Metheny Group released in 1984. On the album Pat Metheny is joined by Lyle Mays on piano and keyboards, Steve Rodby on bass, drummer Paul Wertico and vocalist and percussionist Pedro Aznar... |
ECM ECM (record label) ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres... |
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances... |
| 1987 | Still Life (Talking) Still Life (Talking) Still Life is an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1987. This is the first group's album released by Geffen Records. It features fusion and crossover jazz, combining Brazilian jazz-influenced harmonies with jazz, folk, and pop elements... |
Geffen Records Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances... |
| 1989 | Letter from Home Letter from Home Letter from Home is an album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1989 by Geffen Records. It picks up where Still Life leaves off, continuing to infuse Brazilian elements into light jazz.-Track listing:... |
Geffen Records Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances... |
| 1995 | We Live Here We Live Here We Live Here is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1995 by Geffen Records. This album shows a high level of collaboration between Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny having composed almost all the songs together except "Episode D'Azur".... |
Geffen Records Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances... |
| 1996 | Quartet | Geffen Records Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
|
| 1997 | Imaginary Day Imaginary Day Imaginary Day is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1997 by Warner Bros. Records. It also won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, while "The Roots of Coincidence" won Best Rock Instrumental Performance.... |
Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances... Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards... |
| 2002 | Speaking of Now Speaking of Now Speaking of Now is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2002 by Warner Bros.-Track listing:# "As It Is" – 7:40# "Proof" – 10:13# "Another Life" – 7:08# "The Gathering Sky" – 9:22... |
Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies... |
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances... |
| 2005 | The Way Up The Way Up The Way Up is the Grammy award winning thirteenth album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2005. The album consists of one 68 minute-long piece, split into four tracks solely for CD navigation... |
Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:Nonesuch was founded in 1964 by Jac Holzman to produce "fine records at the same price as a trade paperback", which would be half the price of a normal LP... |
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances... |
Live albums
| Date of release | Title | Label | Awards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Travels Travels (album) Travels is the Pat Metheny Group's first live album, released in 1983. The album consists of two CDs worth of live material recorded at various venues including Philadelphia, Dallas, Sacramento and Hartford. Along with Pat Metheny, the album features Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, Dan Gottlieb and the... |
ECM ECM (record label) ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres... |
Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality jazz fusion performances... |
| 1993 | The Road to You The Road to You The Road to You is the Pat Metheny Group's second live album, released in 1993, ten years after their first live release, Travels. All of the pieces were recorded live on a European tour in 1991. The songs where taken from the Bari, Pescara; Jesi and Naples, Italy; Marseilles, Paris; and Besançon,... |
Geffen Records Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album was an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for works containing quality contemporary jazz performances... |
Soundtracks
| Date of release | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Under Fire | Music by Jerry Goldsmith |
| 1985 | The Falcon and the Snowman The Falcon and the Snowman (album) The Falcon and the Snowman is an album of original music for the soundtrack of the Orion Pictures feature length film with the same title, composed and "co-produced" by both Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.... |
EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... |
| 1998 | Passaggio Per Il Paradiso | Geffen Geffen Records Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:... |
| 1999 | A Map of the World A Map of the World (album) A Map of the World is the soundtrack of the movie A Map of the World released in 1999 starring Sigourney Weaver, which in turn was based on the book A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton.- Track listing :All songs were composed and performed by Pat Metheny.... |
Warner Jazz |
Contributed on
| Date of release | Title | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Shadows and Light | Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto... with Lyle Mays Lyle Mays Lyle Mays is an American jazz pianist and composer from Wausaukee, Wisconsin. He is best known for his work with guitarist Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group... and Jaco Pastorius Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player.... |
| 1983 | Under Fire Under Fire (film) Under Fire is a 1983 political film set during the last days of the Somoza regime in 1979 Nicaragua. It stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The story is fictional, but was inspired by actual events, namely the murder of ABC reporter Bill Stewart by Somoza forces... |
Soundtrack to Under Fire Under Fire (film) Under Fire is a 1983 political film set during the last days of the Somoza regime in 1979 Nicaragua. It stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The story is fictional, but was inspired by actual events, namely the murder of ABC reporter Bill Stewart by Somoza forces... - Music by Jerry Goldsmith Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring.... |