by Robert Jablon | AP Feb. 11, 2020 at 12:27 a.m. CST LOS ANGELES — Lyle Mays, a jazz keyboardist whose work, chiefly with the Pat Metheny Group, won nearly a dozen Grammy Awards, died Monday in Los Angeles, it was announced. He was 66.
Mays had a “long battle with a recurring illness,” according to Pat Metheny’s website.
“Lyle was one of the greatest musicians I have ever known,” Metheny wrote. “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.”
“Lyle was a brilliant musician and person, and a genius in every sense of the word,” said a statement from his niece, Aubrey Johnson. “He was my dear uncle, mentor, and friend and words cannot express the depth of my grief.”
Born in Wausaukee, Wisconsin, Mays’ mother and father played piano and guitar and he played organ as a youngster.
He joined the guitarist group Metheny in the 1970s, where he was a performer, composer and arranger. The group’s endlessly innovative fusion style incorporated everything from rock and contemporary jazz to world music.
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I’d forgotten that Lyle was a co-writer of ‘This Is Not America’
This is very sad, indeed. I had no idea he was ill but he had not been touring with Pat recently. Time for a revisit to Joni Mitchell's 'Shadows and Light' concert disc. As well as many vids on YT. My first exposure to Lyle was PMGs first album and seeing them live at the Euphoria Tavern in Portland in February 1979. Front row seats sitting literally 8 feet away from the band. My mind was blown and that show permanently etched my admiration for these musicians. RIP Mr. Mays.
Lyle was a brilliant keyboardist and arranger. I remember in the early days of the synthesizer, he had an amazing intuition in programming the Oberheim 2-voice synth, it takes a lot of patience to program! The musical conversations he had with Pat Metheny were breathtaking and he found some nice textures to compliment the guitar parts. He will be missed, but his music lives on.
Thanks for that link as well. What a brilliant person Lyle was.