In 2018, the New York-based pianist, composer, and arranger Pierre Piscitelli approached Lyle with some transcriptions he had made of Lyle’s music. Lyle was elated to find that the transcriptions were extremely accurate and well done, and the collaborative process of putting together The Music of Lyle Mays: Compositions, Transcriptions, and Musical Transformations began. Set for release later this year, this book of sheet music will be the first official release of Lyle’s compositions in written form. Sign up for Lyle’s mailing list (at the bottom of this or any page of this website) to stay updated on the book's release, and all other Lyle-related news.

What follows is a Q&A with Pierre in which he goes in-depth about his time knowing and working with Lyle.

Were you aware of Lyle prior to working with him?

I first heard Lyle’s music when I was about 14 years old and can say without hesitation that it was the single most consequential moment of my musical life. I had never before experienced the overpowering sensation of hearing exactly what I wanted to hear in someone's music. As Lyle’s fluid and effortless playing gracefully unfolded his compositions in real time, moment by moment I could feel that every musical decision was deliberate, scientific, yet gorgeous and done with a great deal of love. It was astounding. He changed my life forever and from that moment on deeply influenced how I heard music as well as how I played the piano. I was raised in Lyle’s universe of harmony, melody and musical structure and that’s exactly where I wanted to be. 

What can we expect from Lyle’s music book?

Even the most adoring fans are surprised to learn that Lyle thought of himself first and foremost, as a composer rather than a pianist. Lyle's astounding gifts at the piano were probably the most visible facets of his musical genius to the general public, but almost consequential due to the seamless and rapid flow of information from his brain, to his hands. This book highlights that undeniable truth and will include all of his compositions from his solo records as well as notable Pat Metheny Group pieces which are not in Pat’s book. All of the sheet music from Lyle  Mays, Street Dreams, Fictionary etc. will be available for fans to enjoy for the first time. We decided to adhere to a guiding principle of conveying clear compositional intent for each piece. Some pieces such as “Bill Evans” are written out as a simple lead sheet since that is all that the music demands. Other compositions like “Highland Aire” expand to at times, 7 or 8 different parts. The systems within the scores expand and contract elegantly in a way that present Lyle’s music in the clearest yet most detailed fashion. We thought of Einsteins quote: "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” I think that fans are going to love it.

What was the process like writing the music book with Lyle?

It was an absolute dream. I guess you could compare it to hanging out with the Beatles, or something like that. I was in disbelief for most of the process and could not get over how respectful and trusting Lyle was. When we first met through a mutual friend named Ken Boome (who had shown Lyle my YouTube cover of “Slink”…) I had already transcribed so much of his music that nearly a third of the book was already written and sitting on my computer! I thought it was just crazy that there was no official publication of Lyle’s music out in the universe, and felt a moral obligation to get it all written down exactly as he saw fit. Frankly, I was so surprised that no one had done it already and felt lucky to be the first to have the opportunity to do so. It took a lot of guts to ask Lyle if I could be the writer of his songbook, but when I finally had the courage to bring it up in one of our conversations, he was just elated! We worked together via phone and Skype (NYC/LA) for about a year several times per week. I would pick a compositions or two for the week and work it out in Sibelius as I saw fit. Lyle would check it out and we would then make some changes, mostly presentation/formatting related. He trained me so well so that by the 5th piece or so, I could sort of predict his process pretty well. We agreed almost all of the time and just had the greatest time hanging out together. He was kind and as easy to work with as they come.

What was the greatest challenge in putting this together?

I’d say that finishing the book on my own has been the biggest challenge for me. The process of working with Lyle to transcribe and engrave his music was an absolute joy and the greatest honor of my life. I was writing out my favorite music in the world with my favorite composer in the world. I got a private lecture on all of the music as he trusted me to handle his beautiful creations, one by one. Amazingly, we had finished most of the book before he passed in February of this year, so the challenge for me has been working alone since then on all of the finishing touches. It has been intensely difficult to listen to his music, look through our thousands of communications together and be so deeply immersed in his musical universe knowing that when I discover something cool, I can’t show it to him. Since then I’ve had the privilege of becoming acquainted with Lyle’s wonderful family and friends including his beloved niece, Aubrey Johnson, who has been extremely supportive and helpful. I find myself approaching things with a “What would Lyle do” mentality, and have tried my hardest to honor his legacy to the best of my ability. Every day I’m thankful that we were able to finish the majority of this project together, and I sleep better at night knowing that we created something he would be proud of.

What impressed you about working with Lyle?

Everything. Lyle was a master organizer. He taught me that everything in life is essentially, composition. His meticulous attention to detail and refusal to leave anything up to chance was what I admired most about him. Lyle did everything 150% and learned everything he could about a subject at hand until he was a master. He had a profound influence on how I carry myself, speak and even write. I am more caring and more deliberate with everything that I do because of him. He was a wonderful teacher, colleague and friend and I struggle to express just how much I miss him each day.

Do you have a favorite Lyle composition?  If so, which one and why?

This is a really difficult question. My many years as fan aside, I must say that I developed a new relationship with each and every piece as I dug into all of the nooks and crannies of the music with the composer himself. As someone who thought that he knew what Lyle was all about for so many years, I quickly realized that I had barely scratched the surface of Lyle’s contributions to music. Upon completion of this book, I realized that his work is actually about a million times more beautiful, sophisticated, and so deeply layered with mathematical games and patterns than I ever believed could be possible. The engineering of his music is done lovingly and with so much heart, laid out for us in a humorous, Mozart-like fashion for the really good listeners. The meaning behind every composition is so deliberate and well thought out. The more you dig, the better it gets and the more treasures you find buried within the music. I could write on and on about it forever! That being said, I get such joy from “Yolanda You Learn,” “Highland Aire” and of course the “Alaskan Suite.” I’m moved to tears withins seconds of hearing any of these works, and I will never view them the same way again.

If you had to recap your work with Lyle on this project in a word, what would it be?

Fulfilled.