Pat Metheny

Country: USA

Pat Metheny was born on August 12, 1954 in Kansas City in a family of musicians. Since 12 years he started to play guitar and when he was 15, he worked with the best musicians of his native city. From 1974 to 1977 he played in the group of vibraphonist Gary Burton. In 1977, he founded The Pat Metheny Group.

Due to release of his first album, Bright Size Life (1975), Metheny reinvented the traditional jazz guitar sound for a new generation of listeners. Throughout his life, Pat has been developing the sonic potential of his instrument and improvisation technique continuously. He is also actively involved in the historical development of the instrument and affected the emergence of new types of guitars.

Pat Metheny is a versatile musician, who has been performing with performance in a broad variety of directions, from Steve Reich to Ornette Coleman, from Herbie Hancock to Jim Hall, from Milton Nascimento to David Bowie for many years. Metheny plays and records the compositions as a solo artist, a musician of small groups, electric and acoustic bands, and big orchestras, from modern jazz to rock and classics.

Pat Metheny is a winner of numerous awards and prizes. He has three gold albums, Still Life (Talking), Letter from Home, Secret Story and 20 Grammy awards in 12 different categories. The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented number of Grammy awards for seven consecutive albums.

Metheny spends the most of his career on tour. Since 1974, he gives an average 120 to 240 concerts a year.