PAT METHENY - LETTER FROM HOME

[@luchesse626]

This was the last sound at my wife's funeral. Although I no longer cry when I hear it I still envision her spirit rising along with the notes at the finale of this. Beautiful song.

[@mariodriessen9740]

Wow..., I've told my children this is what I want to have played at my funeral. I never thought I wouldn't be the only one. My condoleances.

[@dlawson435]

Marty, I realize it’s ten years later, but I feel you sincere pain. Peace to you… God Bless

[@MrDcseltzer]

Marty, RIP to your dear wife. The music is absolutely magical and inspirational on so many levels.

[@bradybryant1770]

Prayers to you and her family. I've never been married but I've lost loved ones. Stay strong and keep GOD first. 😑🙏

[@eleanorzissou]

I‘m sorry for your loss.

[@artbychristine]

There are 2 levels to what happens when I listen. First is the emotion it evokes in me - it is the sound of wistful sadness, notaligia, perhaps a memory. Then there is the fact of the absolute beauty of the song itself - that something so lovely, rare and powerful exists- & that I am experiencing it. To be effected by art in this way is one of the things that (for me) gives life meaning. The tears are not sad. Thanks for asking. SEEK BEAUTY!

[@alanmodimages]

Very well said. Reflects my thoughts. Thank you :)

[@64orangeblues]

💗💗💗💗💗💗

[@valtersaivezzo4463]

@@alanmodimages E anche i miei..

[@kennethchartrand4251]

So very True my friend. Could not have said it better. Brings tears to your eyes while your smiling. A true Masterpiece.

[@Wolferal]

Very beautifully said. Wow!

[@Splucked]

My husband & I listened to a jazz station every night on the drive home from the office. The DJ always signed off with this song. We adored it. Hubby passed 8 yrs ago and hearing Letter From Home still makes me cry.

[@inaNis_]

you wouldn't happen to know what jazz station it was, would you?

[@dwaynesbadchemicals]

Philly station WRTI program did that during early evening years ago.

[@Splucked]

@@inaNis_ Sorry, just seeing this. Sad to say that I don't remember the call letters. Possibly out of Providence RI, but I think it's more likely that it was a small southern Massachusetts station.

[@delstanley1349]

I lived in Dallas when this was also the sign-off of a certain radio program that broadcast once a week--on Sunday nights. It was played on one of two stations, but I can't remember which one. The first station was 103.7, I think. This station was called "The Oasis," it featured "smooth jazz" or "fusion jazz," "contemporary jazz," or "kool jazz" or something. Starting in about the mid 80s these trendy smooth jazz stations were in all major cities and seem to have the same programming, like they all had one owner. It was mostly wall-to-wall sax and a bit of upper-register piano. The other station was 88.1, it played ONLY traditional jazz from its studio on the North Texas State University campus (now University of North Texas) in Denton. Lyle Mays studied there for a time. The school is noted for its jazz department in which you could get a degree in jazz. A lot of familiar names in jazz studied here. Anyway, whichever radio station it was, would play this track at the end of of a two-hour new-age syndicated show called "Musical Starstreams." I bought the CD (LFH) in early 1990 and it wasn't until about 15 years later (my first PC purchase) that I SAW a performance of this tract on TV or early KZbin. I thought the melody you hear was ALL Lyle Mays on keyboards! I thought LM was to be featured on this final track while Pat would "sit this one out." After I saw it on TV/YT and actually seeing PM on guitar I remember thinking he was playing some kind of "synthesized" guitar that had some exotic name, or some nerdy tech style electro name like a "PAT 3500 M-Tron XLTZ Gorlinx," you know, something like what Vangelis or Tangerine Dreams might play. It is obvious by now I play no instrument nor do I know a lot about music theory or music production techniques. Yeah, I thought this track was all upper-register piano and bass! I knew of PM before, I had the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack LP to the movie "Under Fire" in the mid 80s and he was a guest on that soundtrack. The Oasis station mentioned above would always play a track from the movie "The Falcon & the Snowman" in the late 80s. I have many playlists, one is called "Kool Jazz" and another called "Chill I." I make this track my ending one on both playlists, a kind of sentimental way to end the night.

[@Splucked]

@@delstanley1349 I'm a rock n roller. Knew nothing of jazz until hubby introduced me to it in the late 90s. We did the Newport Jazz Festival every August. (Aretha & Diana Krall were highlights for me.) Saw Metheny there in 2003. Sadly, he didn't do Letter From Home. I was very surprised the first time I saw a video of Letter From Home. Like you, I had believed that it was all keyboard.

[@benjamminify]

RIP Lyle Mays, such a beautiful song

[@TRCALB]

Metheny ballads are some the most beautiful songs in the world! I love this one!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@HeatherMaillet]

Walked down the aisle to this song. Such beautiful memories.

[@DaleSteadman]

That is awesome!

[@DaveandWendy1]

My wife & I danced to Always and Forever from Secret Story.

[@MrDcseltzer]

How wonderful Heather :)

[@swanstevenson822]

So many sad people listening to Lyle now. He was one of the greatest musicians ever, in any genre.

[@lilikaamore2123]

That's me...

[@ardavidsonjr]

This is the song I sent to my wife when she accepted my marriage proposal. At the time we hadn't seen each other in 10 years-that, my friends, is walking on faith. This song said everything my words could not.

[@gwendolynbien-aime1536]

What a beautiful story!!! This song makes me glad I'm alive!!! Absolutely amazing musicians!!!

[@williamseipp9691]

the song itself is beautiful interpreted in the context of my own life. But interpreted in the context of the story you just shared, it is even more so. Thank you for sharing.

[@brucemoeller]

In two weeks, 2/10/25, it'll have been five years since this wonderful keyboard soul went home. Lyle, you've touched so many souls with your heart and music. RIP

[@alanmodimages]

I am heartbroken today to learn of the passing of Lyle Mays.

[@frazzletruffle]

Alan Hayes me too

[@oriolcanalborrachero6344]

Rip

[@steveokon5431]

Definately, Lyle was really cut short! Very sad

[@steveokon5431]

What is Pat playing here, a mini Ibanez? I want one!!

[@andrewcharley1893]

Alan ,I’m with you !!!!! Lyle is home now.

[@artbychristine]

listened to it on the cd for years - cried every time. saw him perform it live and was overwhelmed....almost unbearably beautiful.

[@deemoe7301]

In my opinion one of the greatest jazz musicians alive

[@michaeldonohue6864]

PAT IS THE ONLY GENIUS GUITARIST ALIVE TODAY!!!

[@BD-ve5ru]

Michael Donohue George Benson says hello

[@federicorossi8587]

@@michaeldonohue6864 togheter with Lolo of Miranda

[@tonyc2570]

Wrong Michael. You re just a lad caught in the moment.

[@grewalparminder2003]

I'd rather listen to Kenny G.

[@trafyknits9222]

One of the most beautiful, soulful, heart-felt compositions ever. Pat and Lyle were magic.

[@thejonnz4140]

There are not many songs in the entire world that makes me 'feel' something like this song does.

[@mannydatt]

I just rediscovered this song after about a 10 year lapse. My dad used to play this when we drove back from the mountains when I was a kid, and it instantly took me back to those fond memories. Ever time I hear it, I think of my dad. Truly one of Pat’s best, would love to hear this live. Thank you Pat, your music soothes my soul.

[@YoshiTRoN1]

I guess the title “Letter From Home” really fits then huh?

[@mics6198]

So sad.... but what a joy that we all had the chance to live at the same time as this master. RIP Lyle.

[@_DEJA_VU]

🙏

[@ianstone3289]

This piece is exquisite, sublime, and tender... it takes me to such a pure and peaceful place.

[@mariuspechi5790]

Haendel

[@marcdecaux8478]

A great piece of love

[@shanehampton9070]

This is what music is..... compare this to contemporary music and it nearly makes one sick with concern for our future of msuic

[@MrDcseltzer]

Indeed Ian. Well said. Me too and I only just discovered it.

[@hmeeks1]

he wrote this when one of his closest friends passed away. just beautiful and reminds me of our friend John McKee every time I hear it

[@Jonocynic9]

RIP Lyle, you brought a great deal of joy to so many people.

[@pasqualenapoli90]

Grazie tanto Pat Metheny, da Napoli. Thank very much Pat Metheny, from Naples.

[@dugrober]

An hymn from Lyle directly from heaven! I discovered this song while living as a student in Paris back in the 80's. I have not stopped listening to it ever since. Sublime melody!

[@pmarcelle6159]

Pat Metheny has a very distinctive style. Can never be duplicated. This is soul stirring, reflective, and thought provoking 🎸

[@philipatoz]

Thing about PM, is that his music develops exceptionally patiently, often, atmospherically so. He has a wonderful sense of still, soft beauty and gentle pacing. His music is has so many delicate nuances and textures. And so amazing, as brutal as the marketing of music is, in a hurry up consumption world, he's found a niche that has carried him around the world with compositions and collaborations of pure quality. Even his pieces that I'm indifferent about, I still recognize the craftsmanship and beauty. Few modern musicians have such an ability to evoke memories and imagery like he does.

[@socaltavi]

Incredibly well-said, Philip. I couldn't agree more.

[@armensog87]

I can't think of a piece that I'm indifferent to :)

[@ziruini5071]

what a great comment

[@slyslaughter5115]

Arresting, beautiful. RIP Lyle Mays.

[@notfromhawaii]

My return to Boston, figuratively, through this tonal voyage letter by Pat Metheny Group.

[@andreabini5128]

Pat, you lost a friend, but not his music that will always be with us

[@brucemoeller]

Indeed...hard to watch and know the young Lyle is gone. I saw PMG 7-8 times. Always magical

[@ViniciusNipote]

Rest in Peace Lyle, thanks for your music

[@jevonj77]

A song sent from the heavens....

[@AnthonyEpes]

I am 53. How did I not ever know of this song!

[@nlehto]

Just thrilling music so filled with love and longing. He is a great musician and interpreter of love.

[@imaginarytube]

all the right notes in the right places.

[@yvesgerard1308]

It's exactly that ! ... the right notes at the right place for a " mexican roots " melody ... the incredible style of Pat ...

[@alexram5267]

Hi, What do you mean by a "Mexican roots melody"?

[@brianthompson2089]

Mays and Metheny are true artists and originals musically!

[@PianoPlayer50]

This has got to be the best song ever written in history,has a lot of feeling to it.

[@billhutchison7078]

Jazz music is a feeling, inspired by life itself, miss those days.

[@KenSerpico5450]

My beloved sister passed away recently of cancer and I find solace in this composition.

[@tiffanydouglas2686]

This song is so brilliant it really takes my breath away. I loved it!

[@garybreece-page7713]

Just subtle genius, wish it was longer, in my all time top 10

[@alexram5267]

I couldn't believe my ears first time I heard it... I still can't

[@RickInRock84]

This tune is like the most shining star in a nightly sky. This one is just the proof of the human soul.

[@rivermonster930]

When I was little my dad would play this for me on his laptop most nights like it was a lullaby😂I miss that.

[@alanmodimages]

:)

[@dawnthomas5299]

absolute genius. sound and arrangement is so expertly y produced. i love all his music .Thank You Pat Methany

[@moniquelacosta8522]

Peaceful, Beautiful, Dreamy, Lovely, Inspiring, Brilliant, Imaginative. This little Gem showcases Pat Metheny as a Great Composer.

[@marlenedin]

Antes de partir de éste mundo, deseo aprender a tocar esta canción tan hermosa.. Voy a lograrlo!💪

[@lauriesuzanne8848]

What a treat to not only listen in, but see Pat, Lyle, and the crew playing. A sweet reverie from all our earlier years. Thank you for posting this, Steve!

[@Tintenfinger]

An entire symphony in two and a half minutes. What a masterpiece.

[@cinnaplid]

A lullaby. So sweet, makes me nostalgic for people I have lost. Anyone who can make this kind of music must have a lovely soul. Sorry to sound soppy.

[@starwynde09]

So simple and clear...no gimmicks, no special FX---it just your mind free to wander, to be with an old love, or go back in time, when life was simpler and you were eternally young. It opens a summer night sky, full of stars, or basks in the soft glow of a winter's night fire. You may not be able to hum it, but you never forget it... Thanks, Pat. This is indeed a letter from home.

[@antoniolipana4634]

Strikes deep into one's soul..continues to this day and many days to come..

[@rubenroman5663]

Good bye Lyle Mays, thank you for the music, rip

[@brucemoeller]

Painfully beautiful......heart-felt....

[@rockstonedread]

Absolutely Incredible. Anyone who has been away from home for a while can relate to this piece.

[@alanmodimages]

We are all away from "Home". That's why this piece touches so deeply to everyone who hears it :)

[@marcopelosi6832]

I say...Letter from Heaven!!!

[@markkanicki2645]

If this doesn't bring you to tears, I don't know what will.

[@poyomonteverde]

Hermoso tema, ejecutado con una delicadeza impresionante, de la mejores banda que tuvo Pat, con Pedro Aznar tocando y cantando todo.

[@CarlHalling]

When Pat and Lyle play together, something wonderful happens. What a breathtakingly lovely piece this is. We are lucky to have them.

[@artbychristine]

I can never listen to it just once - minimum of three - every time. Too beautiful for words. Seek Beauty.

[@jmgcg]

Hurts because we know that we never gonna see these 2 play together again

[@Ayahuoskar]

I'm glad that we get to enjoy it once again like this. Magic.

[@beatrizdavila9254]

Suave, delicada, un poco triste....tan hermosa!!!

[@slimbarentse]

Bien dicho Doña...

[@CarlHalling]

I agree with everyone...this song goes way beyond the merely emotional, as does so much of Pat and Lyle's incredible music. Just wonderful.

[@TylerMorrow97]

Just more proof that , as Brian Wilson said, "Music is the Voice of God". Beautiful! I always seem to go back to 'Letter From Home' and 'Tell Her You Saw Me". It just touches your soul and melts your heart. Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays have always had the gift of creating beauty in music that places you in a certain place at a certain time in life.

[@3rdandlong]

I seem to be attracted to most all of Pat's early compositions. This is up there near the top--along with this album. Thanks Pat and Lyle.

[@ShawnWilliams1987]

Between Metheny and Mays, the dynamic duo of passion.

[@robvp71]

Still one of his most memorable compositions.. and I love how each time he manages to play an amazing improvisation over this tune, love the Italian crowd 😅

[@shineon1500]

Beautiful!

[@SunRavenMusic]

Beautiful song!

[@winterramos4527]

No Matter how many relationships one goes through. There is always that one special person that differs from all the rest. Damn.

[@DMused]

Bedtime. Hushed breathy Japanese announcer. Then I heard these distant, quiet, tender tones. I strained to hear them, absorb them, let them address and caress a deep deep part of me. That night I never did hear who the recording artist was but, in a day or two I received a cassette. A Letter From Home, sent by my beautiful-soul girlfriend. One side was the just released Letter From Home album and the other was recorded greetings from her and some of my friends from church. The cassette was

[@dfsbass]

Was listening to some music by Pat Metheny, one to whom I refer to as the musician I always aspired to be. And, I still do as I reach 70 this year. There is some sort of emotional connection I always have with the way he communicates musically. Though it was a fairly nice Sunday today, I was feeling a bit “down” for some reason. This song is very special to me because it expresses the way I felt just after my brother Steve lost his life due to a car accident on October 2, 1972, just one month into my Freshman year at West Chester. Weekends at the college were very lonely during the months following the accident, but my now dearly departed father frequently sent me “letters from home” to check in and offer words of comfort, though he and my family were in pain over it as well. He frequently visited on Sundays and took me out somewhere for lunch and we always had a nice visit. Since I had not made many friends yet during that first month and the weeks following, being alone on weekends was very difficult to handle, though going to a practice room in Swope Hall sometimes helped to take my mind down off of the pain I was going through. And I must admit that some frat parties took my mind off of it as well with the help of a “few” beers. 😩 This beautiful and somewhat melancholy song connects me with the emotion I had receiving those letters from my father and some from my mother as well. I still get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye every time I listen to this, but it is also a form of therapy for me as it helps me to recall those moments of comfort reading the letters my parents sent to me back in 1972 and the years that followed at West Chester. Metheny’s music has its own way of breaking through to my musical soul.

[@artursaparnieks7048]

Most beautiful songs, I,v ever heared

[@Carvel65]

I discovered the Pat Metheny Group with Lyle Mays, while I was buying and selling used CD’s by mail. His music seems alternately passionate, wistful, spiritual, and almost religious. My music needs on a desert island would include their greatest hits, and the G.H. of Steely Dan, and some sacred choral and orchestral music.

[@jayfailing6714]

Carvel, cool concept, I often wonder what I would have for same isle, PM group for sure, Dark Side of Moon, Days of Future Passed, few others. classical, thanks J

[@zygmuntpietka6946]

It's My first CD

[@dcd915]

Provocative and evocative at the same time... so much emotion in such a short simple song.... everyone should listen to this at various times in their lives... even if they don't know who Pat and the band are...

[@alanmodimages]

Agreed. It puts everything into perspective

[@Elin48]

Certainly I can imagine this song as a letter from home, picked up at a designated post office box in a far away city. It is feminine, tender, and sends love and good will, all with understanding, and that she looks forward to his return.

[@ProfessorChomsky]

Listened to this beautiful tune for many, many years and it retains it's inherent beauty and majesty and wonder.......a magnificent, moving, beautiful composition which melts your heart xxx

[@richardmckenzie1610]

Beautiful song...my son is moving out, leaving the nest and I sent him this song and said this is how I feel with you moving out. He understood.

[@alicealifromnm1537]

We were assigned to Avon Park Bombing Range 8n central FL from 83 to 91. This was my ad! Transferred to UT discovered a smooth jazz radio station, and discovered that song. To this day Thanksgiving through New Years isn't complete without this song

[@tomgoerz2411]

This is a reunion that MUST HAPPEN!!! The best instrumental duo ever.

[@ProfessorChomsky]

Such beauty, such feeling, it does not get any better than that x

[@sam0xin]

One of the thousands MASTERPIECES ! GENIUS COMPOSER ! GREAT PERFORMER ! VERY UNIQUE & RARE MUSICIAN ! BLESSED MUSICIAN .... thanks for sharing !

[@anthonymcgann459]

RIP Lyle Mays - got my daughter to learn this beauty piano piece. Not easy to get the mood and dynamics just right. Pat the master.

[@Dfmichael]

A master piece. That is why Metheny and Lye are the two great composers of the last 50 years

[@heatherstub]

I first heard this while my cousin, Jeff, was in Iraq after having been in the Gulf War in the 90s. That entire album helps heal the soul and bring new life. I know that especially for him and those with him who suffered with bouts of PTSD, because I was told it made them relax, open up, and "let the fresh air in." There's even a part of the album where the music actually gets very eary, but for him and some of his fellow soldiers, it helped them express some of the intense loneliness and fear they felt. I definitely appreciated it in a more powerful way. I believe it's the Pat Metheny Group's best album ever.

[@philipsan]

the beauty of the composition leaves you breathless

[@smoothie788]

This song makes me fantasize. It makes me reminisce on the good times throughout my life. This song is one of a kind.

[@MuzoSTEIN]

Public Address: If crying's not in the scope of your radar - then KEEP WELL CLEAR of this timeless masterpiece!! Continued thanks, P. Metheny.

[@DMused]

I was Pat obsessed since I first heard him in 1979. Since then I have learned, emulated, transcribed, analyzed, and been in synch with his music and musical arc until some big life events pulled me out. The memory of the first time I heard this tune will always move me most. I was a short term missionary in Japan. A bit lonely after 2 months. It was late night. Laying on a tatami mat, rice patty grass gently swaying outside. Only a few radio stations. Bedtime.

[@MichaelGrecoGuitar]

what a beautiful melody. Pat's composing and guitar playing never cease to amaze me

[@jvmuss7]

A beautiful song. A wonderful performance. The music in their hearts fills a terrible void in this ugly world.

[@omgnuub]

I've been listening to metal and dubstep all day and i suddenly felt an urge to listen to pat metheny...ah....always hits the spot =). peace!

[@MRestisbest]

@CuteePie83 Thank you so much for your gentle and touching words flowing strictly from the heart. Greetings from Poland. We Polish love Pat Metheny as a one of most gifted musicians of all times.

[@MrFiveeasypieces]

I listened this today, not the first time i heard it. All of a sudden, tears just started falling...Thank you Pat, Lyle and the rest of the band!

[@hankberumen3804]

The same with me...

[@freedomland11]

I'm a Big old school Hip-Hop fan raised in da Bronx and Queens. I have to say that Pat metheny influenced me in writing intelligent lyrics and creating beats in my studio!! I do this as a hobbie Pat and your da one to thanx..BIG UPS!! Queens, NY Playa..keep on rockin da same shirt and hair!!

[@Dionysosable]

Great Music ! Alwys lovesd Pat Metheney and his bands. Wonderful music! Great Musicians with a special style and sound.

[@guitarmanmark]

The gift is from Pat, he shares his music, his very being, there are no magicians at work here, no mysticism, just a dedicated and talented human for other humans to admire, Please don't attempt to suggest that magic powers or gods are reponsible, that is just silly. This man stands out and and moves us (humans) a little further forward. He deserves all the recognition

[@ucoimbra88]

amazing song. Great Pat Metheny

[@wrane2]

So Fantastic, I never mind revisiting this music, moments in time and memory. Now on our favorites.Thank you, The Rane Brothers

[@Ramaz1969]

I can't describe peacefullness I feel when I hear this song. Thanx Pat.

[@ProfessorChomsky]

Been listening to this for years and it moves me, here in my guts, here in my soul, every time, a simple, short, sweet, beautiful and profound piece of true art x

[@alanmodimages]

It's like a musical Haiku :)

[@jasonbaker4501]

what a wonderful song. even better now than when I was 16.

[@marcosaureliocarvalhodossa5249]

Amo essa música..... gratidão por tudo , Lyle Mays....Deus o tenha 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽