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Bright Size Life
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work
Bright Size Life · Pat Metheny wrote the songs for this debut album in Boston, where he was teaching at Berklee. His mentor, the vibraphonist Gary Burton, helped with the arrangements and went along to the recording session in Germany in December 1975. ECM producer Manfred Eicher did not want an electric bass on the record. The trio therefore first rehearsed with Dave Holland, but in the end Jaco Pastorius was allowed to play after all and, according to drummer Bob Moses, even to overdub his theme on Midwestern Nights Dream.
The record was released in March 1976. Metheny himself called it moderately successful: about nine hundred copies were sold. Only ten to fifteen years later did it gain wider recognition. His clear, open guitar tone is compared with that of Jim Hall and Jimmy Raney, and he plays few bebop lines. Guitarist Martin Taylor called the record a turning point in jazz, and in 2020 the Library of Congress added it to the National Recording Registry.
Listening
Track list
- 1Bright Size Life4:53Apple Music ↗
- 2Sirabhorn5:29Apple Music ↗
- 3Unity Village3:40Apple Music ↗
- 4Missouri Uncompromised4:21Apple Music ↗
- 5Midwestern Nights Dream6:00Apple Music ↗
- 6Unquity Road3:36Apple Music ↗
- 7Omaha Celebration4:20Apple Music ↗
- 8Round Trip / Broadway Blues4:58Apple Music ↗
30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗