Strictly Jazz: The Music of Pat Martino and Pat Metheny ft. Gerard Harris

Strictly Jazz: The Music of Pat Martino and Pat Metheny ft. Gerard Harris The Green Room at Crosstown Arts Sunday, August 16th, 2026 Doors open at 5:30 PM | Show begins at 6:00 PM $20 in advance (plus fees) | $30 at the door PURCHASE TICKETS HERE Join us for August’s installment of Strictly Jazz Entertainment’s “Strictly Jazz” Series as Memphis-based guitarist Gerard Harris tackles the music of Pat Martino and Pat Metheny! Personnel: Gerard Harris Aidan Mills Tony Thomas Renardo Ward Vince Oglesby GERARD HARRIS Gerard Harris is a Memphis-born guitarist, keyboardist, and educator whose journey spans from the streets of L.A. to stages across the world with the legendary R&B group Kool & the Gang. A graduate of the University of Memphis, Harris became the school’s first jazz guitar instructor and has since built a dynamic career as a performer, arranger, recording engineer, and mentor. He has toured internationally, recorded string arrangements, and shared the stage with artists from Paris to Morocco. Locally, he’s the founder of World Soul Project, teaches music in Memphis schools, and plays regularly with the Memphis Groovetet on Beale Street. ABOUT PAT MARTINO Pat began playing professionally in 1961. He performed with a wide variety of artists including Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Richard Groove Holmes, John Handy, Bobby Hutcherson, Chick Corea, Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Stanley Clark, Eric Kloss, Trudy Pitts, Willis Jackson, Lloyd Price, Woody Herman, Chuck Israels, Charles Earland, Barry Miles and Joe Pesci. Starting in 1967, Pat was touring as a leader. He was a Recording Artist for Vanguard, Prestige, Warner Brothers, Muse, Columbia, King, Paddlewheel, Evidence, Sony, 32 Jazz, High Note, Milestone, Polydor, Concord, Fantasy, House of Blues, Mythos, Mainstream, Cobblestone, Atlantic and, most recently, Blue Note Records. ABOUT PAT METHENY Pat Metheny was born in 1954 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Both his parents and his brother played instruments, so there was always music in his family setting. He started playing the trumpet at age 8, and switched to the guitar at age 12. He cites the Beatles, Miles Davis, and Wes Montgomery as having the biggest impact on him as a musician. He became the youngest ever faculty member at the University of Miami at age 18, and then the youngest ever faculty at Berklee College of Music at 19. It was also during his time at Berklee that Pat Metheny began a 3 year collaborative stint with vibraphonist Gary Burton. Pat Metheny’s style is a wide ranging and deep one. His influences come from all areas of music including classical guitar, rock, and folk music, and he displays them all in whatever medium he chooses. Pat Metheny was an early adopter of the synthesizer, using its sound to the benefit of his music and the music as a whole. He has recorded many albums seminal to jazz, including Bright Size Life, Kin, Pat Metheny Group, The Way Up, and Beyond the Missouri Sky only to name a few. He has played with the likes of Jaco Pastorius, Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Lyle Mays, Mark Egan, Chris Potter, John Scofield, Michael Brecker, Jack Dejohnette, McCoy Tyner, Bill Frisell, and many others.