Pat Metheny

Biography

Patrick Bruce Metheny ( məth-EE-nee; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. He has three gold albums and 20 Grammy Awards, and is the only person to have won Grammys in 10 categories.

Early years and education

Metheny was born in Lee's Summit, Missouri. His father Dave played trumpet, his mother Lois sang, and his maternal grandfather Delmar was a professional trumpeter. Metheny's first instrument was the trumpet, which he was taught by his brother, Mike. Pat's brother, father, and grandfather played trios together at home. His parents were fans of Glenn Miller and swing music. They took Pat to concerts to hear Clark Terry and Doc Severinsen, but they had little respect for guitar. Pat's interest in guitar increased around 1964 when he saw the Beatles perform on TV. For his 12th birthday, his parents allowed him to buy a guitar, which was a Gibson ES-140 3/4.
Pat Metheny's life changed after hearing the album Four & More by Miles Davis. Soon after, he was captivated by Wes Montgomery's album Smokin' at the Half Note which was released in 1965. He cites the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Montgomery as having the biggest impact on his music.
When he was 15, Metheny won a scholarship from Down Beat magazine to a one-week jazz camp where he was mentored by guitarist Attila Zoller, who then invited him to New York City to meet guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter.
While playing at a club in Kansas City, Metheny was approached by Bill Lee, a dean at the University of Miami, and offered a scholarship. After less than a week at college, Metheny realized that playing guitar all day during his teens had left him unprepared for classes. He admitted this to Lee, who offered him a job to teach as a professor, as the school had recently introduced electric guitar as a course of study.
He moved to Boston in the early 1970s to teach at the Berklee College of Music under the supervision of jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton and established a reputation as a prodigy.

Early recordings

In 1974, Metheny joined Burton's band alongside fellow guitarist Mick Goodrick, Steve Swallow and Eberhard Weber on bass, and percussionist Bob Moses. While Goodrick played 6-string electric guitar, Metheny introduced the electric 12-string guitar to the sound palette. He immediately appeared on Burton's studio recordings, from the 1974 Ring, Dreams So Real (1976), and Passengers in 1977. With Moses he had also a working trio that included their friend Jaco Pastorius on bass guitar.
In June 1974, he and Pastorius were in New York and took part in a session with pianist Paul Bley and Bruce Ditmas on drums, unaware that they were in an actual studio and were being recorded. An album with the material was released two years later on Bley's Improvising Artists label, unofficially titled Jaco.
For his debut album, Bright Size Life×Bright Size Life1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Bright Size Life4:46A2Sirabhorn5:30A3Unity Village3:40A4Missouri Uncompromised4:22B1Midwestern Nights Dream6:01B2Unquity Road3:35B3Omaha Celebration4:19B4Round Trip / Broadway Blues4:58 (1976), in December 1975 the trio flew to Europe and recorded the album during two days in Ludwigsburg (Germany) in one of the preferred studios of producer Manfred Eicher. Metheny and Moses had already been there in July for Gary Burton's Ring, also released through Eicher's label ECM. Initially they rehearsed the material for the recording with Dave Holland on bass, because Eicher refused to have an electric bass on the recording; but in the end he accepted Pastorius to play. According to Metheny, it was Burton, who was present in the studio for the trio recording and acted informally as their actual producer (without being credited).
His next album, Watercolors×WatercolorsFebruary 1977 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Watercolors6:28A2Icefire6:07A3Oasis4:02A4Lakes4:43B1River Quay4:56B2Suite: I. Florida Greeting Song2:30B3Suite: Il. Legend of the Fountain2:28B4Sea Song10:16 (ECM, 1977), was recorded with Eberhard Weber on bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums, and significantly marked Metheny's first outing with pianist Lyle Mays, who would become his key collaborator in forming the Pat Metheny Group later that year. With Mark Egan on bass, the lineup was set for the group's self-titled debut album, Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978).

Pat Metheny Group

When Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978) was released, the group was a quartet comprising Metheny, Danny Gottlieb on drums, Mark Egan on bass, and Lyle Mays on piano, autoharp, and synthesizer. All but Egan had played on Metheny's album Watercolors×WatercolorsFebruary 1977 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Watercolors6:28A2Icefire6:07A3Oasis4:02A4Lakes4:43B1River Quay4:56B2Suite: I. Florida Greeting Song2:30B3Suite: Il. Legend of the Fountain2:28B4Sea Song10:16 (ECM, 1977), recorded the year before.
The second group album, American Garage (ECM, 1979), reached number 1 on the Billboard jazz chart and crossed over onto the pop charts. From 1982 to 1985, the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp (ECM, 1982), a live album, Travels (ECM, 1983), First Circle (ECM, 1984), and The Falcon and the Snowman a soundtrack album for the movie of the same name for which they collaborated on the single "This Is Not America" with David Bowie. The song reached number 14 in the British Top 40 in 1985 and number 32 in the U.S.
Offramp marked the first appearance of bassist Steve Rodby (replacing Egan) and a Brazilian guest artist, Nana Vasconcelos, on percussion and wordless vocals. On First Circle, Argentinian singer and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar joined the group; as drummer, Paul Wertico replaced Gottlieb.
First Circle was Metheny's last album with ECM; he had been a key artist for the European record label but left following disagreements with the label's founder, Manfred Eicher.
Still Life (Talking) (Geffen, 1987) featured new group members: trumpeter Mark Ledford, vocalist David Blamires, and percussionist Armando Marçal. Aznar returned for vocals and guitar on Letter from Home (Geffen, 1989).
With Metheny working on multiple projects, it was four years before the release of the next group record, a live album titled The Road to You (Geffen, 1993). This release featured live versions of tracks from the two Geffen studio albums as well as previously unreleased tunes.
With Speaking of Now (Warner Bros., 2002), new group members were added: drummer Antonio Sánchez from Mexico City, Vietnamese-American trumpeter Cuong Vu, and bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist Richard Bona from Cameroon.
On The Way Up (Nonesuch, 2005), harmonica player Grégoire Maret from Switzerland was introduced as a new group member, while Bona contributed as a guest musician. The album consists of a single 68-minute-long piece—split into four sections—based on a three-note motif: the opening B, A♯, F♯, and its later variation F♯, A, B.

Solo releases

Metheny has recorded albums under his solo artist billing regularly throughout his career. His solo acoustic guitar albums include New Chautauqua×New ChautauquaApril 1979 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1New Chautauqua5:192Country Poem2:353Long-Ago Child / Fallen Star10:204Hermitage5:405Sueño con México5:596Daybreak8:39 (ECM, 1979), One Quiet Night×One Quiet Night13 May 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks1One Quiet Night5:022Song for the Boys4:323Don't Know Why3:094Another Chance6:545And Time Goes On3:206My Song4:227Peace Memory6:138Ferry Cross the Mersey3:589Over on 4th Street3:4110I Will Find the Way7:5211North to South, East to West12:0412Last Train Home4:3913In All We See6:40 (Warner Bros., 2003), and What's It All About (Nonesuch, 2011).
Building on the work of his experimental quartets (see § Side projects), Metheny further explored fringes of the avant-garde on Zero Tolerance for Silence (Geffen, 1994), a solo electric guitar outing.
For the album Orchestrion×Orchestrion25 January 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Orchestrion15:482Entry Point10:283Expansion8:354Soul Search9:195Spirit of the Air7:45 (Nonesuch, 2010) Metheny hand-crafted an array of elaborate, custom mechanical instruments which allowed him to compose and perform as a one-person orchestra. By contrast, his album Secret Story×Secret Story14 July 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Above the Treetops2:452Facing West6:063Cathedral in a Suitcase4:524Finding and Believing10:005The Longest Summer6:346Sunlight3:537Rain River7:098Always and Forever5:279See the World4:4810As a Flower Blossoms (I Am Running to You)1:5411Antonia6:1112The Truth Will Always Be9:1613Tell Her You Saw Me5:1114Not to Be Forgotten (Our Final Hour)2:21 (Geffen, 1992) uses lush orchestral arrangements usually found in movie soundtracks, such as The Falcon and the Snowman (EMI, 1985) (see above) and his own A Map of the World (Warner Bros., 1999) film soundtrack.
Recent solo-billed recordings include From This Place (Nonesuch, 2020), recorded with a variety of guest artists, and the all-guitar collaboration Road to the Sun (Modern Recordings, 2021).

Unity Band

In 2012, Metheny formed the Unity Band with Antonio Sánchez on drums, Ben Williams on bass and Chris Potter on saxophone. This quartet released the album Unity Band×Unity Band7 June 2012 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 9 tracks1New Year7:372Roofdogs5:333Come and See8:294This Belongs to You5:215Leaving Town6:246Interval Waltz6:267Signals (Orchestrion Sketch)11:278Then and Now5:579Breakdealer8:34 (Nonesuch, 2012) and toured Europe and the U.S. during the latter half of the year. In 2013, as an extension of the Unity Band project, Metheny announced the formation of the Pat Metheny Unity Group, with the addition of the Italian multi-instrumentalist Giulio Carmassi.

Side projects

Outside the Group, Metheny has shown different sides of his musical personality. An early duo billing with Lyle Mays, As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (ECM, 1981), includes Brazilian percussionist and vocalist Naná Vasconcelos for an elegant set noted for its atmospheric, long-form title track. In 1983, Metheny and Mays wrote music for the Steppenwolf Theater Company's production of Lyle Kessler's play Orphans. It has remained special optional music for productions of the play around the world since.
Metheny ventured into experimental jazz with the quartet releases 80/81 (ECM, 1980), Song X (Geffen, 1986) with Ornette Coleman, and The Sign of 4 headed by Derek Bailey (Knitting Factory Works, 1997).
In 1997, Metheny recorded with bassist Marc Johnson on Johnson's release The Sound of Summer Running (Verve, 1998). The next year, he recorded a guitar duet with Jim Hall (Telarc, 1999), whose work has strongly influenced Metheny's. He collaborated with Polish jazz and folk singer Anna Maria Jopek on Upojenie (Warner Poland, 2002) and Bruce Hornsby on Hot House (RCA, 2005). He has also played on albums by his older brother, Mike Metheny, a jazz trumpeter, among them Day In – Night Out (1986) and Close Enough for Love (2001).

Influences

As a young guitarist, Metheny tried to sound like Wes Montgomery, but when he was 14 or 15, he decided it was disrespectful to imitate him. In the liner notes on the 2-disc Montgomery compilation Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sides, Metheny is quoted as saying, "Smokin' at the Half Note is the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play."
Ornette Coleman's 1968 album New York Is Now! inspired Metheny to find his own direction. He has recorded Coleman's compositions on a number of albums, starting with a medley of "Round Trip" and "Broadway Blues" on his debut album, Bright Size Life×Bright Size Life1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 8 tracksA1Bright Size Life4:46A2Sirabhorn5:30A3Unity Village3:40A4Missouri Uncompromised4:22B1Midwestern Nights Dream6:01B2Unquity Road3:35B3Omaha Celebration4:19B4Round Trip / Broadway Blues4:58 (1976). He worked extensively with Coleman's collaborators, such as Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, and Billy Higgins, and he recorded the album Song X (1986) with Coleman and toured with him.
Metheny made three albums on ECM with Brazilian vocalist and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. He lived in Brazil from the late 1980s to the early 1990s and performed with several local musicians, such as Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta. He played with Antônio Carlos Jobim as a tribute, in a live performance in Carnegie Hall Salutes The Jazz Masters: Verve 50th Anniversary.
He is also a fan of several pop music artists, especially singer/songwriters including James Taylor (after whom he named the song "James" on Offramp); Bruce Hornsby, Cheap Trick, and Joni Mitchell, with whom he performed on her Shadows and Light (Asylum/Elektra, 1980) live tour. Metheny is also fond of Buckethead's music. He also worked with, sponsored or helped to make recordings of singer/songwriters from all over the world, such as Pedro Aznar (Argentina), Akiko Yano (Japan), David Bowie (UK), Silje Nergaard (Norway), Noa (Israel), and Anna Maria Jopek (Poland).
Three of Metheny's albums, Secret Story×Secret Story14 July 1992 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Above the Treetops2:452Facing West6:063Cathedral in a Suitcase4:524Finding and Believing10:005The Longest Summer6:346Sunlight3:537Rain River7:098Always and Forever5:279See the World4:4810As a Flower Blossoms (I Am Running to You)1:5411Antonia6:1112The Truth Will Always Be9:1613Tell Her You Saw Me5:1114Not to Be Forgotten (Our Final Hour)2:21 (1992), The Way Up (2005) and Orchestrion×Orchestrion25 January 2010 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 5 tracks1Orchestrion15:482Entry Point10:283Expansion8:354Soul Search9:195Spirit of the Air7:45 (2010), show the influence of American minimalist composer Steve Reich, with rhythmic figures structured around a recurring pulse. Decades earlier, Metheny had appeared on Reich's album Different Trains (Nonesuch, 1987) performing Reich's composition, Electric Counterpoint.

Hollow-body electric guitars

At the age of 12, Metheny bought a natural finish Gibson ES-175 that he played throughout his early career, until it was retired in 1995. After his first tour of Japan in 1978, he began an association with Ibanez guitars, who have since produced a range of PM signature models.

Six-string and twelve-string electric

Metheny was an early proponent of the twelve-string guitar in jazz. During his 1975 tour with the Gary Burton "Quartet" (actually a quintet), he primarily played electric twelve-string guitar against the six-string work of resident guitarist Mick Goodrick.
Prior to Metheny, Pat Martino had used the electric twelve-string guitar on a studio album, Desperado, and John McLaughlin had used a double-neck electric guitar with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Ralph Towner was perhaps the first to use acoustic twelve-string guitar extensively in jazz.

Guitar synthesizer

Metheny was one of the first jazz guitarists to use the Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer. He commented, "you have to stop thinking about it as a guitar, because it no longer is a guitar." He approaches it as if he were a horn player, and he prefers the "high trumpet" sound of the instrument. In addition to the Roland, he uses a Synclavier controller.

Pikasso

Metheny plays a custom-made 42-string Pikasso I created by Canadian luthier Linda Manzer. He plays it on "Into the Dream" and on the albums Quartet (1996), Imaginary Day (1997), Jim Hall & Pat Metheny×Jim Hall & Pat Metheny27 April 1999 · Album · LiveSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks1Lookin' Up4:342All the Things You Are6:593The Birds and the Bees5:094Improvisation No. 11:055Falling Grace4:416Ballad Z4:357Summertime5:368Farmer's Trust5:339Cold Spring6:2910Improvisation No. 21:1111Into the Dream3:0612Don't Forget4:4613Improvisation No. 33:2514Waiting to Dance4:3815Improvisation No. 42:3716Improvisation No. 52:0917All Across the City7:34 (1999), Trio → Live (Warner Bros., 2000), and the Speaking of Now Live and Imaginary Day Live DVDs. Metheny has used the guitar in his guest appearances on other artists' albums. He used the Pikasso on Metheny/Mehldau Quartet (Nonesuch, 2007), his second collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau and his trio sidemen Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard; the Pikasso is featured on Metheny's composition "The Sound of Water". Manzer has made many acoustic guitars for Metheny, including a mini guitar, an acoustic sitar guitar, and the baritone guitar, which Metheny used for the recording of One Quiet Night (2003).

Personal life

Metheny is the younger brother of jazz flugelhornist Mike Metheny. He lives in New York City with his wife, Latifa (née Azhar), and three children. Latifa has been credited for album photography.
Metheny was once in a relationship with Sônia Braga.
Due to an unscheduled medical procedure he had to interrupt his concerts in China in May 2025.

Grammy Awards

Pat Metheny is the only person to have won Grammy Awards in ten different categories.

Additional awards

Partial list of other (non-Grammy) awards and honors for Pat Metheny:

DownBeat Hall of Fame, 2013
Miles Davis Award, Montreal International Jazz Festival, 1995
Orville H. Gibson Award, 1996
Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, 1996
Guitarist of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll, 1983, 1986–1991, 2007–2016
Best Jazz Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine, 1982, 1983, 1986
Best Jazz Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine Readers' Poll, 1984, 1985, 2009
Best Acoustic Guitarist, Acoustic Guitar magazine Readers' Poll, 2009
Echo Award for Best Guitar Instrumentalist – International for TAP: John Zorn's Book of Angels Vol. 20, 2014
Echo Award, International Ensemble of the Year, Kin, 2015
Missouri Music Hall of Fame, 2016
Lifetime Achievement Award, JazzFM, 2018
Elected into Royal Swedish Academy of Music, 2018
2018 NEA Jazz Masters, 2017
Honorary Doctorate of Music from McGill University, 2019

Collaborators

The following is a partial list of Metheny's notable collaborators: