Ο σημαντικός πιανίστας, κιμπορντίστας και συνθέτης Lyle Mays πέθανε στις 10 Φεβρουαρίου σε ηλκία 66 χρόνων. Μαζί με τον Pat Metheny έχει συνθέσει / ενορχηστρώσει την πλειονότητα των κομματιών του Pat Metheny Group. Πέρα απ’ αυτό έχει κυκλοφορήσει αρκετά άλμπουμ ως leader, και συνεργαστεί με καλλιτέχνες όπως οι Steve Swallow, Joni Mitchell, Eberhard Weber, Bobby McFerrin… Ξεκινάμε ένα μίνι tribute σ’ αυτόν, με ένα κομμάτι από το κλασικό άλμπουμ που κυκλοφόρησε με τον Metheny στα early ’80s.
The influential pianist, keybordist and composer Lyle Mays died on February 10. He was 66 years old. Along with Pat Metheny he has composed/orchestrated the majority of the pieces of the Pat Metheny Group. In addition to this he has released an number of albums as leader, and collaborated with artists such as Steve Swallow, Joni Mitchell, Eberhard Weber, Bobby McFerrin… We begin a mini tribute to him, with a track from the classic album he released with Metheny in the early ’80s.
RIP Lyle Mays – he was a great keyboardist.
Indeed he was! thanks for sharing.
I think I mentioned before but TRAVELS is one of my fav LPs, ever. And I generally do not like live albums as much as studio. However, the musicianship of those two – Mays and Metheny – makes even a live lp great. Last I saw of Mays he was doing a video demo / ad for a VSTi called Omnisphere. He must have really liked it because I do not think he needed the money!
His passing marks the end of an era. But all things must pass…
In some parts, especially in the 5th and 6ths minute it reminded me of some piece by Charles Koechlin.
What a pity he died so young.
What evokes the Koechlin association is the section starting around 5:15, especially around 6:20. Compare that with Koechlin’s Paysages et Marines Op.63 pour piano, especially Parts VI and VII, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0vx3VauB9Q. Koechlin’s music is more complex, but there are some similarities in some melodical motives. I wonder if Mays was familiar with this music. Koechlin comes from the classical, especially impressionist tradition, but in some pieces – and this is one of them – he is a bit jazzy.
Sorry, your first message escaped me! This is an insightful observation, the similarity is indisputable. We couldn’t know but we should bet LM knew CK. After all, there is this connection between jazz and the French culture that goes way back to the [French speaking] Creole pioneers. And though Lyle was not the typical classically trained pianist, he was into classical music since childhood.
Thank you very much!
That was utterly beautiful. RIP Lyle! Thank you for this tribute!
Thank you for sharing!