Metheny was born on Aug. 12, 1954, in Lee's Summit, Mo. Along with absorbing surrounding country, r&b, and rock & roll idioms, he developed an appreciation for such jazz musicians as Wes Montgomery. A guitar prodigy, Metheny taught at the University of Miami and Berklee School of Music when he was in his teens. Gary Burton recruited Metheny for his band in 1974 and he played on the keyboardist's ECM records until he formed his own group three years later. Along with Wisconsin keyboardist Lyle Mays, Metheny's band featured compositions that were influenced from an array of sources while the writing established a springboard for the musicians' own expansive melodic improvisational techniques. Metheny includes a 12-string electric, and Roland guitar synthesizer, as well as standard electric and acoustic guitars in his repertoire. He has collaborated with Paul Bley, Sonny Rollins, Julius Hemphill, Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette. In 1985, Ornette Coleman appeared on Metheny's Song X.

When Metheny wrote his own autobiographical profile in the February 1998 Down Beat, he said, "The best musicians I know, and the ones whom I admire and seem to listen to the most, are capable of hearing deep into the musical moment and responding quickly and with meaning to give that moment an immediacy that represents the spirit of the time they are living in."

Recommended recordings: Travels (ECM 1252/3); Song X (Geffen 924096). —Aaron Cohen