Pat Metheny
Stuart Nicholson
In all, Pat Metheny has won 20 Grammy awards in 12 different categories and since the age of 18 has continued to be active as a music educator
Metheny, Patrick Bruce (b. 12th August 1954, Lee’s Summit, Missouri). Spoken of as a musical prodigy, began trumpet at eight, guitar at 12; early influence Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell; in his own words started playing guitar “seriously” age 13; at aged 15 won a Downbeat scholarship to jazz camp, met guitarist Attila Zoller; by now was working six nights a week with Kansas City’s top jazz musicians; attended Lee's Summit High School then University of Miami.
Was a student for a brief period before being offered a teaching position to become the youngest teacher ever at the University; formed an association with bassist Jaco Pastorius; became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music at 19 years of age; own group with Pastorius worked around Boston area, inc. Zircon Club; 1974 Metheny joined vibist Gary Burton’s group (also on the Berklee faculty); later he would say his three years with Burton’s group was “by far the most important period of my life, musically.”
Debut as a leader on record Bright Size Life (ECM) 1976 with Pastorius (el b) and Bob Moses (d) produced (but not credited) by Gary Burton; 1977 Watercolours (ECM), first collaboration on record with keyboardist Lyle Mays and drummer Danny Gottlieb that pointed the way conceptually and compositionally to the Pat Metheny Group, which the guitarist formed in May 1977 with the addition of Mark Eagan on bass; January 1978 recorded Pat Metheny Group (ECM), immediately sold 100,000 copies on on Billboard chart for 12 months; from the start the PMG was branded a fusion group, which it was not.
It used long, complex ad hoc compositional forms, sophisticated harmonic movement (in contrast to vamps), a rhythmic approach that was cymbal driven rather than driven by back beats and bass drum — employed dynamics in a way other electric bands did not and Metheny scrupulously avoided distortion; further PMG albums on the ECM label were American Garage (1979) that topped Billboard jazz chart; 1979 Metheny toured with singer Joni Mitchell in her “Shadows and Light” tour that also included Michael Brecker (ts) and Jaco Pastorius (el b); in 1981, he recorded the memorable 80/81 with a group that included Michael Brecker, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Jack DeJohnette; three Grammy winning albums with the PMG followed: Offramp (1982), Travels (1983) and First Circle (1984).
By now Metheny and Mays were drawing on compositional influences as diverse as Minimalists Philip Glass and Steve Reich, Latin music, and on 1979’s solo guitar album New Chautauqua (ECM), Americana and Country Music; used a sophisticated range of impressionistic electronic tone colours on 1981’s As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (ECM) in duo with Lyle Mays plus percussionist Nana Vasconcelos; Differences with ECM saw Metheny sign with the Geffen label and with a revamped PMG produced 1987’s Still Life (Talking) and Letter from Home (1989), both Grammy winners.
A series of impressive Grammy winning albums with the PMG followed including the memorable Imaginary Day from 1997 that culminated in what seems to be the final PMG album The Way Up from 2005, an extended long form composition of 68 minutes which seemed to be the culmination of Metheny and Mays compositional ambitions together. During their lifetime, The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented seven consecutive Grammies for seven consecutive albums. Away from the PMG, Metheny was involved in a diverse series of projects, including trio in 1989 with Dave Holland (b), Roy Haynes (d) Question and Answer; 1999 trio with Larry Grenadier (b), Bill Stewart (d) 99—00 and Live; collaborations with David Bowie on the film soundtrack for The Falcon and the Snowman, Ornette Coleman, Derek Bailey, Jim Hall, Marc Johnson, Bruce Hornsby, Anna Maria Jopek and his brother Mike Metheny among others.
In 2012 he formed the Unity Band, with Chris Potter (ts); Ben Williams (b) and Antonio Sanchez (d); in 2016 he formed a new band with Gwilym Simcock (p), Linda Oh (b) and Sanchez (d) which has continued to tour extensively into 2018. In all, Metheny has won 20 Grammy awards in 12 different categories and since the age of 18 has continued to be active as a music educator.
