April 29, 2010
Jazzman Pat Metheny to teach UW students in special April 30 appearance
Seventeen-time Grammy award-winning guitarist Pat Metheny will make a special appearance at the UW School of Music on Friday, April 30, when he leads a clinic with UW jazz students.
The class will be from noon to 1 p.m. in Brechemin Auditorium. It’s free and open to the public.
Metheny was born in Kansas City in 1954 into a musical family. Starting on trumpet at the age of 8, he switched to guitar at age 12. By the age of 15, he was working regularly with the best jazz musicians in Kansas City, receiving valuable on-the-bandstand experience at an unusually young age.
Metheny first burst onto the international jazz scene in 1974. Over the course of his three-year stint with vibraphone great Gary Burton, he had already displayed his soon-to-become trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility — a way of playing and improvising that was modern in conception but grounded deeply in the jazz tradition of melody, swing, and the blues.
With the release of his first album, Bright Size Life in 1975, Metheny is said to have reinvented the traditional “jazz guitar” sound for a new generation of players.Throughout his career, he has continued to redefine the genre by using new technology and constantly working to evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument.
Over the years, Metheny has performed with artists as diverse as David Bowie, Herbie Hancock and Ornette Coleman. He has been part of a writing team with keyboardist Lyle Mays for more than 20 years. Metheny’s body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical.
Metheny has also participated in the academic arena as a music educator. At 18, he was the youngest teacher ever at the University of Miami. At 19, he became the youngest teacher ever at the Berklee College of Music, where he also received an honorary doctorate more than 20 years later. He has also taught music workshops all over the world, from the Dutch Royal Conservatory to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz to clinics in Asia and South America.
He has also been a true musical pioneer in the realm of electronic music, and was one of the very first jazz musicians to treat the synthesizer as a serious musical instrument. Years before the invention of MIDI technology, Metheny was using the Synclavier as a composing tool.
Over the years, Metheny has won countless polls as “Best Jazz Guitarist” and awards, including three gold records. He has also won 17 Grammy Awards spread out over a variety of different categories including Best Rock Instrumental, Best Contemporary Jazz Recording, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, Best Instrumental Composition.
The Pat Metheny Group won an unprecedented seven consecutive Grammies for seven consecutive albums. Metheny has spent most of his life on tour, averaging between 120-240 shows a year since 1974. He continues to be one of the brightest stars of the jazz community, dedicating time to both his own projects and those of emerging artists and established veterans alike, helping them to reach their audience as well as realizing their own artistic visions.
For more information, call 206-685-8384 or visit online at www.music.washington.edu.
