Leonard Patton Gets the Side Eye

Leonard Patton

When legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny’s Side Eye group takes the stage at Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay on May 8, San Diegans will hear a familiar voice coming from the stage. Local vocalist and proprietor of the Jazz Lounge, Leonard Patton is adding his signature style to the current Metheny tour, and audiences across the country are learning what the San Diego jazz scene has known for years…his is a unique and versatile voice in today’s jazz world. Recently, I had the chance to talk with Patton about the tour and upcoming show. His excitement is palpable and the experience continues to be joyful.

So how did Pat Metheny get hip to Leonard Patton anyway? We can thank Encinitas-based guitarist and producer Peter Sprague for that. As it turns out, Sprague had taken guitar lessons from Metheny back in the early 1980s and the two became lifelong friends. Anytime Metheny comes to town, Sprague is on the guest list and he has invited Patton to join him for several shows since the 1990s.

According to Patton, “I got to go to a lot of concerts and hang backstage and meet Pat. He knew that I was a musician, but he had never heard me until 2015 when Peter and I came out with the Dreamwalkin’ album, the duo album we did. Pat loves that album. He’s talked multiple times [in interviews] about that album. He’s also talked to the other guys in the band. He says Peter Sprague is the best guitar accompanist in the world. He holds Peter in high regard as a player.”

Peter Sprague. Photo by Dennis Andersen.

In 2022, Metheny was hired for a private concert in Newport Beach and reached out to Sprague to put together a band from San Diego that included John Opferkuch on piano, Mack Leighton on bass, Duncan Moore on drums, and Leonard Patton. At that time, the buzz began. Metheny’s tour manager asked Patton about the possibilities of touring, and Metheny was talking about needing some vocals for a tune on a project that ultimately became the new Side Eye III+ record that came out last February. Patton is the vocalist on “SE-O,” the fifth track on the album. It was in November 2025 that the tour manager starting calling Patton about the possibility of touring, saying “Pat might be calling you,” and on December 19 (Patton’s wedding anniversary with wife, Jerusha) the call from Metheny came and the tour was on.

Since hitting the road for the U.S. leg of the tour, Patton has been singing and playing percussion, selling out clubs and concert halls along with keyboardist Chris Fishman, drummer Joe Dyson, and bassist Jermaine Paul, all led by the singular guitar sound of Pat Metheny.

Referring to bringing the studio sound to the live stage, Patton says there’s some music on the album that can’t really be duplicated on stage because it’s really unlike any album Metheny has done before, in terms of vocals. But Patton points out, “On tour, there’s some magic involved. There’s definitely some magic involved. I’m singing all that stuff. And then we’re doing some of the Metheny Group stuff, which has been years since he’s played with a group that’s had vocals. We do ‘First Circle,’ which gets a standing ovation every single night. Every single night we play, it’s a standing ovation. I think it’s one of those tours where people didn’t know what to expect; people are loving the new record, but they’re loving this tour because they’re hearing a mix of the new and the old, which is really kind of blowing people’s minds.”

Pat Metheny. Photo by Jimmy Katz.

When Metheny put together the first Side Eye band in 2021, the project featured James Francis on keys and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Later, Joe Dyson replaced Gilmore and the project continued to evolve. For the 2026 tour, Metheny expanded the trio to a quintet to present a fuller, more nuanced sound on stage. The current band has a musical language with each other that creates the on-stage magic that audiences are applauding. Patton credits Metheny for opening that space for each member to bring their own creativity to his compositions.

“The three guys, Pat and Chris and Joe, have played together a lot,” Patton points out. “So, I feel it was quite easy for this amazing young bass player, Jermaine Paul, and me to step in and be a part of something that already had kind of laid down the groundwork. I’m the veteran in the sense that I’ve been listening to this music way longer than any of them have. It goes way back. So, understanding that sense of Pat’s music for a long time really helps. There are specific things that he wants to hear…dynamics and this or that, but some of the stuff I kind of created myself, based on knowing what he wants…certain vocal things or percussion things, because I’m playing percussion, too. I think we have a really cool group unit. Everybody’s really cool. Everybody’s really invested in the music. Everybody’s very, very supportive. It’s really an amazing experience. It’s a true unified band, which is a blessing to be a part of. We’re having a blast. These guys are incredible. These cats are amazing.”

Locally, Leonard Patton is well known for his chameleon-like vocal abilities. He’s created original music, covered both classic jazz and classic pop songs, and has performed in many musical theater productions over the years. That ability to be a musical chameleon is something he has in common with Metheny, whose diverse catalog showcases his constant forward creative motion. The preference, Patton says, is not being one dimensional: “When you have a specific sound that you’re looking for, you want not just great players, but people who can take things in different directions based on what that specific project means. It really helps his palate in the sense that we can really do some stuff. I’m playing percussion and it’s not like a typical, traditional Latin percussion. Before I left, I had a couple sessions with [drummer] Monette Marino, just to kind of get a sense of figuring out what I’d play, but it’s very specific to the tunes as opposed to how you traditionally play conga in a Latin jazz band. Same thing with vocals. A lot of the vocals over the years with the Metheny group go back to Milton Nascimento and they have this very kind of Brazilian thing, that’s carried over into a lot of this stuff that he’s done. And I get to do something I never hear any of his singers do. I get to improvise a little bit and scat. That’s very cool.”

Metheny’s Group, Side Eye, with Leonard Patton.

Being on stage with Pat Metheny presents creative opportunities and, sometimes, new challenges. The biggest pleasant surprise came when Metheny asked Patton if he could play guitar on a tune. While it’s a bit nerve wracking to have one of the world’s greatest guitarists ask you to play alongside him when guitar isn’t your first instrument, Patton is up for it. “He’s not going to give me something that’s so challenging that I can’t do it. And, I don’t mind challenges.”

The band is heading into the final shows of the U.S. part of the tour before heading to Europe to play some historic and classic venues, most notably the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. The local audience, coming to the show on May 8, will enjoy a different dynamic, says Patton. “It’s going to be crazy in a good way. With all the hometown folk; it’s going to be nuts. I think a lot of it’s just going to be feeding off the energy of the audience. Pat loves playing San Diego. He always plays San Diego when he’s on tour. I think San Diego might give the best energy of all the shows on the tour.”

And after the tour wraps, will Patton continue to make music with Metheny? It’s probable. According to Patton, “The one thing he’s mentioned not just to us, but he’s said this on stage…He loves this band. He’s already writing new tunes for this band for future recording, which is very cool. He’s always writing new stuff and it inspires him to do more. It’s so cool to be a part of that process of him creating more with this group in mind. I live in the here and now as far as enjoying this, but he definitely loves this specific group and what everybody’s bringing and, and it truly is inspiring him to write more stuff for us. It’s very cool.”

Cool is what it’s all about and it’s something San Diego can celebrate with Leonard Patton as he takes his sound on the road and reminds the world that San Diego is home to some of the best jazz cats around.

Catch the Pat Metheny Side Eye III+ tour on May 8 at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay. The new album on the Uniquity label is available on CD, vinyl, and on all major streaming platforms.

(Ticket link: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0A006346CE0F6164)