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 LYLE MAYS © 1998 Mike Metheny JAM talks with the pianist about a life in music, keeping up with the technology, and 21 years with the Pat Metheny Group
LM: Actually, Wausaukee, population 500 and dwindling, was the nearest town. And 15 miles away at that. So, culturally and socially, life was on the bleak side. But both my parents loved music and got me involved at a very early age. My dad played guitar (only by ear) and my mom played piano for the church choir, so I learned how to play by ear and how to read music at the same time, at about age five. I think that was lucky for me. When I was 10 or 11 my parents found a remarkable teacher named Rose Baron who would "jam" with me after our more traditional lessons. This got me improvising before I even knew there was such a thing as jazz. In eighth grade my band director -- another remarkable teacher named Dean Wheelock, Rose's son-in-law -- suggested that I attend the Shell Lake stage band camp. This was where I discovered jazz and instantly knew I had found my home, as it were. I attended that two-week camp every summer throughout high school and it was the only chance I had to play jazz until I got to college. JAM: What was the first jazz recording you remember hearing? LM: At Shell Lake I had met Rich Matteson who gave me a list of players I should check out. I could only find two records at the "local" -- 75 miles away -- record store, but those two changed my life. They were: Bill Evans at the Montreau Jazz Festival and Miles Davis' "Filles de Kilimanjaro." I couldn't make any sense of either of those records at first; they were far too sophisticated for my inexperienced ears. But as I listened and studied them, I came to appreciate what was going on, and I think they pushed me further and faster than anything else could have. Again, I was lucky. JAM: What was the first live jazz performance that made an impression? LM: Well, of course, any "first" will make an impression. At Shell Lake I remember Rich Matteson, at the first faculty concert of the camp, bringing down the house with one of his patented euphonium solos. I didn't know any music could be that exciting. But I would have to say that the first time I heard the Mahavishnu Orchestra in Madison (Wisconsin) in 1971 or '72, with that huge sound system, light show, amazing music and wild crowd, I truly understood just how much could be done under the jazz umbrella. Funny how I ended up in a band with a big sound system, light show, complicated music, exploring style issues... JAM: As was documented on Pat's "First Circle" album, you apparently have some roots as a trumpet player. How serious were you about that instrument? LM: I was very serious as a kid. I thought trumpet was the "legitimate" instrument because I could play in the band and read the music. There was no place for a piano in our high school band. I even went to that first Shell Lake camp as a trumpet player. They put me in the last chair of the last band. When one of the teachers heard me "fooling around" on the piano during a break, he yanked me out of that band and put me in the piano chair of the top band. That was the end of my "seriousness" with the trumpet. I guess I could work my way back up to an eighth grade level on the horn if I really tried... But seriously, I was never athletic enough to handle the demands of that instrument. JAM: While we're on that subject, just what was that cut, "Forward March," all about? LM: For me personally, it has a lot to do with being a last chair trumpet player in the last band! Actually, I was the "best" trumpet player in my high school band. I think Ardith Wardick, the "other" trumpet player, had asthma. The 19 piece Wausaukee High band had a lot of the same ensemble blend and intonation that we were able to achieve on the "Forward March" cut. ...Come on, it was a joke! OK, maybe we shouldn't have started the album with it... We were young! JAM: What drew you to study at North Texas State? LM: First, the reputation of the school. I had heard stories of players actually getting hired for real jazz gigs out of there. Next, the fact that Rich Matteson had just been hired; he had become a mentor figure for me. The scholarship clinched the deal. JAM: Was that a fulfilling period? LM: It was an amazingly fulfilling period. There were a whole lot of dedicated jazz players there who would organize jam sessions, listening sessions, dorm concerts, all kinds of things. Kids would call their own sectionals on the weekends if they thought the band wasn't tight enough. I also had an opportunity to write for ensembles that were of near professional quality. Leon Breeden would even let some of us rehearse the band so we could get that experience. My last year, he let us organize and run the recording session ourselves. It was a program that was way ahead of its time in that regard. JAM: There was a brief stint with the Woody Herman band soon after your time at NTSU. What kind of experience was that? LM: Well, I was happy to have the gig, first of all. It's hard to leave college and make it as a jazz musician. But that kind of road life is tough. Our band bus wasn't much different than a school bus, and the motels were... I'll skip the details. Actually, I didn't want to pursue a career as a big band piano player/writer. I felt I could have more impact in a more "modern" ensemble. This was the post "Bitches Brew" era, after all. I lasted about eight months with Woody. But leaving felt like jumping off a cliff; I had nothing at all lined up. JAM: How did you meet Pat Metheny? LM: I met Pat at the Wichita Jazz festival in 1975. We heard each other play, vowed to play together some time, did, and it's been working out pretty well ever since. JAM: There are some legendary stories about the Pat Metheny Group's early days on the road. ...No roadies, huge distances between gigs, four guys in a van driving through all kinds of weather, gigs in funky bars. Do you have anything to add to the folklore? LM: I'm saving the stories for my Barbara Walters interview. But seriously... The "legendary" stories I've heard are all true. Like: the "van trip from Seattle to Texas to Quebec in four days" story... JAM: In the 21 years of the group's existence, what are some of the strangest things that have happened either on or off stage? LM: The strangest thing for me is that I'm still in the group and still interested in where it's going. The next strangest thing is that in this age of cable TV and the internet, people are still buying the records and coming to the concerts. Touring Russia before the fall of the Iron Curtain was strange, I guess. Playing a concert in Yugoslavia four days before all hell broke loose felt strange. But I really can't think of many "tabloid" moments. There was that time that Pat and I unloaded the baggage compartment of a jumbo jet during a strike at London's Heathrow airport so we could get our gear that we needed to record "As Falls Wichita"... JAM: We've heard rumors that, in the early days, you had a water pistol hidden at the piano and would squirt people in front who weren't paying attention. True? LM: It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was during my "angry young man" period. "I met Pat (Metheny) at the Wichita Jazz festival in 1975. We heard each other play, vowed to play together some time, did, and it's been working out pretty well ever since." -- Lyle Mays JAM: On to the more serious area of the music itself. So much of the PMG's book has been co-authored by you and Pat. How do the two of you go about collaborating on a composition? LM: I don't know. If we had a formula, the collaboration would have petered out long ago. I think it's the excitement of exploring new territory, even the territory of the nature of collaborating, that keeps it going. That, and the absence of an "agenda" from either of us. The process keeps changing, but one thing we've found to work consistently is to have two separate, sonically isolated work spaces that are within walking distance. JAM: Do the other members of the group add their input to the process? LM: Just imagining the way someone plays can influence a piece, but Pat and I are the composers. Since Steve has joined the band, his producing skills have influenced the music a lot, and sometimes he helps "produce" the writing. But all our pieces start with either Pat, or sometimes myself, alone in a room, dreaming up a kernel of an idea that might get developed. JAM: Of all the pieces you and Pat have written, which are the ones you are the most proud of? LM: Most people say "the next one." I might expand that to "the last batch and the next batch," as I'm usually proudest of what we've just done and excited about what we're going to do. But apart from that, a few -- like "First Circle," or even "San Lorenzo" for its time -- seem to hold up rather well. Any piece where I feel we've stretched some boundaries in some way contributes to the cause. Having said that, I also have to add that all the pieces fall short in some way. Satisfaction is a far different emotion than pride, and pride figures very little in my relationship to the process of writing. JAM: Of course, you also have an integral role in the band as its keyboardist. How much do you practice to keep your chops in shape? LM: I shouldn't admit that I don't practice, but I don't. Let me qualify that -- I don't practice exercises. I practice writing, as I feel the mind is more important than the body. If I can think it, I usually can play it. Having said that, I also have to admit I would be a better player if I did practice more "pianistic" things. I guess writing feels more compelling to me, so that's where I spend my time. And I do view improvising as a kind of writing in real time. JAM: As someone who has always been immersed in the many different kinds of keyboards, how has synthesizer technology evolved and changed since the PMG began? LM: My grandfather used to talk about what it was like living through a time that spanned horse-drawn carriages to spacecraft. It's not quite as shocking, but the journey feels similar. My only regret is that most of the technological developments have led to "bigger" and "faster" synths and very little has been done to make them more musical. JAM: Throughout your lengthy association with Pat, you have been mostly in the role of sideman. Have you ever harbored the desire to form your own band and do six weeks of one-nighters? LM: First, Pat has never made me feel like a sideman. But you're right in that I've been mostly content to limit my touring to the PMG. I've done some touring with my own bands, but I generally like to use my time to write. However, a lot of that writing falls beneath the radar; the chamber music world is even more underappreciated than the jazz world. JAM: What's in store for the future? Can we look forward to anymore solo projects, like "Street Dreams" and "Fictionary?" LM: I recently recorded a record's worth of mostly improvised solo piano pieces. I used the new and improved Yamaha midi grand so the midi data was also recorded, locked via smpte. I'm now orchestrating these pieces, mainly from the midi data, with my synths. The result should be released late next spring. I'm hoping the combination of the raw, improvised energy and the after-the-fact sheen and polish will prove interesting. JAM: We sometimes like to end these interviews with the well-worn "desert island question." What would your five must-have recordings be if stranded on that island? LM: Unfair!! That's harder than the "Inside the Actor's Studio" questions. If I didn't also have a piano or some keyboard instrument and some way of recording ideas -- score paper would suffice -- I wouldn't want any recordings. The frustration would kill me. OK, if those conditions were met, I'd settle for the Emerson Quartet's recording of the Bartok String Quartets, and any other four from my list on "We Live Here." Now, what kind of stereo system would I get? Where's the power come from? Can I get replacement parts? Headphones? My favorite listening chair, too? Munchies?... RETURN TO DECEMBER/JANUARY 1999 MAIN INDEX ------------------------------------------------------------------------ © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved. |
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