Pat Metheny

A renowned guitarist who rose to prominence in the jazz world in the 1970s, Pat Metheny – born in Lee’s Summit, Missouri on August 12, 1954 - fused the genre with rock, folk and electronic pop sounds to create the symphonic, instrumental soundscapes that won him 20 Grammy Awards. Picking up the guitar at the age of 12, Pat Metheny began teaching music at the University of Miami aged just 18, before striking up a relationship with his idol, guitarist Gary Burton, who offered him a place in his band and a job at Berklee College of Music. His debut Bright Size Life (1976) soon earned interest for its experimental modernity, but it was as the band Pat Metheny Group that he achieved his greatest commercial success. The group produced classic albums such as Offramp (1983), First Circle (1984), Still Life (Talking) (1987) and Letter from Home (1989). The first jazz artist to use synthesizers and electronics, he went on to dabble in Latino, folk and classical music, collaborate with Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock and David Bowie and help design a new range of instruments, including his trademark custom made, 42-string, Pikasso harp guitar. The Orb sampled his composition “Electric Counterpoint” for their hit “Little Fluffy Clouds,” but it is as an improvisational jazz guitarist and experimental composer that he is most acclaimed. In 1996, Pat Metheny was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music. He then went on to receive further recognition for his contributions to music when he was inducted into the Missouri Music Hall of Fame in 2016 and received another Honorary Doctorate of Music from McGill University in 2019. His later recordings include the solo efforts Orchestrion (2010), Unity Band (2012), Tap: John Zorn’s Book of Angels, Volume 20 (2013), Kin with the Unity Group (2014), From This Place (2020), Road to the Sun (2021), and Dream Box (2023). Pat Metheny also released two albums with his Trio, two albums with Brad Mehldau, and collaborated with other artists including Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Jim Hall, Christian McBride, Jaco Pastorius, and many others.