RIP Lyle Mays

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 11 Feb 2020 6:31 am

RIP Lyle Mays, seminal collaborator with Pat Metheny.

Jeff Harbour · Post by **Jeff Harbour** » 11 Feb 2020 7:27 am

I was heavily into the Pat Metheny Group back in the mid 90's. Some great music came out of those two. I particularly remember Lyle from watching the concert VHS they had out back then. RIP.

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 11 Feb 2020 8:53 am

Very Sad.My condolences to Kyle's family.

rick andrews · Post by **rick andrews** » 11 Feb 2020 1:41 pm

Buddy Cage and now Lyle Mays. Voices that I will miss. I could really use some good news.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 11 Feb 2020 3:10 pm

Wow, What a shock, loved his playing with Pat and also his solo work, in fact I pulled one of his solo Cd's out a few months ago to take a listen.

I think he was a North Texas State Jazz grad.

R.I.P. Lyle, what a legacy!

Mike Neer · Post by **Mike Neer** » 11 Feb 2020 4:05 pm

He was brilliant and an integral part of one of the best bands ever.

Fred Treece · Post by **Fred Treece** » 12 Feb 2020 9:52 am

That first Pat Metheney Group album hit us like a ton of bricks, and Lyle’s playing on it was half the ton. For someone like me who was not very deep into jazz or keyboard, it was life-altering. Thanks for posting, Andy. And thank you, Lyle.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 13 Feb 2020 6:56 am

He was a brilliant and intense musician. The group's second incarnation played a basement venue in Tulsa, Mays was trying to tune the zither to the piano,
the blender, and the chatter, and finally stopped and raised his voice: "No sounds!" I'm betting it was near the end of the tour.

Metheney was, as Nat Hentoff (I think) described, that Midwestern hip "and all those teeth" as he looked down on me and smiled.
I think they were a perfect foil for each other.

Mays' compositions on the 'lizard' album of the 1975 North Texas 1:00 lab band undoubtedly earned the record its Grammy nomination.

He was too young.

Andy Volk · Post by **Andy Volk** » 13 Feb 2020 4:25 pm

Their early work sure caught my ear as did Still Life Talking in the mid 80s. After that, I dropped off the listening cliff but early on, Metheny and Mays meshed incredibly well.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 14 Feb 2020 9:30 am

That's my memory, Andy. Here's Phase Dance live. Good video of Lyle.
The next group with the upright bass player and Latin percussion was super. I think I heard them but I'm not sure. Spacious sound.

Here's the opening tune from the North Texas album, FM
I saw the 1:00 band that year, but wouldn't have known if Mays was conducting or playing. It was really an amazing career he had.

Craig Stock · Post by **Craig Stock** » 14 Feb 2020 1:37 pm

Charlie, Thanks for that link, never heard that stuff before but soo awesome. I love that style, very Jaco-esk, was just listening to Jaco last night with his big band. Met him a few times, and as with Lyle, both are gone too soon.

Tal Herbsman · Post by **Tal Herbsman** » 15 Feb 2020 10:38 pm

He was brilliant. In more ways than one. Here's an interview:

https://www.jazziz.com/lyle-mays/