Jazz pianist and composer Lyle Mays passed away on February 10, 2020 at 66 years old. He was a musician of exceptional skill who pulled together backgrounds in the worlds of classical, jazz, and even rock ‘n’ roll. But what put him on hallowed ground in the pantheon of jazz piano greats is that no one since Bill Evans – except perhaps Fred Hersch – had been able to project subtle emotions from the piano so powerfully with such ease.
To most folks who have heard of him, Lyle Mays was Pat Metheny’s Tonto, his loyal keyboard sidekick throughout decades of recording and performing together in the Pat Metheny Group. Closer followers of the PMG recognized that Mays was much more akin to Paul Desmond vis-a-vis Dave Brubeck than Tonto in relation to the Lone Ranger, an indispensable partner with chops on par with the iconic leader. Through many line-up changes, Metheny and Mays were the only two stalwarts and when Mays left the Group following their last album, 2005’s The Way Up, Metheny declined to carry on the band that bore his name. That’s very telling about the importance Metheny placed on Mays’ role in that group.
There are plenty of instances of Lyle Mays’ brilliance over decades of recordings as part of his association with Metheny or his under-explored solo work. As I reflect on the unexpected death of a longtime piano hero of mine, these five tracks come first to my mind:
“SAN LORENZO” with THE PAT METHENY GROUP, THE PAT METHENY GROUP (1978): The first song from the first PMG album was also among the first fruits of the Metheny/Mays songwriting partnership. It introduces the Group’s hallmark open harmonic structure that’s also very melodic. And Mays shows impeccable pacing during his solo spotlight, able to take a hushed mood and pilot it through a shifting group dynamic and multiple chord changes on up to a triumphant arc. He would go on to make inspiring solos like this for many more years, but this one – when he was just 24 years old – cast the mold.
“SEPTEMBER FIFTEENTH” with PAT METHENY, AS FALLS WICHITA, SO FALLS WICHITA FALLS (1981): The title comes from the date that Evans died and the song was recorded as a contemporary paean to the jazz legend. One of the most sorrowful songs ever written, Metheny has stated that it was largely composed on the spot by him and Mays. Metheny, on acoustic guitar, gives way to Mays who put every atom of his soul into a gorgeous piano soliloquy that fully expresses a sense of loss and what Evans had meant to Mays.
“SLINK,” LYLE MAYS (1986): This song is an exemplar of Mays’ abilities as a composer and arranger for a jazz ensemble apart from the Pat Metheny Group. He sets up a taut lead line playing his signature, singalong synth in unison with saxophonist Billy Drewes that leads into a chorus that delivers rich chords with punch. Marc Johnson, Alex Acuna and a young Bill Frisell round out this one-off progressive jazz supergroup.
“MIRROR OF THE HEART,” LYLE MAYS (1986): Mays’ composing game didn’t just comprise of sinuous motifs like “Slink” but sumptuous melodies that can only be done justice with an unaccompanied piano, as Mays recorded this one. Though the song is premeditated, Mays plays it like it’s a spontaneous expression of joy and melancholy, occasionally touching base with a brief pattern of dramatically descending chords as if it’s an emotional lifeline.
“CHORINHO” with the LYLE MAYS QUARTET, THE LUDWIGSBURG CONCERT (2016): As serious as Mays can often sound, he had a playful side as well, as heard on this version of a song from Mays’ second solo album, 1988’s Street Dreams. He took this jaunty composition to the stage in 1993 with a quartet featuring Johnson, Bob Sheppard and Mark Walker. He recorded this busy number unaccompanied in the studio, but here the band inserts a hip-swaying Brazilian samba pulse underneath this classical number. That inspires Mays to take this exercise in classical music and make into a carnival dance without ever losing his stride.
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