Lyle Mays
Background information
Born	November 27, 1953 (age 53) in Wausaukee Wisconsin, USA
Genre(s)	Jazz, Contemporary classical music
Occupation(s)	Musician Composer
Instrument(s)	Piano Organ Synthesizers
Years active	1975 –
Associated acts	Pat Metheny Group
Website	LyleMays.com

Lyle Mays (born November 27, 1953) is a jazz pianist. He is best known for his work with Pat Metheny as a member of the Pat Metheny Group. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Wausaukee is the name of a town and a village in Marinette County, Wisconsin: Wausaukee (town) Wausaukee (village) Category: ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  Ranked 23rd  - Total 65,498 sq mi (169,790 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 310 miles (500 km)  - % water 17  - Latitude 42°30N to 47°3N  - Longitude 86°49W to 92°54W Population  Ranked... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans at around the start of the 20th century. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A musician is a person who plays or composes music. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... The classic Hammond electronic organ, invented in the 1930s and popular for decades thereafter. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz fusion band founded in 1977. ... November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... This is an alphabetical list of Jazz pianists. ... Patrick Bruce Metheny (born August 12, 1954 in Lees Summit, Missouri) is an American jazz guitarist. ... The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz fusion band founded in 1977. ...

Biography

Of his four dominant interests - in all of them being a child prodigy — chess, mathematics, architecture (building with LEGO bricks as a child) and music, the latter developed to be his area of focus. Being the son of musically interested parents - his mother played the piano in church, his father played guitar by ear - he soon was allowed to explore the piano with the help of a teacher, Rose Baron, who was open to letting the child, who had perfect pitch, improvise after the formal lesson. He soon was playing organ for the church. A child prodigy is someone who is a master of one or more skills or arts at an early age. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive sport for two players. ... Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Lego Group logo. ... Allegory of Music on the Opéra Garnier Music is an art form that involves organized sounds and silence. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... Absolute pitch (AP), widely referred to as perfect pitch, refers to the ability to identify a note by name without the benefit of a reference note, or to be able to produce a note (as in singing) that is the correct pitch without reference. ...

At the suggestion of Dan Wheelock, his eighth grade band instructor, he attended summer camps where he met Rich Matteson who introduced him to important jazz artists. Bill Evans' album Live in Montreux was among his revelations. He attended University of North Texas for its inspiring environment of geeks avid to jam whenever and wherever possible. He composed and arranged for the One o'clock Lab Band and was the composer and arranger of their highly regarded Lab '75 album. William John Evans, (better known as Bill Evans) (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was one of the most famous jazz pianists of the 20th century; he remains one of the major influences on post-1950s jazz piano. ... The University of North Texas (informally UNT or North Texas) is a public university located in Denton, Texas. ...

After leaving UNT, Mays toured with Woody Herman's group for about eight months. Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987), better known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. ...

In 1974 he met Pat Metheny with whom he founded the still-performing Pat Metheny Group, one of the most successful jazz bands ever. During that period he lived in New York City, so poor that he was "almost starving", but he continued to pursue his concept of music and artistry. Later, he moved back to rural Wisconsin where, among other activities, he coached an adolescent soccer team. He also flirted with the idea of moving to Brazil but finally - at the end of the 1990s - moved to Los Angeles which is "the opposite of so many cities". 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Patrick Bruce Metheny (born August 12, 1954 in Lees Summit, Missouri) is an American jazz guitarist. ... The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz fusion band founded in 1977. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  Ranked 23rd  - Total 65,498 sq mi (169,790 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 310 miles (500 km)  - % water 17  - Latitude 42°30N to 47°3N  - Longitude 86°49W to 92°54W Population  Ranked... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

Character of his work

Within the context of the Pat Metheny Group, he cooperates with Metheny in composition and provides arrangements, orchestration and - most remarkably - the complex harmonic and metric backbone of the group's musical signature.

His albums as a leader reflect a large variety of musical interests: Lyle Mays and Street Dreams expand the ideas of the Pat Metheny Group, while Fictionary is a straight-ahead jazz trio session featuring Marc Johnson on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Solo: Improvisations for Expanded Piano is a curious album of spontaneous piano improvisations, laboriously edited. Marc Johnson, born in Omaha, Nebraska on 21 October 1953, is an American jazz bassist, composer and bandleader. ... Jack DeJohnette (b. ...

He has also composed and recorded music for children's records, such as Tale of Peter Rabbit, with text read by Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep on June 22, 1949) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. ...

Following his talents and interests, Mays aspires to incorporate divergent elements: composition and improvisation, improvisation and orchestration, acoustic and electronic, old and new. He has spent a lot of time and energy in making use of synthesisers despite their "inherent unmusicality". Furthermore he composed classical music like "Twelve Days In The Shadow Of A Miracle", a piece for harp, flute, viola and synthesizer (recorded 1996 by the Debussy Trio). The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ... A synthesizer (or synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument designed to produce electronically generated sound, using techniques such as additive, subtractive, FM, physical modelling synthesis, phase distortion, or Scanned synthesis. ...

As a pianist he manifests strong technique, flowing lyricism, and a supple touch; his solos are often described as developing from almost silence to cascades of sound, often strongly organized around a recurring motif or motifs, or a basic stylistic principle. This sort of playing reflects his compositional way of counterpuntal complexity, his concept of soloing as "real-time composition".

As a composer Mays is interested in the complex form, expanding the motifs and most often building suspense by gradation and ascension. Modulations and metric shifts are often incorporated.

Noting that his oeuvre as a leader is small, some critics evince frustration with this considerable talent (as manifested, for example, on Fictionary) lying fallow. Apparently Mays maintains interest in other intellectual occupations: architecture (he designed his sister's house), mathematics and logic (Hofstadter's book Gödel, Escher, Bach) and computer programming in C++. Douglas Richard Hofstadter (born February 15, 1945) is an American academic. ... GEB cover Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid (commonly GEB) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Douglas Hofstadter, published in 1979 by Basic Books. ... C++ (pronounced see plus plus, IPA: ) is a general-purpose, high-level programming language with low-level facilities. ...

Discography (selected)

Lyle Mays

• Solo, Warner Bros. 2000
• The Debussy Trio - In the Shadow of a Miracle, Sierra Classical, 1996
• Fictionary, Geffen 1993
• Street Dreams, Geffen, 1988
• Lyle Mays, Geffen, 1986

Pat Metheny Group

• The Way Up, 2005, Nonesuch
• Speaking of Now, 2002, WB
• Imaginary Day, 1997, WB
• Quartet, 1996, Geffen
• We Live Here, 1995, Geffen
• The Road to you, 1993, Geffen
• Letter From Home, 1989, Geffen
• Still Life (Talking), 1987, Geffen
• First Circle, 1984, ECM
• Travels, 1983, ECM
• Offramp, 1982, ECM
• As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, 1981, ECM
• American Garage, 1980, ECM
• Pat Metheny Group, 1978, ECM
• Watercolors, 1977, ECM

The Way Up is the Grammy award winning thirteenth album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2005. ... Speaking of Now is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 2002 by Warner Bros. ... Imaginary Day is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1997 by Warner Bros. ... We Live Here is an album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1995 by Geffen Records. ... First Circle is a Grammy Award winning album by the Pat Metheny Group released in 1984. ... ... Offramp is the third album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1982. ... As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls is a collaborative album by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays, released in 1981. ... American Garage is the second album by the Pat Metheny Group, released in 1980. ... The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz fusion band founded in 1977. ...

Additional Reading

• Music and Intellect - a portrait of Lyle Mays
• interview 1
• interview 2
• interview 3
• Lyle Mays: The compositional Process
• The Expanding Piano
• Song For Bilbao - a study of the diachronic development of Mays' soloing
• The Low Down On The Way Up - The making of The Way Up
• Up and Away - an interview with Lyle Mays about "The Way UP", the Pat Metheny Group record of 2005

External links

• The most comprehensive discography of Lyle Mays
• List of any recorded compositions of Lyle Mays and Pat Metheny
• A live radio performance recorded December 4, 1999, featuring Lyle Mays with Bob Sheppard, Dave Carpenter, and Peter Erskine