LYLE MAYS
Genres: Post-Fusion Contemporary, Post Bop, Third Stream • United States

Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 - February 10, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and composer best known as a member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group's music, for which Mays has won eleven Grammy Awards. While growing up, Mays had four main interests: chess, mathematics, architecture, and music. His parents were musically inclined – his mother was a pianist, his father was a guitarist – and he was able to study the piano with the help of instructor Rose Barron. She allowed Mays the opportunity to practice improvisation after the structured elements of the lesson were completed. At age 9 he played organ at a family member's wedding, and at age 14 he began to play organ in church. In summer camp he was introduced to important jazz artists. Bill Evans' album Live in Montreux and Miles Davis' album read more...