Musician, Thinker, Great Person

[ MARK EGAN ]

Did you know or hear anything about Lyle before the forming of the PMG? 

Danny Gottlieb had told me that he had just recorded with Pat on the Watercolors record with Lyle and Eberhard Weber. This was the first time that I had heard of Lyle. I was a fan of ECM records many years prior to this and was listening to Pat’s previous record, Bright Size Life. I was an immediate fan of Lyle when I hear his playing on Watercolors.

Can you tell us your first impressions about Lyle upon meeting and playing with him?

We first met at our first PMG rehearsal in Boston. I had taken a train from New York and remember our first meeting as feeling very comfortable speaking with Lyle. We were friends immediately. When we started playing I was in awe of his talent as a pianist, arranger and team player. My first impressions were that he was a very serious musician and thinker as well as a great person.

To you, what made Lyle such a special musician?

Lyle was a genius and a seriously dedicated musician. It was obvious that he had put the time in studying his instrument and arranging.  He approached everything with such depth and he paid attention to the moment. He questioned musical possibilities as if he was putting together a puzzle.

Name a couple of things that surprised you about Lyle? 

Lyle’s interest in architecture was a surprise as well as his ability at juggling. It didn’t surprise me later to find that he also was a great pool player.

What was like touring with PMG at that time? 

It’s good that we were relatively young when we started this musical journey as we were traveling 300 days a year.  For the first year and a half or so we traveled exclusively in a van and brought and set up our own gear. Lyle was very good at loading the van a certain way that would optimize the little space that we had. At that time in the mid 70’s it was financially feasible to tour like this and our booking agent would keep us continually touring.  Between clubs, theaters, festivals and colleges there was no shortage of venues to play. It was a great period of our lives and we brought the music to a lot of people. 

Can you share in a memorable moment while touring?

There were so many great experiences with Lyle and the band while touring. One time while playing at a club called Toads in CT our dressing room was in the basement and we had a Spinal Tap moment when we heard the band being announced with a cheering crowd above us but we couldn’t figure out how to get up to the stage for a few minutes.