PAT METHENY FULL CIRCLE

PAT METHENY FULL CIRCLE | ONE (S4 | E176)

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The First of a Series on Pat Metheny

It was The First Circle. I found that record at Schoolkids Records in Ann Arbor, MI when I was in college. Vinyl, of course… still have it.

Then senior year – it must have been Still Life (Talking) that just blew me away. That one included Pat’s biggest hit The Last Train Home. And so I was pretty familiar with The Pat Metheny Group and its origins. Lyle Mays (keyboardist) became a fav. Keith Laako, a fraternity brother, loved Lyle Mays and so I got into him too. So sad that he passed away recently! Lyle… not Keith!!!

So it was such a pleasure, last Sunday evening, to spend an evening listening to Pat Metheny, live, at the 92Y in NYC.

PAT METHENY FULL CIRCLE

For me… then Chicago. Then New York. And life. I sort of lost touch with Pat Metheny’s career.

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. 


PAT METHENY FULL CIRCLE | ONE

SongArtistAlbumYear
Minuano (Six Eight)Pat Metheny GroupStill Life (Talking)1987
The First CirclePat Metheny GroupFirst Circle1984
San LorenzoPat Metheny GroupPat Metheny Group1978
Have You HeardPat Metheny GroupLetter From Home1989
It’s For YouPath Metheny / Lyle MaysAs Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls1981
September FifteenthPath Metheny / Lyle MaysAs Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls1981
This is Not AmericaPath Metheny/David BowieBest of Bowie/The Falcon and the Snowman Movie Soundtrack2002 (remaster)/1985
In Her FamilyPat MethenyStill Life (Talking)1987

Pat-Metheny-FULL CIRCLE

You lucky radio stations – for finding LTNF you get this fabulous show on your air! Well done!

Pat-Metheny-FULL CIRCLE

Thank you thank you stations we love!

WPVM 103.7FM WERB 107.5 FM KPOV 88.9 FM WHPW 93.7 FM
KYGT 102.7 WBDY 99.5 FM KFOI 90.9 FM KUGS 89.3

 

 

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PJ

DJ and radio personality PJ Ewing is the host of Lester the Nightfly.

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Mark

    According to The Pat Metheny Song Book (Hal Lenard), This Is Not America is attributed to Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays and David Bowie. Thank you for an excellent podcast and I approve of your music choices.

    1. PJ

      Mark – oh – thanks for the clarification!!!! And really appreciate the comment and your good ears!!! Nice to celebrate this great music with you listening!

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