Lyle David Mays (November 27, 1953 – February 10, 2020 Wausaukee, Wisconsin) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and member of the Pat Metheny Group. Metheny and Mays composed and arranged nearly all of the group’s music, for which Mays won eleven Grammy Awards.

While growing up, Mays had four main interests: chess, mathematics, architecture, and music. His mother Doris played piano and organ and his father Cecil, a truck driver, taught himself to play guitar. His teacher allowed him to practice improvisation after the structured elements of the lesson were completed. At age nine he played organ at a family member’s wedding, and at age fourteen he began to play in church. In summer camp he was introduced to jazz pianist Marian McPartland.