Patrick Bruce Metheny (pronounced Meth - eeny, born August 12, 1954 in Lee's Summit, Missouri) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progressive- and contemporary jazz, post-bop, latin-jazz and jazz fusion.[1]
Metheny was born and raised in Lee's Summit, Missouri, a suburb south-east of Kansas City. Following his graduation from Lee's Summit High School, he briefly attended the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. After Metheny withdrew from the University of Miami in his first semester, he was offered a teaching position.[citation needed]