Mike Metheny

Metheny has released twelve full-length albums, the first in 1982. He produced two records with major labels, in 1986 and 1987, to mixed reviews.[3] Since 2000, his albums have been produced by his own record label, 3 Valve Music.[4]

Metheny has pursued a career in music journalism since the early 1990s.[5] He was editor for Kansas City's Jazz Ambassador Magazine (JAM) from 1994 to 2003 and has contributed to KC Magazine, Jazziz, and The DaCapo Jazz & Blues Lover's Guide to the U.S.[6]

Commenting on Metheny's move from Boston to Missouri, and his transition to music journalism, the Boston Globe wrote in 1991, "Mike Metheny seemed on the verge of national recognition. He had a sweet sound, a gift for melody and three records under his name, two of them on a major label. Then he stopped."[7] Metheny himself jokes that his career as a journalist is "an occupation that pays less than being a jazz musician".[7]

He continues to perform, primarily in Kansas and Missouri, and with a particular emphasis on the electronic valve instrument (EVI), a trumpet synthesizer that he has featured in his recordings and which was given to him by his brother Pat as a present.[3]

In 2007, Mike and Pat set up the Metheny Music Foundation of which Mike serves as the chairman. The foundation was established to "preserve, promote, and perpetuate an informed appreciation for all styles of music, honoring the history of the Metheny family through four generations and the rich musical heritage of the city of Lee's Summit, the state of Missouri, and the surrounding region."[8]

In 2016, Mike Metheny published the anthology Old Friends Are the Best Friends: the Letters of John McKee and Mike Metheny. The book's foreword was written by Pat Metheny.

Mike Metheny is the older brother of jazz guitarist Pat Metheny.[9] As the Los Angeles Times has pointed out, "Most of fluegelhornist Mike Metheny's career has been spent in the large shadow cast by his younger brother, guitarist Pat."[3] Pat Metheny's greater level of success has not been lost on his brother. As Mike Metheny pointed out in a 1987 interview, at the height of his own music career, "there's a dramatic distinction between where [Pat] is and where I am... Pat is definitely in a class by himself".[10] Notwithstanding, the Boston Globe writes that there is "not even an iota of intra-familial rivalry" between the pair.[2]

Pat is five years younger than Mike. Before dedicating his life to guitar, Pat started playing trumpet at an early age, with older brother Mike as his teacher. Their father played trumpet, as did their mother's father, and with Mike informal trio sessions sometimes occurred. Pat has said that seeing them perform together, and seeing how much his brother practiced, had an important effect on him.[11]

• Blue Jay Sessions (Headfirst, 1982)
• Day In-Night Out (Impulse!, 1986) U.S. Top Jazz Albums No. 18[12]
• Kaleidoscope (MCA, 1987) U.S. Top Jazz Albums No. 6[12]
• From Then 'Til Now (Altenburgh 1989)[13]
• Street of Dreams (Altenburgh, 1995)[13]
• Close Enough for Love (3 Valve, 2001)
• KC Potpourri (3 Valve, 2003)
• Back to Basics (3 Valve, 2004)
• 60.1 (3 Valve, 2010)
• Old Wine/New Bossa: Selected Tracks (3 Valve, 2011)
• A Kansas City Trumpet Summit (3 Valve, 2013)
• Twelve for the Road (3 Valve, 2015)

• Official website
• Metheny Music Foundation