Patrick Bruce Metheny (pronounced "muh-THEE-nee"; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He led the Pat Metheny Group from 1977 to 2010 and continues to perform in small groups, duets, and solo performances, as well as other projects. His music includes parts from progressive and contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, and jazz fusion. He has three gold albums and 20 Grammy Awards. He is the only person to have won Grammy Awards in 10 different categories.

Biography

Pat Metheny was born in Lee's Summit, Missouri. His father, Dave, played the trumpet, and his mother, Lois, sang. His maternal grandfather, Delmar, was a professional trumpeter. Metheny’s first instrument was the trumpet, which his brother, Mike, taught him. Pat’s brother, father, and grandfather played music together at home. His parents enjoyed listening to Glenn Miller and swing music. They took Pat to concerts to hear musicians like Clark Terry and Doc Severinsen, but they did not like guitar. Pat’s interest in guitar grew around 1964 after he saw the Beatles perform on television. For his 12th birthday, his parents let him buy a guitar, a Gibson ES-140 3/4.

Pat Metheny’s life changed after listening to the album Four & More by Miles Davis. Soon after, he was deeply influenced by Wes Montgomery’s album Smokin’ at the Half Note, released in 1965. He says the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Montgomery had the greatest impact on his music.

At age 15, Metheny received a scholarship from Down Beat magazine to attend a one-week jazz camp. There, he was taught by guitarist Attila Zoller, who later invited him to meet guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter in New York City.

While playing at a club in Kansas City, Metheny met Bill Lee, a dean at the University of Miami, who offered him a scholarship. After less than a week at college, Metheny found it hard to keep up with schoolwork because he had spent much of his teenage years playing guitar. He told Lee about this, and Lee offered him a job teaching as a professor because the school had recently started offering electric guitar as a course.

In the early 1970s, Metheny moved to Boston to teach at the Berklee College of Music under the guidance of jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton. He became known as a talented young musician.

In 1974, Metheny joined Gary Burton’s band with fellow guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Steve Swallow, and bassist Eberhard Weber, along with percussionist Bob Moses. While Goodrick used a six-string electric guitar, Metheny used a different type of guitar, the electric 12-string. He appeared on Burton’s recordings, including Ring (1974), Dreams So Real (1976), and Passengers (1977). Metheny and Moses also formed a trio with their friend Jaco Pastorius on bass.

In June 1974, Metheny and Pastorius participated in a music session with pianist Paul Bley and drummer Bruce Ditmas, not knowing they were being recorded. An album with their music was released two years later on Bley’s label, unofficially called Jaco.

For his debut album, Bright Size Life (1976), Metheny and Moses traveled to Europe in December 1975 and recorded the album in two days in Ludwigsburg, Germany, at a studio owned by producer Manfred Eicher. They had previously visited the studio in July for Gary Burton’s Ring, also released through Eicher’s label, ECM. At first, they practiced with bassist Dave Holland, but Eicher refused to use an electric bass. Eventually, Eicher allowed Pastorius to play. Gary Burton was present during the recording and helped guide the project, though he was not officially credited as a producer.

His next album, Watercolors (ECM, 1977), was recorded with bassist Eberhard Weber and drummer Danny Gottlieb. This album marked Metheny’s first collaboration with pianist Lyle Mays, who would later help form the Pat Metheny Group. With bassist Mark Egan, the group’s lineup was set for their self-titled debut album, Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978).

Pat Metheny Group

When Pat Metheny Group (ECM, 1978) was released, the group included Pat Metheny, Danny Gottlieb on drums, Mark Egan on bass, and Lyle Mays on piano, autoharp, and synthesizer. All members except Egan had previously played on Metheny's album Watercolors (ECM, 1977), which was recorded the year before.

The group's second album, American Garage (ECM, 1979), reached number 1 on the Billboard jazz chart and appeared on pop charts. From 1982 to 1985, the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp (ECM, 1982), a live album; Travels (ECM, 1983); First Circle (ECM, 1984); and The Falcon and the Snowman (EMI, 1985), a soundtrack album for the movie of the same name. For this album, the group collaborated with David Bowie on the single "This Is Not America." The song reached number 14 on the British Top 40 in 1985 and number 32 in the U.S.

Offramp marked the first appearance of bassist Steve Rodby, who replaced Egan, and a Brazilian guest artist, Nana Vasconcelos, on percussion and wordless vocals. On First Circle, Argentinian singer and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar joined the group, and Paul Wertico replaced Gottlieb as drummer. Both Rodby and Wertico were members of the Simon and Bard Group at the time and had previously played in Simon-Bard in Chicago.

First Circle was Metheny's last album with ECM. He had been a key artist for the European record label but left after disagreements with the label's founder, Manfred Eicher.

Still Life (Talking) (Geffen, 1987) featured new group members: trumpeter Mark Ledford, vocalist David Blamires, and percussionist Armando Marçal. Aznar returned for vocals and guitar on Letter from Home (Geffen, 1989).

With Metheny working on multiple projects, it took four years before the next group album was released. The live album The Road to You (Geffen, 1993) included live versions of tracks from the two Geffen studio albums and previously unreleased songs.

Metheny and Mays referred to the next three Pat Metheny Group releases as a triptych: We Live Here (Geffen, 1995), Quartet (Geffen, 1996), and Imaginary Day (Warner Bros., 1997). These albums moved away from Brazilian-inspired styles and included experiments with hip-hop rhythms, synthetic drums, free-form improvisation on acoustic instruments, and musical elements such as symphonic signatures, blues, and sonata schemes.

On Speaking of Now (Warner Bros., 2002), new group members were added: drummer Antonio Sánchez from Mexico City, Vietnamese-American trumpeter Cuong Vu, and bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist Richard Bona from Cameroon.

The album The Way Up (Nonesuch, 2005) introduced harmonica player Grégoire Maret from Switzerland as a new group member, while Bona contributed as a guest musician. The album includes a single 68-minute-long piece, split into four sections, based on a three-note motif: the opening B, A♯, F♯, and its later variation F♯, A, B.

Solo releases

Metheny has released many albums under his own name throughout his career. His solo acoustic guitar albums include New Chautauqua (ECM, 1979), One Quiet Night (Warner Bros., 2003), and What's It All About (Nonesuch, 2011).

Metheny continued the work from his experimental quartets (see Side projects). He explored experimental music on Zero Tolerance for Silence (Geffen, 1994), a solo electric guitar album.

For the album Orchestrion (Nonesuch, 2010), Metheny built special mechanical instruments that allowed him to compose and perform as a one-person orchestra. In contrast, his album Secret Story (Geffen, 1992) features rich orchestral music similar to that found in movie soundtracks, such as The Falcon and the Snowman (EMI, 1985) (see above) and his own A Map of the World (Warner Bros., 1999) film soundtrack.

Recent recordings under his own name include From This Place (Nonesuch, 2020), which features guest artists, and the all-guitar collaboration Road to the Sun (Modern Recordings, 2021).

Unity Band

In 2012, Metheny created the Unity Band with Antonio Sánchez on drums, Ben Williams on bass, and Chris Potter on saxophone. This group of four musicians released the album Unity Band (Nonesuch, 2012) and toured Europe and the U.S. during the second half of the year. In 2013, as part of the Unity Band project, Metheny introduced the Pat Metheny Unity Group, adding the Italian musician Giulio Carmassi, who plays many instruments.

Side projects

Outside his group, Metheny has explored various styles of music. In 1981, he performed in a duo with Lyle Mays on the album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (ECM). This album features Brazilian percussionist and singer Naná Vasconcelos and is known for its mood-setting, long and detailed title track. In 1983, Metheny and Mays created music for the Steppenwolf Theater Company’s production of Orphans by Lyle Kessler. This music has been used as optional background music in productions of the play worldwide since that time.

Metheny experimented with different types of jazz in albums such as 80/81 (ECM, 1980), Song X (Geffen, 1986) with Ornette Coleman, and The Sign of 4 (Knitting Factory Works, 1997) with Derek Bailey.

In 1997, Metheny recorded with bassist Marc Johnson for Johnson’s album The Sound of Summer Running (Verve, 1998). In 1998, he recorded a guitar duet with Jim Hall for the album Telarc (1999). Hall’s music has greatly influenced Metheny’s style. Metheny also worked with Polish jazz and folk singer Anna Maria Jopek on Upojenie (Warner Poland, 2002) and with Bruce Hornsby on Hot House (RCA, 2005). Additionally, Metheny has played on albums by his older brother, Mike Metheny, a jazz trumpeter, including Day In – Night Out (1986) and Close Enough for Love (2001).

Influences

As a young guitarist, Pat Metheny tried to copy the style of Wes Montgomery. However, when he was 14 or 15 years old, he decided it was not respectful to copy him. In the notes inside the two-disc album Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sides, Metheny said, "Smokin' at the Half Note is the greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play."

Ornette Coleman’s 1968 album New York Is Now! inspired Metheny to develop his own musical style. Metheny has performed Coleman’s songs on several albums, beginning with a combination of two songs, "Round Trip" and "Broadway Blues," on his first album, Bright Size Life (1976). He worked closely with Coleman’s musical partners, including Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, and Billy Higgins. Metheny also recorded the album Song X (1986) with Coleman and toured with him.

Metheny created three albums with ECM Records featuring Brazilian singer and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos. He lived in Brazil from the late 1980s to the early 1990s and performed with local musicians such as Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta. He also played with Antônio Carlos Jobim during a live tribute concert at Carnegie Hall Salutes The Jazz Masters: Verve 50th Anniversary.

Metheny admires several pop music artists, especially singer-songwriters like James Taylor (after whom he named the song "James" on the album Offramp), Bruce Hornsby, Cheap Trick, and Joni Mitchell. He performed with Mitchell during her Shadows and Light (Asylum/Elektra, 1980) live tour. Metheny also supports the music of Buckethead and has worked with, sponsored, or helped record songs by singer-songwriters from around the world, including Pedro Aznar (Argentina), Akiko Yano (Japan), David Bowie (UK), Silje Nergaard (Norway), Noa (Israel), and Anna Maria Jopek (Poland).

Three of Metheny’s albums—Secret Story (1992), The Way Up (2005), and Orchestrion (2010)—show the influence of American composer Steve Reich. These albums use rhythmic patterns that repeat in a structured way. Earlier, Metheny performed on Reich’s album Different Trains (Nonesuch, 1987), playing Reich’s piece Electric Counterpoint.

Guitars

At the age of 12, Metheny purchased a natural finish Gibson ES-175. He used this guitar throughout his early career until it was no longer used in 1995. After his first tour in Japan in 1978, Metheny began working with Ibanez guitars. Since then, Ibanez has created a series of guitars with Metheny’s name on them.

Metheny was one of the first jazz musicians to use a twelve-string guitar. During his 1975 tour with the Gary Burton "Quartet" (which actually had five members), he mainly played an electric twelve-string guitar while the other guitarist, Mick Goodrick, used a six-string guitar.

Before Metheny, Pat Martino used an electric twelve-string guitar on a studio album called Desperado. John McLaughlin used a double-neck electric guitar with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Ralph Towner was the first to use an acoustic twelve-string guitar often in jazz, as heard on the song "The Moors" from Weather Report’s I Sing the Body Electric (Columbia, 1972). Larry Coryell and Philip Catherine also used acoustic twelve-string guitars in special tunings during the 1975 Montreux Jazz Festival. They later released some of this music on their 1976 album Twin House.

Metheny used a twelve-string guitar on his first album, Bright Size Life (1976), including a special tuning on the song "Sirabhorn." He also used it on later albums, such as "San Lorenzo" from Pat Metheny Group and Travels.

Metheny was among the first jazz guitarists to use the Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer. He said, "you have to stop thinking about it as a guitar, because it no longer is a guitar." He plays it like a musician who plays brass instruments and prefers the "high trumpet" sound of the instrument. One of the sounds he often uses is on Roland’s JV-80 "Vintage Synth" expansion card, called "Pat's GR-300." In addition to the Roland, he uses a Synclavier controller.

Metheny plays a custom-made 42-string Pikasso guitar created by Canadian luthier Linda Manzer. He uses it on the song "Into the Dream" and on the albums Quartet (1996), Imaginary Day (1997), Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (1999), Trio → Live (Warner Bros., 2000), and the Speaking of Now Live and Imaginary Day Live DVDs. Metheny has also used the Pikasso guitar on other artists’ albums. He played it on Metheny/Mehldau Quartet (Nonesuch, 2007), his second collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau and his trio members Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard. The Pikasso guitar is featured on Metheny’s composition "The Sound of Water." Linda Manzer has made many other guitars for Metheny, including a mini guitar, an acoustic sitar guitar, and a baritone guitar. Metheny used the baritone guitar for the recording of One Quiet Night (2003).

Personal life

Metheny is the younger brother of Mike Metheny, a jazz flugelhornist. He lives in New York City with his wife, Latifa (née Azhar), and three children. Latifa has helped take photos for music albums.

Metheny was once in a relationship with Sônia Braga.

In May 2025, he had to cancel his concerts in China because of an unexpected medical treatment.

Awards and honors

Pat Metheny is the only person who has won Grammy Awards in ten different categories.

Other awards and honors that are not Grammy Awards include:

• DownBeat Hall of Fame, 2013
• Miles Davis Award, Montreal International Jazz Festival, 1995
• Orville H. Gibson Award, 1996
• Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music, 1996
• Guitarist of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll, 1983, 1986–1991, 2007–2016
• Best Jazz Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine, 1982, 1983, 1986
• Best Jazz Guitarist, Guitar Player magazine Readers' Poll, 1984, 1985, 2009
• Best Acoustic Guitarist, Acoustic Guitar magazine Readers' Poll, 2009
• Echo Award for Best Guitar Instrumentalist – International for TAP: John Zorn's Book of Angels Vol. 20, 2014
• Echo Award, International Ensemble of the Year, Kin, 2015
• Missouri Music Hall of Fame, 2016
• Lifetime Achievement Award, JazzFM, 2018
• Elected into Royal Swedish Academy of Music, 2018
• 2018 NEA Jazz Masters, 2017
• Honorary Doctorate of Music from McGill University, 2019