Pat Metheny

Pat Metheny was born in Kansas City on August 12, 1954 into a musical family. Starting on trumpet at the age of 8, Metheny switched to guitar at age 12. By the age of 15, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in Kansas City, receiving valuable on-the-bandstand experience at an unusually young age. Metheny first burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year stint with vibraphone great Gary Burton, the young Missouri native already displayed his soon-to-become trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility - a way of playing and improvising that was modern in conception but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues. With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life (1975), he reinvented the traditional "jazz guitar" sound for a new generation of players. Throughout his career, Pat Metheny has continued to re-define the genre by utilizing new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument. METHENY'S versatility is almost nearly without peer on any instrument. Over the years, he has performed with artists as diverse as Steve Reich to Ornette Coleman to Herbie Hancock to Jim Hall to Milton Nascimento to David Bowie. Metheny's body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical.

As well as being an accomplished musician, Metheny has also participated in the academic arena as a music educator. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. At 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where he also received an honorary doctorate more than twenty years later (1996). He has also taught music workshops all over the world, from the Dutch Royal Conservatory to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz to clinics in Asia and South America. He has also been a true musical pioneer in the realm of electronic music, and was one of the very first jazz musicians to treat the synthesizer as a serious musical instrument. Years before the invention of MIDI technology, Metheny was using the Synclavier as a composing tool. He has also been instrumental in the development of several new kinds of guitars such as the soprano acoustic guitar, the 42-string Pikasso guitar, Ibanez's PM-100 jazz guitar, and a variety of other custom instruments. He took the whole instrument development process into a different level with his mechanical, solenoid driven Orchestrion.

Pat Metheny at Sumida Triphony Hall

by Tomoyuki Kubo
July 31, 2025

Pat Metheny Sumida Triphony Hall Tokyo, Japan May 27 & 28, 2025 The announcement of Pat Metheny's 2025 Japan Solo Tour arrived unexpectedly, thrilling fans. The Dream Box Tour solo concerts, held across Japan from January to February 2024, marked a striking departure from Metheny's previous performances, leaving an indelible impression. Given the tour's profound impact and its extensive run from Sapporo to Osaka, many speculated that Metheny might not return ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny At The Sydney Opera House

by Barry O'Sullivan
June 10, 2025

Pat Metheny Sydney Opera House Vivid LIVESydney, Australia June 1, 2025 Pat Metheny once again took the stage at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for Vivid LIVE. However, unlike his previous performance in Sydney in 2020 at the State Theatre this show was to be a one-man band. This solo appearance filtered out some of the die-hard fans who would have come for the pyrotechnics of a Metheny Group performance and ...

Year in Review

Most Read Album Reviews: 2024

by Michael Ricci
January 1, 2025

All About Jazz tracks how often an album review is read, and the reviews listed below represent our most popular in 2024. The late Chris May placed five reviews in the top ten. MoonDial Pat Metheny Reviewed by Chris May July 12, 2024 Eagle's Point Chris Potter Reviewed by Chris May March 3, 2024 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow Charles Lloyd Reviewed by Mike ...

Live Review

Pat Metheny al Roma Jazz Festival

by Mario Calvitti
November 15, 2024

Pat Metheny Auditorium Sala S. Cecilia Roma Jazz Festival Roma 4 novembre 2024 Il lungo tour (il primo in completa solitudine) di Pat Metheny, iniziato gi�� lo scorso anno negli Stati Uniti in seguito alla pubblicazione del suo album di sola chitarra Dream Box (da cui il nome del tour), approda finalmente in Europa, con sei concerti in altrettante citt�� Italiane, per accontentare anche i suoi fans d'oltreoceano. Quella di Roma �� stata l'ultima ...

Multiple Reviews

Brilliant ECM Luminessence Series Shines New Light On Classic Vinyl

by Joshua Weiner
September 5, 2024

Blue Note. Verve. Impulse! ESP-Disk. Just saying the name of such storied jazz record labels immediately conjures up each one's distinct aesthetic, from the music to the cover art. By the close of the 1960s, jazz was undergoing a period of intense change, with an unprecedented mixing and matching of styles and influences--both musical and political--that shuffled the deck and led labels to chase new markets. Blue Note and Impulse! got funky, Verve signed underground rock artists, ESP-Disk treaded water, ...

Album Review

Pat Metheny: MoonDial

Read "MoonDial" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
August 5, 2024

MoonDial, l'album appena pubblicato alla vigilia del settantesimo compleanno di Pat Metheny, �� un altro lavoro realizzato in solitudine, come il precedente Dream Box uscito un anno fa, ma a differenza di quello �� stato registrato senza fare ricorso a sovraincisioni, e utilizzando solamente una chitarra baritono. Questo fatto lo collega direttamente ai precedenti lavori solistici One Quiet Night del 2003 e What's It All About del 2011, per i quali aveva utilizzato uno strumento costruito appositamente per lui dalla ...

Album Review

Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life

Read "Bright Size Life" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
July 27, 2024

Reissued as part of ECM's 180gm-vinyl audiophile Luminessence series, Bright Size Life was originally released in 1976 and features Pat Metheny leading his then regular touring trio completed by bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses. It is a lively and lovely album and rediscovering it should be a delightful experience for anyone who has perhaps left it on the shelf for a few years, particularly delightful given the latest edition's sonic splendor. Metheny himself has long ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Pat Metheny

All About Jazz Celebrates the NEA Jazz Masters

Source: All About Jazz
December 17, 2018

All About Jazz, home to largest database of jazz musicians on the internet, now recognizes the NEA Jazz Masters on a dedicated page as well as on the recipient's musician page (example). 145 musicians have been honored since 1982 and they are all identified and accessible from the All About Jazz musician section by clicking “NEA Jazz Masters" in the “View by" dropdown box. The 2018 NEA Jazz Masters are: Joanne Brackeen: Pianist, Composer, Educator Pat Metheny: Guitarist, Composer, Educator ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Pat Metheny

Source: Michael Ricci
August 12, 2018

All About Jazz is celebrating Pat Metheny's birthday today!

Place our Musician ...
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Festival

Umbria Jazz 2018 In Perugia From July 13-22: Celebrating 45 Years Of Jazz In Italy And Beyond

Source: All About Jazz
May 28, 2018

Not many festivals have had the kind of impact that Umbria Jazz has had on the musical history of a country and on its social history as well. When it started out in 1973, Umbria Jazz was simply an attempt to combine the passion of a group of jazz lovers with the needs of a region that wanted to promote its riches. No one could have imagined the importance that the festival would later acquire on the music scene both ...
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Birthday