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Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating partner, pianist, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve Rodby from 1981 to 2010, and drummer Paul Wertico from 1983 to 2001, after which Antonio Sanchez became the drummer from 2002 to 2010. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar was also a long-time member, performing with the group from 1984 to 1993. In addition to a core quartet, the group was often joined by a variety of other multi-instrumentalists expanding the size to between five and eight musicians.
Founder Pat Metheny first emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-1970s with a pair of solo albums. First was Bright Size Life, released in 1976, a trio album with bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. The next album, released in 1977, was Watercolors, featuring Eberhard Weber on bass, pianist Lyle Mays, and drummer Danny Gottlieb.
In 1977, bassist Mark Egan joined Metheny, Mays, and Gottlieb to form the Pat Metheny Group. ECM released the album Pat Metheny Group in 1978 with songs co-written by Metheny and Mays. Pat Metheny Group showcased Mays' use of the Oberheim synthesizer, which became an integral part of the group's sound. In 1979, the group's second album, American Garage, reached No. 1 on the jazz chart in Billboard magazine.
The Pat Metheny Group released the album Offramp in 1982. Offramp marked the first recorded appearance of bassist Steve Rodby in the group (replacing Mark Egan), and also featured Brazilian guest artist Naná Vasconcelos. Vasconcelos had appeared on the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls in 1981, and his performance on percussion 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, the first win of many for the group.
In 1983, a live album titled Travels was released. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1984, which also brought the release of First Circle, a popular album that featured compositions with mixed or odd meters, such as the 11/8 title track. With this album, the group featured a new drummer, Paul Wertico (replacing Danny Gottlieb). Wertico and Rodby had both played with the Simon & Bard Group. A soundtrack album The Falcon and the Snowman followed in 1985. It featured the song "This Is Not America", a writing and performing collaboration with David Bowie which reached No. 14 in the UK Top 40 and No. 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1985.
The South American influence would continue and intensify on First Circle with the addition of Argentine multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar. 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.
The 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, most notably Brazilian percussionist Armando Marçal. The Group's first release on Geffen Records was Still Life (Talking) (1987). The album's first track, "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 showing Mays' compositional influence, yielding to a jubilant major melody more typical of Metheny. A Metheny solo builds into an intricate, composed marimba section followed by a brief, but metrically and harmonically complex interlude, both characteristic of Mays, before finally leading to a reprise of the minimalistic Metheny theme. Another popular track was "Last Train Home", a rhythmically relentless Metheny piece that builds to a single point of release where wordless vocals enter.
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.
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Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz fusion band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating partner, pianist, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve Rodby from 1981 to 2010, and drummer Paul Wertico from 1983 to 2001, after which Antonio Sanchez became the drummer from 2002 to 2010. Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar was also a long-time member, performing with the group from 1984 to 1993. In addition to a core quartet, the group was often joined by a variety of other multi-instrumentalists expanding the size to between five and eight musicians.
Founder Pat Metheny first emerged on the jazz scene in the mid-1970s with a pair of solo albums. First was Bright Size Life, released in 1976, a trio album with bass guitarist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. The next album, released in 1977, was Watercolors, featuring Eberhard Weber on bass, pianist Lyle Mays, and drummer Danny Gottlieb.
In 1977, bassist Mark Egan joined Metheny, Mays, and Gottlieb to form the Pat Metheny Group. ECM released the album Pat Metheny Group in 1978 with songs co-written by Metheny and Mays. Pat Metheny Group showcased Mays' use of the Oberheim synthesizer, which became an integral part of the group's sound. In 1979, the group's second album, American Garage, reached No. 1 on the jazz chart in Billboard magazine.
The Pat Metheny Group released the album Offramp in 1982. Offramp marked the first recorded appearance of bassist Steve Rodby in the group (replacing Mark Egan), and also featured Brazilian guest artist Naná Vasconcelos. Vasconcelos had appeared on the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls in 1981, and his performance on percussion 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, the first win of many for the group.
In 1983, a live album titled Travels was released. It won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1984, which also brought the release of First Circle, a popular album that featured compositions with mixed or odd meters, such as the 11/8 title track. With this album, the group featured a new drummer, Paul Wertico (replacing Danny Gottlieb). Wertico and Rodby had both played with the Simon & Bard Group. A soundtrack album The Falcon and the Snowman followed in 1985. It featured the song "This Is Not America", a writing and performing collaboration with David Bowie which reached No. 14 in the UK Top 40 and No. 32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1985.
The South American influence would continue and intensify on First Circle with the addition of Argentine multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar. 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.
The 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, most notably Brazilian percussionist Armando Marçal. The Group's first release on Geffen Records was Still Life (Talking) (1987). The album's first track, "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 showing Mays' compositional influence, yielding to a jubilant major melody more typical of Metheny. A Metheny solo builds into an intricate, composed marimba section followed by a brief, but metrically and harmonically complex interlude, both characteristic of Mays, before finally leading to a reprise of the minimalistic Metheny theme. Another popular track was "Last Train Home", a rhythmically relentless Metheny piece that builds to a single point of release where wordless vocals enter.
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.