''Bright Size Life'' is the debut album by

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

, released in 1976 on ECM. The album features

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bass guitar, bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1 ...

on bass and

Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner. Robert Moses may also refer to: * Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist * Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic * Bob M ...

on drums. In 2020, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the

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and selected for preservation in the

National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...

Production and reception

The songs for ''Bright Size Life'' were written when Metheny was living in Boston and teaching at the

Berklee School of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

. Metheny's mentor, the vibraphonist

Gary Burton Gary Burton (born January 23, 1943) is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be he ...

, helped Metheny arrange the songs and accompanied him to the recording session in Germany. Despite that, Burton never received a producer credit on the release. Metheny has described the album as being "moderately successful" when it was released, selling around 900 copies, but that it wasn't until 10–15 years later that it received wider recognition. In 2005, the first track was included on the ''Progressions: 100 Years of Jazz Guitar'' compilation on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. In 2011, the first track was included on the '' Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology'' compilation. In August 2020, the album was included in the

jazzwise ''Jazzwise'', launched in 1997, is the UK jazz monthly magazine. ''Jazzwise'' has a broad sub-genre coverage, from jazz, improv, hard bop, and jazz-rock to bebop and classic jazz, and also covers jazz crossover, including jazz-funk, jazz hip-h ...

list of 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World.

Track listing

Personnel

– 6-and 12-string electric guitar *

– bass guitar *

– drums

Charts

Album – ''

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References

{{Authority control Pat Metheny albums 1976 debut albums ECM Records albums Albums produced by Manfred Eicher United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums