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Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life
Jaco Pastorius
bass, electric1951 - 1987
Bob Moses
drumsb.1948
Metheny himself has long held Bright Size Life among his favorites. In 2004, he made the title track the opener on his compilation Selected Recordings, part of ECM's :rarum artist-selects series. True, Bright Size Life had been his debut album for the label, but nobody forced him to feature it and he had others to choose from.
By the time Metheny, Pastorius and Moses recorded Bright Size Life in 1975 they had been gigging around the US East Coast for around two years. The trio was tight. In his liner notes for the :rarum compilation, Metheny says "I always wished I had played better on that day we recorded, but somehow I think we did capture something about where we were and what we were aspiring to become." In an interview for the Library of Congress in 2021, he said "I wanted to make a record that might be the only record I would ever make. I hoped to make a statement on things that were important to me in terms of melody, harmony, trio playing, and even kind of life in general." The eight-track album includes seven Metheny originals and one
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
The album blurs the borders between straight-ahead jazz, fusion and what became known as Americana and, though Metheny has always rung the changes and avoided codification, it became an elastic template for his subsequent work. It is also a fine example of Pastorius' playing before he became the guy who turned
Weather Report
band / ensemble / orchestraP.S. The :rarum album—as fine an introduction to Metheny's early work as could be wished for—closes with another beautiful trio track,
Horace Silver
piano1928 - 2014
Charlie Haden
bass, acoustic1937 - 2014
Billy Higgins
drums1936 - 2001
Track Listing
Bright Size Life; Sirabhorn; Unity Village; Missouri Uncompromised; Midwestern Nights Dream; Unquity Road; Omaha Celebration; Round Trip/Broadway Blues.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Pat Metheny: six srring guitar, electric 12-string guitar; Jaco Pastorius: bass.
Album information
Title: Bright Size Life | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: ECM Records
Tags
pat metheny
Album Review
Chris May
bright size life
ECM Records
Jaco Pastorius
Bob Moses
Weather Report
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