The World's Greatest Pianist

[ CORNELIA GRUBER ]

I met Lyle through Danny Gottlieb who was a friend of mine. I discovered the, then, new Pat Metheny Group at Ryles in Cambridge which was a small but always packed jazz club. The music was magic and Lyle’s piano was heavenly. His music transported me. That evening was a musical revelation to me, little did I suspect how much of it I would get to enjoy soon after!

I lived in a duplex in Jamaica Plain (Boston, MA) and when the other half of my house came up for rent Danny and Lyle moved in together and became my next door neighbors. We had a really fun situation with a very close relationship between the two homes. We often ate and just hung out together.

Lyle’s grand piano took up almost the whole of the living room. I had the privilege to hear him play every day across the wall. He and Danny gave me somewhat of an education about jazz at that time.

In 1978, I had the incredible privilege to listen to their album American Garage before it got released. Then there was the shared excitement of packing up for their road trip with a small van. At that time they did everything themselves including packing and driving all over the country.

Many years later I saw the band a few times in Switzerland where I had moved to. The last time I went back stage at Montreux Jazz Festival to meet up with Lyle. I brought him a small travel game since I had discovered that we shared the passion of board games. I also told him about my son whom we named after him - that made him very happy.

Being a Swiss German speaker I had never heard the name Lyle before and instantly fell in love with the sound of it. Me having such fond memories of our cohabitation in Boston and always being transported by Lyle’s fantastic piano music, my husband and I gave our son his name. This name felt right and IS right for my son - even though over here in the French part of Switzerland it is not easy for people to grasp. I always explained that my son got his name in honor of the world's greatest pianist.

Lyle struck me as an unusual person from the very beginning I met him. He was very centered around his interests. In that way he seemed way more mature than myself when we met - even though we were the same age. He was a dedicated man who could spend days at his piano - I had no idea that he was a genius and just thought him to be very serious. On the other hand he was a good friend, caring and sensitive - very sensitive. He also told me many many years later how he was passioned by working with stones building a natural wall in his garden. Imagine, he said, every stone has to be picked and considered as an individual to fit into the pattern. Yes, Lyle, was not only a genius musician - he was a profound thinker in many ways.

I was struck by sadness and loss when I read about his untimely death. But I think Lyle lived his life to the fullest and got to explore many layers which most of us don't even know that they exist.