Baroque pop, baroque rock,^[1] or English baroque,^[2] often used interchangeably with chamber pop/rock,^[3] is a pop and rock music subgenre which originated in the United Kingdom and United States. It emerged in the mid-1960s as a fusion of pop, rock and classical music, in particular that of the baroque and classical eras.

Baroque pop reached its height of success in the mid-to-late 1960s, with several prominent groups and artists both emerging or incorporating the genre within their repertoire; these include the The Beach Boys, The Moody Blues, The Beatles, Left Banke, The Rolling Stones, Love and Procol Harum, amongst others. Baroque pop's mainstream popularity faded by the 1970s, partially due to punk rock, disco and hard rock taking over; nonetheless, music was still produced within the genre's tradition,^[2] and it exerted an influence on several subgenres. Such includes the arrival of chamber pop in the 1990s, which contained ornate productions and classical influences,^[4] while contesting much of the time's low fidelity musical aesthetic. Furthermore, since the 1990s, baroque pop has seen a revival; several prominent artists, such as Belle and Sebastian, Regina Spektor and The Divine Comedy, have performed or incorporated elements of the genre in their work.

Terminology[link]

The term "baroque rock" has been used since about 1966 to describe harder edged and less commercial music with similar influences.^[1] "English baroque" is also used to describe British pop and rock music that made use of this style of instrumentation.^[2] "Chamber pop" or "chamber rock" are usually used to refer specifically to music that utilises the string instruments of chamber music and so can be seen as a sub-set of baroque pop and rock.^[5]

In classical music the term "Baroque" is used to describe the art music of Europe approximately between the years 1600 and 1750, with some of its most prominent composers including J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi.^[6] Much of the instrumentation of baroque pop is akin to that of the late Baroque period or the early Classical period, chronologically defined as the period of European music from 1690 to 1820 and stylistically defined by balanced phrases, clarity and beauty, using instrumentation similar to modern orchestras.^[7] When applied to popular music the term has been used without much regard to these boundaries to describe the use of musical forms and instrumentation from a wider range of eras.

Characteristics[link]

The genre was intended to be less "wild" than rock music at the time,^[4] and a less commercial, more serious and "mature" offshoot of the genre.^[4] Baroque pop may be distinguished from progressive rock, which also uses classical instrumentation, by its generally simpler song structures closer to standard pop song writing, and also by its more mainstream lyrical content as opposed to the generally conceptual lyrics associated with later progressive rock. ^[5]

Baroque pop, stylistically, fuses elements of pop and rock with classical music, often incorporating instruments not common to popular music such as harpsichords, clavichords, violins, cellos and other strings, oboes and French horns. It is also generally characterised by highly orchestral,^[4] lush instrumentation. Common elements of baroque pop also include layered melodies, sophisticated productions and prominent harmonies.^[4] Traditionally, baroque pop is also generally quite melancholic and dramatic music,^[4] which contrasts it from its more cheerful counterpart, sunshine pop.^[5]

History[link]

Origins: early to mid 1960s[link]

The exact origins of baroque pop are difficult to determine with certainty. In the early 1960s Burt Bacharach had experimented with unusual instrumentation, like the use of flugelhorn on songs including "Walk On By" (1963),^[8] and Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production had made use of diverse and unusual instrumentation, including many associated with classical music.^[9] The British group The Zombies, with their single "She's Not There" released in 1964, are often cited as an early example of the sub-genre, but, although the song had many of the harmonic qualities of later baroque pop, it did not use classical instrumentation.^[2]

In 1965 The Beatles benefited from the classical music skills of George Martin, who used a string quartet in the production of "Yesterday," and for "In My Life" recorded the piano solo at half tempo and then sped it up, effectively giving off a more Renaissance-Baroque era harpsichord sound.^[10] Brian Wilson began to use orchestral arrangements, melodies and harmonies on The Beach Boys' 1965 albums Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) with harpsichord and zither, among other instruments.^[11][12] The Byrds first single "Mr Tambourine Man" (1965), opens with a distinctive, Bach-inspired guitar introduction played by Roger McGuinn.^[13][14] The abovementioned single by the Zombies inspired New York musician Michael Brown to form The Left Banke, whose 1966 single "Walk Away Renée" used harpsichord and a string quartet, and is usually considered the first recognizable baroque pop single.^[2] In 1966 The Rolling Stones released "Lady Jane", featuring Brian Jones on dulcimer in a very baroque-sounding song.^[10] The Beatles' 1966 album Revolver featured baroque instrumentation on songs such as "For No One" and "Eleanor Rigby"; which both featured idiosyncratic and lonely lyrics.^[15][16] Perhaps the most influential work in the sub-genre was the use of revolutionary and symphonic compositions on The Beach Boys' 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds with "God Only Knows" and "Caroline No"; both featured surreal and melodramatic lyrics and arrangements.^[17] The single "Wouldn't It Be Nice", contained baroque instrumentation that was light years ahead of their past efforts.^[18][10] In Britain The Yardbirds, with Jeff Beck as their guitarist, also began to find unconventional musical tastes such as jazz and baroque, along with their Gregorian chant and world music influences.^[19][20]

Peak years: late 1960s[link]

Baroque-influenced music reached a brief peak in popularity between the beginnings of the decline of psychedelia from about 1967 and the rise, particularly in Britain, of progressive rock, which absorbed wider classical influences, growing in popularity from the early 1970s.^[2] Classical influence can be seen on The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with "A Day in the Life" and "She's Leaving Home" and the White Album (1968) with the parody "Piggies".^[21][22] Led by Arthur Lee, with a little help from Bryan MacLean, Love began playing around with baroque influences in their second album Da Capo (1967) but were overshadowed by their louder and punky recordings.^[23][24] Love's early work started to give way for a more gentle, contemplative, and organic orchestral sound on their third album Forever Changes (1967) with "Andmoreagain" and "Alone Again Or".^[25]

These influences can be heard on The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed (1967), The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle (1968), The Kinks' The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968) and the Bee Gees' Odessa (1969); in singles like Honeybus' "I Can't Let Maggie Go" (1968).^[2] Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (1967) became a progressive rock standard with its baroque styled introduction, influenced by Bach pieces such as "Sleepers, Wake!" and "Air on the G String". But contrary to popular belief, the song is not a direct copy or paraphrase of any music by Bach, although it makes clear references to both pieces.^[26] In this period a number of folk artists incorporated Baroque influences and classical orchestration into their albums, most notably Judy Collins on In My Life (1966) and Wildflowers (1967), and Joan Baez on Joan (1967) and Baptism (1968).^[27]

Decline and revival[link]

Baroque pop and rock subsided in the 1970s as punk, disco, heavy metal and electronic music dominated, but began to be revived during the 1980s in the work of bands like R.E.M.^[28] Modern baroque pop, characterized by an infusion of orchestral arrangements or classical style composition, is generally within an indie setting, and can be seen as a reaction to the lo-fi production that dominated in the 1990s.^[3] Sometimes traditional pop instrumentation is discarded entirely. Many baroque pop artists of the past two decades can also be classified under several different genres, including indie rock, alternative rock, folk, Americana, Britpop, psychedelia and dream pop.

Chamber pop[link]

Chamber pop, also known as chamber rock, originated in the United Kingdom in the 1990s as a "reaction" against much of the alternative rock and grunge-based music of the time.^[3] Chamber pop grew out of growing distaste in the popular music trends of the period, especially the low fidelity and raw aesthetic of the alternative rock-based genres, which had achieved a widespread following at the time.^[3] It desired to return to the elegance and classically-based style of 1960s baroque pop. By refusing any form of coarseness, aggressiveness or kitsch tendencies, chamber pop refuted the styles associated with alternative rock and electronic music.^[3] Chamber pop and rock has a lot in common with baroque pop, including its evident classical influences, sophisticated productions and refined aesthetic. Whilst electronic and synthesized instruments were commonly available in the 1990s, chamber pop put an emphasis on live instrumentation and orchestration over synthesized backgrounds. Common characteristics of chamber pop include lush instrumentation created by horns and stringed instruments,^[3] as well as intricate and complex melodies. In part, chamber pop was also influenced by the lounge revivalism which swept throughout the decade.^[3]

See also[link]

• List of baroque pop artists

Notes[link]

v t e Pop rock Arena rock · Baroque pop · Dream pop · Emo-pop · Glam metal · Glam punk · Glam rock · Manila Sound · Pop punk · Power pop · Soft rock · Sunshine pop Category:Rock music · Portal:Rock music

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Pat Metheny
Background information
Born	(1954-08-12) August 12, 1954 (age 57) Lee's Summit. Missouri, United States
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, folk jazz world fusion, post-bop, jazz-rock, crossover jazz
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Electric guitar, acoustic guitar, guitar synthesizer
Years active	1974–present
Labels	ECM, Geffen, Nonesuch
Associated acts	Pat Metheny Group, Noa, The Orb, Steve Reich
Website	www.patmetheny.com
Notable instruments
Gibson ES-175 Ibanez PM20 Signature Model Ibanez PM100 Signature Model Ibanez PM35 Roland GR-300 Pikasso guitar

Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny (/məˈθiːni/mə-THEE-nee; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.

He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive and contemporary jazz, post-bop, latin jazz and jazz fusion.^[1] Pat Metheny has three gold albums and 19 Grammy Awards.^[2] He is the brother of jazz flugelhornist and journalist Mike Metheny.

Biography[link]

Metheny was born and raised in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb southeast of Kansas City. Following his graduation from Lee's Summit High School, he briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1972, where he was quickly offered a teaching position. He then moved to Boston to take a teaching assistantship at the Berklee College of Music with jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton.^[3] He first made his name as a teenage prodigy under the wing of Burton.^[4] In 1974 he made his recording debut on two sessions for pianist Paul Bley's and Carol Goss' Improvising Artists label, along with fretless electric bassist Jaco Pastorius.

Metheny entered the wider jazz scene in 1975 when he joined Gary Burton's band, where he played alongside resident jazz guitarist Mick Goodrick. Goodrick was a 1967 alumnus of Berklee, who had held a teaching post there in the early 1970s. The two guitarists were interviewed jointly by Guitar Player Magazine in 1975, bringing them to the attention of fellow guitar aficionados around the world. Metheny's musical momentum carried him rapidly to the point that he had soon written enough material to record his debut album Bright Size Life with Pastorius and drummer Bob Moses.

Metheny's next recording, 1977's Watercolors, was the first to feature pianist Lyle Mays, Metheny's most frequent collaborator. The other musicians on this session were Eberhard Weber on upright bass and Danny Gottlieb on drums. Metheny's next album formalized his partnership with Mays and began the Pat Metheny Group, featuring several songs they co-wrote; the album was released as the eponymous Pat Metheny Group on West German musician/producer Manfred Eicher's ECM record label. Pat Metheny also has released notable solo, trio, quartet and duet recordings with musicians such as Jim Hall, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes, Toninho Horta, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, Pedro Aznar, Jaco Pastorius, Charlie Haden, John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Bill Stewart, Ornette Coleman, Brad Mehldau, Joni Mitchell and many others.

Pat Metheny has also joined projects such as Song X with Ornette Coleman; Parallel Realities; and Jazz Baltica, with Ulf Wakenius and other Nordic jazz players like E.S.T., Nils Landgren and has played with unique singers from all over the world, such as Silje Nergaard on Tell Me Where You're Going (1990), Bruce Hornsby on Harbor Lights (1993) and Hot House (1995), Noa on Noa (1994), Abbey Lincoln on A Turtle's Dream (1994) and Anna Maria Jopek on Upojenie (2002). His collaboration with other great musicians also contains works with Milton Nascimento, Santana, Dominic Miller, Michael Brecker, Trilok Gurtu etc.

Pat Metheny has been touring for more than 30 years, playing between 120 and 240 concerts a year.

Pat Metheny Group[link]

The Pat Metheny Group is a fusion band founded in 1977. The first Pat Metheny Group release, 1978's Pat Metheny Group, featured the writing duo of Pat Metheny and pianist Lyle Mays, a collaboration which has spanned over 25 years and 15 albums. The recording featured the electric bass playing of Jaco Pastorius's protégé Mark Egan. The second group album, American Garage (1980), was a breakout hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart and crossing over onto the pop charts as well, largely on the strength of the up-tempo opening track "(Cross the) Heartland" which would become a signature tune for the group. This early incarnation of the group included Mark Egan on electric bass and Dan Gottlieb on drums.

The group built upon its success through constant touring across the USA and Europe. The early group featured a unique sound, particularly due to Metheny's Gibson ES-175 guitar coupled to two Eventide Clockworks' Harmonizer digital delay units and Mays' Oberheim and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 synthesizers and Steinway piano. Even in this early state the band played in a wide range of styles from folk to rock to experimental. Metheny later started working with the Roland GR-300 guitar synthesizer and the Synclavier guitar system made by New England Digital. Mays expanded his setup with the Synclavier keyboard and later with various other synthesizers.

Left to right: Steve Rodby and Pat Metheny.

From 1982 to 1985 the Pat Metheny Group released Offramp (1982), a live set Travels (1983), and First Circle (1984), as well as The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), a soundtrack album for the movie of the same name in which they collaborated with David Bowie. A single from the soundtrack, 'This Is Not America', reached number 14 in the British Top 40 in early 1985 as well as number 32 in the USA.

Offramp marked the first appearance of bassist Steve Rodby (replacing Mark Egan) and Brazilian "guest artist" Nana Vasconcelos whose work on percussion and wordless vocals marked the first addition of Latin music shadings to the Group's sound, a trend which would continue and intensify on First Circle with the addition of Argentinian multi-instrumentalist Pedro Aznar, which also marked the group debut of drummer Paul Wertico (replacing Dan Gottlieb) - both Rodby and Wertico were members of the Fred Simon Group at the time, and had played in Simon-Bard as well, in Chicago, before joining Metheny.

This period became a peak of commercial popularity of the band, especially for the live recording Travels. First Circle would also be Metheny's last project with ECM Records; Metheny had been a key artist for ECM but left following conceptual disagreements with label founder Manfred Eicher. The next Pat Metheny Group releases would be based around a further intensification of the Brazilian rhythms first heard in the early 1980s. Additional Latin musicians appear as guests, notably Brazilian percussion player Armando Marçal. Still Life (Talking) (1987) was the Group's first release on new label Geffen Records, and featured several popular tracks, followed by Letter from Home (1989) which also featured Aznar and Marçal. During this period The Steppenwolf Theater Company of Chicago featured an assortment of compositions by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays for their production of Lyle Kessler's play Orphans where it has remained special optional music for all productions of the play around the world since.

Metheny then again delved into adventurous solo and band projects, and four years went by before the release of the next record for the next Pat Metheny Group, a live set entitled The Road to You, which featured tracks from the two Geffen studio albums amongst new tunes. The group integrated new instrumentation and technologies into its work, notably Mays' unique playing technique accomplished by adding midi-controlled synth sounds at command during acoustic solos via a pedal on the piano.

Mays and Metheny themselves refer to the following three Pat Metheny Group releases as the triptych: We Live Here (1995), Quartet (1996), and Imaginary Day (1997). Moving away from the Latin style which had dominated the releases of the previous 10 years, these albums were the most wide-ranging and least commercial Group releases, including experimentations with sequenced synthetic drums on one track, free-form improvisation on acoustic instruments, and symphonic signatures, blues and sonata schemes.

After another hiatus, the Pat Metheny Group re-emerged in 2002 with the release Speaking of Now, another change in direction adding musicians to the band who are one generation younger and thus grew up with the Pat Metheny Group. The new members on the bandstand are the drummer Antonio Sanchez from Mexico City, trumpet player Cuong Vu, and bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and percussionist Richard Bona from Cameroon.

Metheny touring in 2003
Courtesy: Tyrone Lancaster

The latest release, 2005's The Way Up, is another large concept record which consists of one 68 minute-long piece (although split into four sections solely for CD navigation), a tightly organized, but not through-composed piece based on a pair of three-note kernels: The opening B, A#, F# and the derived B, A, F#. The reception of The Way Up was consistent, with standing ovations in each of the almost 90 concerts during the world tour 2005. On The Way Up, harmonica player Grégoire Maret from Switzerland was introduced as a new group member, while Richard Bona contributed only as a guest musician.

During the world tour Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Nando Lauria completed the line-up of the Pat Metheny Group. The Way Up was released through Nonesuch Records and all of Metheny's Geffen and Warner Brothers back catalogue is to be released on the label. Core members of the group are leader and founder, guitarist Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays (piano, keyboards) and Steve Rodby (double and electric bass) who joined in 1980. Drummer Paul Wertico replaced Dan Gottlieb in 1983 and continued to play with the group for more than 18 years, until he was replaced by Antonio Sanchez, currently also a member of The Pat Metheny Trio.

The current Pat Metheny Group members are Pat Metheny (guitars), Lyle Mays (piano and keyboards), Steve Rodby (double bass, electric bass), Antonio Sanchez (drums), Cuong Vu (trumpet). Other musicians that have been hired regularly for Metheny Group tours are: the late Mark Ledford (vocals, trumpet, guitar); David Blamires (vocals, miscellaneous instruments); Armando Marçal (percussion); Pedro Aznar (vocals, guitar, percussion); Richard Bona (vocals, guitar, bass, and percussion). On the most recent tour to promote the record "The Way Up", Grégoire Maret (harmonica, percussion, vocals) and Nando Lauria (guitar, percussion, vocals) joined the Group. Pat Metheny has collected 19 Grammy Awards, and of them, as part of The Pat Metheny Group, 10 of those awards were consecutive.

Side projects[link]

When working outside of the confines of the PMG, Metheny has shown different sides to his musical personality. On Secret Story (1992) and Orchestrion (2009), he has ventured into forms of orchestrating his music not covered by the PMG. In the late '80s Metheny began collaborating more with established jazz figures such as Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Charlie Haden, Jim Hall, Dave Holland, Christian McBride, David Sanchez and Roy Haynes. Despite his conversion from Brazilian and Latin jazz into more traditional jazz, Metheny still pushed the envelope in the mid-90s with avante garde albums in Zero Tolerance for Silence and The Sign of Four (with Derek Bailey). Metheny's latest side projects teams him with Brad Mehldau and his Trio. In 2006, Metheny appeared as a sideman on Brecker's last album, Pilgrimage.

Guitar contributions[link]

Pat Metheny and his guitar.

Continuing the tradition of jazz guitarists borrowing tones and techniques from their rock counterparts, Metheny has made alterations to the jazz guitar tone palette.

Twelve-string electric[link]

Prior to Metheny, Pat Martino had used the electric twelve-string guitar on a studio album, Desperado, and John McLaughlin had used a double-neck electric guitar with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. (Lenny Breau had introduced the acoustic twelve-string to jazz.^{[citation needed]}) Metheny introduced alternate 12-string tunings to jazz^{[citation needed]}; these can be heard on tunes such as "Sirabhorn" (from Bright Size Life) and San Lorenzo (from Pat Metheny Group and Travels).

Six-string electric[link]

Metheny's tone, which has evolved over the years, involves using the natural full-frequency response of his hollow-body guitar, combined with high-midrange settings on his amplifier to create a smooth, sustaining lead sound that is virtually devoid of piercing treble yet is able to cut through a dense mix. By using digital signal processing that involves digital delay/chorus and reverb, he has created a big, rich, and resonant instrumental voice.

Guitar synthesizer[link]

Metheny was also one of the first jazz guitarists to make heavy use of the Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer. While John Abercrombie and Bill Frisell also used it heavily in the 1980s, Metheny is the only one of the three who still uses the instrument on a regular basis. Unlike many guitar synth users, Metheny limits himself to a very small number of sounds. In interviews, he has argued that each of the timbres achievable through guitar synthesis should be treated as a separate instrument, and that he has tried to master each of these "instruments" instead of using it for incidental color. One of the "patches" that Pat used often is on Roland's JV-80 "Vintage Synth" expansion card titled "Pat's GR-300".

42-string Pikasso guitar[link]

Metheny plays a custom-made Pikasso I created by Canadian luthier Linda Manzer on "Into the Dream" and on the albums Quartet, Imaginary Day, Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, Trio→Live, and the Speaking of Now Live and Imaginary Day DVDs. Metheny has also used the guitar in his guest appearances on other artist's albums.

Manzer has also made many acoustic guitars for Metheny, including a mini guitar, an acoustic sitar guitar, and also the baritone guitar, which Metheny used for the recording of One Quiet Night. His latest use of the Pikasso is found on the album Metheny Mehldau Quartet, his second collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau and his trio sidemen Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard; the Pikasso is featured in Metheny's impressionistic composition "The Sound of Water."

Influences[link]

Metheny playing the guitar controller for the Roland GR300 Guitar Synthesizer.

As a young musician, Pat Metheny did everything he could to sound like Wes Montgomery, but when he was 14 or 15, he decided that he felt that it was disrespectful to imitate him.^[5] In the liner notes on the 2-disc Montgomery compilation Impressions: the Verve Jazz Sides, Metheny is quoted as saying, "(Smokin' at the Half Note) is the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play."

The angular compositions, asymmetrical lines, relentless rhythmic drive, and deep blues feeling of Ornette Coleman's New York is Now (Blue Note) inspired Metheny to find his own direction.^[6] He has recorded Coleman compositions on a number of his records (starting with a medley of "Round Trip" and "Broadway Blues" on his debut Bright Size Life); worked extensively with Coleman collaborators such as Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman, and Billy Higgins; and has even made a record, Song X, with Coleman.

Metheny's playing (as well as his tone) also show significant influence by Jim Hall, Joe Diorio, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, John McLaughlin and other classic jazz players^{[citation needed]}. Metheny has often been quoted saying that he is as likely to name non-guitarists as significant stylistic influences as fellow guitar players, giving as examples players like Clifford Brown and John Coltrane^{[citation needed]}. He has stated that Miles Davis' live album Four & More was hugely influential on his pursuit into jazz music. He has also admitted to being heavily influenced by The Beatles, going so far as to say that everything by The Beatles has impacted him as a musician. He has paid significant attention to the evolution of guitar playing across genres, however, and is familiar with the playing of notables from the likes of rocker Eddie Van Halen to Leo Kottke.^{[citation needed]}

In particular, he has been influenced by Brazilian music--both the European-influenced jazz sound of the bossa nova and the intensely polyrhythmic Afro-Brazilian sounds of the country's northeast.^{[citation needed]} Metheny made 3 albums on ECM with the Brazilian vocalist and percussionist Naná Vasconcelos in the early 1980s. He also lived in Brazil from the late 1980s to the early 1990s and performed with several local musicians such as Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta. He also played with Antonio Carlos Jobim as a tribute, in a live performance in Carnegie Hall Salutes The Jazz Masters: Verve 50th Anniversary before Jobim’s passing away.

He is also a fan of several pop music artists, especially singer/songwriters including The Beatles; James Taylor (after whom he named the song "James" on Offramp); Bruce Hornsby, Cheap Trick, Joni Mitchell, with whom he performed on her Shadows and Light (1980, Asylum/ Elektra) live tour. Metheny is also fond of Buckethead's music. He also worked with, sponsored or helped to make attractive recordings of unique singer/songwriters from all over the world such as Pedro Aznar (Argentina), David Bowie (UK), Silje Nergaard (Norway), Noa (Israel), and Anna Maria Jopek (Poland).^[7]

Two of Metheny's recordings, The Way Up and Orchestrion, evidence the influence of American minimalist composer Steve Reich and utilize similar rhythmic figures structured around pulse. Reich's composition Electric Counterpoint was first recorded by Metheny and appears on the Different Trains CD released by Nonesuch Records in 1987.

Metheny Brothers[link]

Pat took part in recording some of the CDs by his older brother, trumpeter Mike Metheny, a jazz musician and a trumpet player based in Kansas City, Missouri, among them Day In - Night Out (1986) and more recently Close Enough for Love (2001).^[8][9]

Bibliography[link]

• Goins, Wayne E. (2001). Emotional Response to Music: Pat Metheny's Secret Story. Edwin Mellen Press. 

Discography[link]

Early recognition[link]

Chuck Lorre (producer of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory) mentions Pat Metheny in his weekly 'vanity card'^[10] (shown briefly after the credits of the Season 1 Episode 12 episode of The Big Bang Theory entitled "The Jerusalem Duality"). To summarize, Chuck Lorre was a professional guitarist at the age of 22. He was invited to audit a jazz guitar class at the University of Miami, and his ego was crushed when Pat Metheny began to play. Chuck says that this experience played a part in shifting his focus toward television.

Awards & Recognition[link]

In 2011, Pat Metheny was voted "Guitarist of the Year" in the DownBeat Magazine's Readers Poll.

In 2010, Pat Metheny was voted "Guitarist of the Year" in the DownBeat Magazine's Readers Poll.

In 2009, Pat Metheny was voted "Guitarist of the Year" in the DownBeat Magazine Readers Poll.

In 1995, Pat Metheny was granted the Miles Davis Award by the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

List of Grammy Awards received by Pat Metheny:^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pat Metheny

• The Pat Metheny homepage - biographies, discographies, discussion and songbook forums, tour dates, etc.
• The most complete Pat Metheny discography with radio shows, promos a. o.
• Pat Metheny entry at AllMusic.com
• Pat Metheny profile, NNDB
• Pat Metheny's guitar rig
• Pat Metheny at the Internet Movie Database
• Pat Metheny discography at MusicBrainz
• Pat Metheny's artist file on the Montreal International Jazz Festival's website

Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek live in Athens, 2007
Background information
Born	(1947-03-04) March 4, 1947 (age 65) Mysen, Norway
Origin	Oslo, Norway
Occupations	saxophonist, composer, producer
Instruments	soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
Years active	1966–present
Labels	ECM, Flying Dutchman
Associated acts	George Russell, Terje Rypdal, Bobo Stenson, Keith Jarrett, Ralph Towner, Eberhard Weber, Bill Frisell, David Torn, Gary Peacock, Hilliard Ensemble
Website	www.garbarek.com
Notable instruments
bass saxophone, clarinet, flute

Jan Garbarek (born 4 March 1947)^[1] is a Norwegian tenor and soprano saxophonist, active in the jazz, classical, and world music genres. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war Czesław Garbarek and a Norwegian farmer's daughter. Effectively stateless until the age of seven (there was no automatic grant of citizenship in Norway at that time) Garbarek grew up in Oslo. At 21, he married Vigdis. His daughter Anja Garbarek is also a musician.^[2]

Biography[link]

Garbarek's sound is one of the hallmarks of the ECM Records label, which has released virtually all of his recordings. His style incorporates a sharp-edged tone, long, keening, sustained notes, and generous use of silence. He began his recording career in the late 1960s, notably featuring on recordings by the American jazz composer George Russell (such as Othello Ballet Suite and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature). If he had initially appeared as a devotee of Albert Ayler and Peter Brötzmann, by 1973 he had turned his back on the harsh dissonances of avant-garde jazz, retaining only his tone from his previous approach. Garbarek gained wider recognition through his work with pianist Keith Jarrett's European Quartet which released the albums Belonging (1974), My Song (1977) and the live recordings Personal Mountains (1979), and Nude Ants (1979).^[3] He was also a featured soloist on Jarrett's orchestral works Luminessence (1974) and Arbour Zena (1975)^[4]

As a composer, Garbarek tends to draw heavily from Scandinavian folk melodies, a legacy of his Ayler influence. He is also a pioneer of ambient jazz composition, most notably on his 1976 album Dis a collaboration with guitarist Ralph Towner that featured the distinctive sound of a wind harp on several tracks. This textural approach, which rejects traditional notions of thematic improvisation (best exemplified by Sonny Rollins) in favour of a style described by critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton as "sculptural in its impact", has been critically divisive. Garbarek's more meandering recordings are often labeled as New Age music, a style generally scorned by more orthodox jazz musicians and listeners, or spiritual ancestors thereof. Other experiments have included setting a collection of poems of Olav H. Hauge to music, with a single saxophone complementing a full mixed choir; this has led to notable performances with Grex Vocalis, but not yet to recordings. In the 1980s, Garbarek's music began to incorporate synthesizers and elements of world music. He has collaborated with Indian and Pakistani musicians such as Trilok Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and Ustad Fateh Ali Khan. Garbarek is credited for composing original music for the 2000 film Kippur.

In 1994, during heightened popularity of Gregorian chant, his album Officium, a collaboration with early music vocal performers the Hilliard Ensemble, became one of ECM's biggest-selling albums of all time, reaching the pop charts in several European countries and was followed by a sequel, Mnemosyne, in 1999. In 2005, his album In Praise of Dreams was nominated for a Grammy. Garbarek's first live album Dresden was released in 2009.

Awards & honors[link]

In 1999, Garbarek was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav and in 2004 he was awarded the Norwegian Arts Council award.

Discography[link]

Jan Garbarek live

As leader[link]

• Esoteric Circle (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Afric Pepperbird (ECM, 1970)
• Sart (ECM, 1971) with Terje Rypdal
• Triptykon (ECM, 1972)
• Witchi-Tai-To (ECM, 1973) with Bobo Stenson
• Dansere (ECM, 1975) with Bobo Stenson
• Dis (ECM, 1976) with Ralph Towner
• Places (ECM, 1977)
• Photo with Blue Sky, White Cloud, Wires, Windows and a Red Roof (ECM, 1978) with Bill Connors
• Aftenland (ECM, 1979) with Kjell Johnsen
• Eventyr (ECM, 1980) with John Abercrombie and Naná Vasconcelos
• Paths, Prints (ECM, 1981) with Bill Frisell
• Wayfarer (ECM, 1983) with Bill Frisell and Eberhard Weber
• It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice (ECM, 1985) with David Torn
• All Those Born With Wings (ECM, 1987)
• Legend of the Seven Dreams (ECM, 1988) with Rainer Brüninghaus
• Rosensfole (1989) with Agnes Buen Garnås
• I Took Up the Runes (ECM, 1990)
• Ragas and Sagas (ECM, 1990 [1992]) with Fateh Ali Khan
• StAR (ECM, 1991) with Miroslav Vitous
• Atmos (ECM, 1992) with Miroslav Vitous
• Madar (ECM, 1992) with Anouar Brahem and Shaukat Hussain
• Twelve Moons (ECM, 1992)
• Officium (ECM, 1994) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• Visible World (ECM, 1995)
• Rites (ECM, 1998)
• Mnemosyne (ECM, 1999) with the Hilliard Ensemble
• In Praise of Dreams (ECM, 2003)
• Dresden (ECM, 2009) live album
• Officium Novum (ECM, 2010) with the Hilliard Ensemble

As sideman[link]

With Bill Connors

• Of Mist and Melting (ECM, 1977)

With David Darling

• Cycles (ECM, 1981)

With Paul Giger

• Alpstein (ECM, 1991)

With Egberto Gismonti

• Sol Do Meio Dia (ECM, 1977)
• Magico (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden
• Folk Songs (ECM, 1979) with Charlie Haden

With Trilok Gurtu

• Living Magic (1990)

With Zakir Hussain

• Making Music (ECM, 1986) with John McLaughlin and Hariprasad Chaurasia

With Keith Jarrett

• Belonging (ECM, 1974)
• Luminessence (ECM, 1974)
• Arbour Zena (ECM, 1975)
• My Song (ECM, 1977)
• Personal Mountains (ECM, 1979)
• Nude Ants (ECM, 1979)

With Manu Katché

• Neighbourhood (ECM, 2006)

With Eleni Karaindrou

• Music For Films (1991)

With Kim Kashkashian

• Monodia (2002)

With Karin Krog

• Jazz Moments (1966)
• Til Vigdis (1967)
• Joy (1968)

With Art Lande

• Red Lanta (ECM, 1973)

With Marilyn Mazur

• Elixir (2007)

With Gary Peacock

• December Poems (ECM, 1977)
• Voice from the Past - Paradigm (ECM, 1981)
• Guamba (ECM, 1987)

With George Russell

• Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (Flying Dutchman, 1969)
• Trip to Prillarguri (Soul Note, 1970)
• Listen to the Silence (Soul Note, 1971)

With Terje Rypdal

• Terje Rypdal (ECM, 1971)
• Hav (1971) with Jan Erik Vold

With L. Shankar

• Vision (1983)
• Song for Everyone (1985)

With the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra

• Caris Mere (1995)

With Ralph Towner

• Solstice (ECM, 1975)
• Solstice/Sound and Shadows (ECM, 1977)

With Miroslav Vitous

• Universal Syncopations (ECM, 2003)

With Eberhard Weber

• Chorus (ECM, 1984)
• Stages of a Long Journey (2007)

With Kenny Wheeler

• Deer Wan (ECM, 1977)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jan Garbarek on ECM Records
• Jan Garbarek at the Internet Movie Database
• Jan Garbarek Group
• Jan Garbarek's daughter, singer Anja Garbarek
• Jan Garbarek Group @ Theatre Lycabettus concert review, Greece