Breaking news: goodbye Lyle Mays

Pat Metheny Group’s pianist and keyboardist passed away yesterday in Los Angeles at the age of 66.

Lyle Mays was born in Wisconsin in 1953 into a family of musicians. He had four great passions: chess, music, math and architecture. His mom was a pianist and his dad a guitarist, and so they encouraged Lyle to study the piano.

After a series of engagements (such as militancy for a 18 month in the Woody Herman group) in 1974 Lyle met Pat Metheny. In 1977 they formed the Pat Metheny Group, one of the most famous groups in the history of jazz. All the records of the group were written and arranged by Metheny and Mays who won 11 Grammy Awards for his decisive contribution.

In parallel with his work with PMG Mays released five solo albums: the first in 1986, “Lyle Mays”, and the last in 2016 “The Ludwigsburg Concert”.

The musician passed away yesterday in Los Angeles “after a long illness”.

This is Pat Metheny’s comment: “Lyle was one of the greatest musicians I have ever known. Across more than 30 years, every moment we shared in music was special. From the first notes we played together, we had an immediate bond. His broad intelligence and musical wisdom informed every aspect of who he was in every way. I will miss him with all my heart. “