Blues for Pat is a jazz blues composition written by bassist Charlie Haden as a tribute to guitarist Pat Metheny. The piece debuted on Metheny's 1984 ECM album Rejoicing, a trio session featuring Metheny on guitar, Haden on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Cast in the key of F major with a standard 12-bar blues form, the tune moves at a relaxed mid-tempo swing, approximately 126 beats per minute. The harmony follows the traditional blues progression enriched with characteristic jazz alterations including flatted ninths and flatted fifths, providing a warm and accessible framework for improvisation. Haden's lyrical melodic writing suits the intimate trio setting, allowing the bass and guitar to engage in close interplay over the swinging groove. The Rejoicing album drew heavily on the legacy of Ornette Coleman, whose bands had included both Haden and Higgins in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Blues for Pat sits alongside Coleman compositions on the record as a complementary original that channels a similar spirit of melodic freedom within a blues tradition. Metheny later performed the tune live with Haden and drummer Jack DeJohnette in a 1989 concert recording. While not a widely performed jazz standard, Blues for Pat remains a notable example of Haden's compositional voice and his longstanding musical partnership with Metheny.
