JAZZIZ PODCAST INTERVIEW - LYLE MAYS (AUG 2016)

JAZZ ONLINE PODCAST - LYLE MAYS (JAN 2016)

Like in an Indiana Jones story, a hidden tape has resurfaced recently involving Germans. Long story short, I guess I have a live album in that the can that I never even knew about and it contains the best playing I have ever done. I don't suppose you would we be interested in that.

This is indeed Marc Johnson but it's Bob Sheppard on Tenor and Mark Walker on drums. That quartet really came together on that European tour. I was (and still am) very proud of how that quartet played with such precision and freedom at the same time. I got lucky.

I would love to do a podcast on this as I loved playing with those guys and experiencing a band come together and then soar while on tour.

Lyle

We had a lot of fun recording this podcast. Lyle was hands-on in making sure everything was just right. He was excited and quite proud of this recording and how it was received. He also loved reading the podcast comments. - J. Vella

ECHOES PODCAST: NANA VASCONCELOS REMEMBERED (2016)

NYU JAZZ INTERVIEW SERIES PODCAST - LYLE MAYS (NOV 2015)

UNIV NORTH TEXAS COLLEGE OF MUSIC - LYLE MAYS JAZZ PIANO MASTER CLASS (FEB 2010)
The professor talking to Lyle early in the recording is Stefan Karlsson, Jazz Piano Professor at UNT. The first student player named is Austin, not sure of his last name. The second student player is the current One O'Clock Lab Band pianist Roberto Verastegui.
Recorded in Kenton Hall, UNT, Denton, TX

ZELTSMAN MARIMBA FESTIVAL - LYLE MAYS (JUL 2009)

“Here is a wonderful talk Lyle presented at my marimba festival in 2009.” - Nancy Zeltsman

 AS FALLS WICHITA, SO FALLS WICHITA FALLS - LYLE AND PAT METHENY (2009)

Producer notes: The podcast episodes were designed to be a complete commentary listening experience with Pat and Lyle narrating the music as it is playing. I recorded Pat in NYC and then Lyle in Southern California and then intercut both artists in the sequence of each track. As I assembled each track, Lyle became the guy who collaborated with me in assembling each podcast episode. He loved the process and of course, looked at each podcast as its own form of composition. He would send me detailed notes per each version of an episode and I would tweak and then send back for his approval. It was an incredible and stimulating experience to volley back and forth with him and to this day, I believe these are some of the best podcasts that I have heard done by any musicians as well as the strongest work that I have ever produced. I can thank Lyle and his unselfish and precise attention to detail and dynamics to get the stories just right and the music perfectly in balance on each episode. - J. Vella

“September Fifteenth” was by far the most difficult podcast episode to create in this series. I created nearly 20 takes of the episode before the final version (below). For each take, Lyle provided detailed and constructive comments to better the overall piece. Here are excerpts of his emails to me:

Well I like the lack of loop at the top. Does it sound empty now? You know, it might be in the spirit of Wichita to add something ambient. Could blend/blur the difference between the different locations you recorded our voices. I’m thinking of nothing more than soft, almost subliminal, birds outside - like what I'm listening to now. <g>

When I finish the line about Pat's charming 3/4 tune going into something open-ended, we're still playing the tune. It doesn't "sound" open-ended right there at all. It's a minor point, but moving it later might help.

Also before that, the bit about Oregon kinda steps on the start of the melody of the 3/4 thing to my ears. Or maybe Oregon seems a bit off track, although it is interesting back story. Maybe you could let the melody breathe a bit before Pat's voice comes in with "Oregon was going to do a record where they were going to play music of other composers...".

I'm also curious how it would sound if Pat's final comments were moved a little later. That might help balance things too.

And I kinda liked "we got lucky" too, but either one is fine to end with. I just felt the music was in the clear a bit too long afterwards, considering how much talking happened earlier.

It's getting there. Everything you did helped it. Tricky piece huh? It's maybe a metaphor for the music - harder than it sounds.

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY COMPOSITION LECTURE - LYLE MAYS (2006)
RECORDED OCTOBER 23, 2006

NPR INTERVIEW: SOLO: IMPROVISATIONS FOR EXPANDED PIANO - LYLE MAYS (2000)

MARIAN MCPARTLAND PIANO JAZZ - LYLE MAYS (1994)

RADIO INTERVIEW - LYLE MAYS (WB RADIO SHOW 1986)