Steve Tibbetts Pt. 1

On science as faith, seven-year album cycles, seeing the Northern Lights during his first ECM session, and the "accumulation of everything."

All photos courtesy of Steve Tibbetts

When you think Midwest guitar hero who recorded prolifically for the ECM label starting in the 1970s and is seen as a guitar god in the world of jazz, you may be thinking of Missourian Pat Metheny. In the “great man” realm of listening, he tends to eclipse his labelmate, Steve Tibbetts.

In a manner, Minnesotan Steve T…