FunkFreak75 22-year old Pat Metheny's first album as a band leader. Recorded in December of 1975, Pat had been working for a couple years with Jaco Pastorius (most recently/concurrently with Joni Mitchell) whom he had met while in college in Miami. At 28, drummer Bob Moses was the "elder" in the crew, having spent many years on the front lines of the birth and toddling of Jazz-Rock Fusion (including having been the drummer in New York's Free Spirits--the band that is often considered the first to fuse dynamic, loud rock-heavy music into jazz forms as they did it in 1966).

1. "Bright Size Life" (4:45) melodic and incredibly-nuanced virtuosic performances from all three musicians treated with the pristine production of Manfred Eicher's ECM crew. One of my top three songs for the album: It's just so pretty! (9.125/10)

2. "Sirabhorn" (5:29) this one feels like a Pat Metheny song, completely, despite warm support from both Jaco and Bob; for the first three minutes it's all Pat. Then Jaco is given the green light to step into the spotlight--which turns out to be something quite tame and melodic while Bob continues to support with his quiet brushwork underneath. The tandem chord work in the sixth minute is my personal favorite part. (8.875/10) 3. "Unity Village" (3:40) two solo electric guitars: gentle picking chords from the left channel and gentle lead guitar from the right. Previews Pat's 1979 solo masterpiece, New Chautauqua (though not nearly as dynamic and layered). (8.75/10)

4. "Missouri Uncompromised" (4:21) effected jazz guitar with more traditional jazz drumming and jazz bass supporting. Bob's cymbal play becomes more animated in the second minute, reminding me a little of both Tony Williams and Keith Moon while staying as controlled as Jack DeJohnette. Pat's style and melody choices are built over a several riffs that could very well have been extracted from folk music of his native Missouri. (8.875/10)

5. "Midwestern Nights Dream" (6:00) one of Pat's special spacious solo pieces, here using some strong effects on his guitar(s) to amplify the echoing effect of his gentle notes and chords. Jaco and Bob's cymbals join in at the one-minute mark as Pat switches to playing sequences of pure chords. Jaco's counterpoint is spot on center for the first couple minutes but then he starts exploring the off-center harmonic possibilities as he so beautifully can. Bob's heartbeat-like muted bass drum is an interesting choice. In the fifth minute Jaco steps to the front while his electric fretless bass is fed through some kind of multi-tracking chorus-delay effect making it sound as if he's playing either chords or two notes at a time. (Perhaps he is!) These sound choices feel totally fresh and innovative--at least I can say that I have not encountered them in any pre-1976 music that I've heard. Probably my favorite song on the album.(9.3333/10)

6. "Unquity Road" (3:35) a cool jazz tune based on complex and unexpected chord progressions that often sound like a teaching étude. But the sound palette and melodic expressions in between the on-going chord play is as if a bird has flown higher than the flock. And I can never quite tell whether Bob is playing off of the chord progressions or Pat's melodic lead guitar work up top. Truly unusual and unique in its disparate parts but it works. Another top three song. (9.25/10)

7. "Omaha Celebration" (4:18) more interesting fast and continuous chord shifting with the melody now worked into the progressions and Jaco set free fairly early to explore his own counterpoint melodies and while Bob keeps the music anchored in a steady rhythm from beneath and above (the cymbal play). A little more bluesy than anything else on the album (so far) while also feeling the closest to anything being produced in the world of pop music at the time. (8.75/10)

8. "Round Trip/Broadway Blues" (4:58) the "blues" in the Ornette Coleman's title must refer to the old-feeling structure and chords used in this wild West Montgomery-like jazz rompus. Standard space given to each of the musicians for solo shine. I'm sure the guys had fun creating this one--though it probably took some practice to get it so loose and joyfully inspirited. (9.125/10)

Total Time 37:06

A-/five stars; considering the point in the two strings players' careers this album represents, one cannot help but be awed and appreciative of this high-quality, pristinely rendered collection of virtuosic and innovative songs. Even from a prog or Jazz-Rock Fusion perspective one cannot discount the freshness of some of the structures and sound choices here: the envelope of all those combinations and permutations the world of Boss effects pedals is really being pushed here!

EatThatPhonebook 7/10

"Bright Size Life" is an album full of true gems.

Pat Metheny is one of the most fammous jazz guitarists ever, along with other legends Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and such. Metheny released his first album back in 1976, and was very noticed among the fusion scene, thanks also to his immediately noticeable guitar playing, that still gives the chills today.

For this first album, the guitarist calls in the amazing bass player Jaco Pastorius to play during the recording sessions, as well as Bob Moses, the famous jazz drummer. The result of this is "Bright Size Life". The production here is sublime, extremely clean and delicate, and no instrument, surprisingly, is louder or more highlighted when the band plays all together. Metheny's guitars are as well very clean and pretty sounding, which is the thing that I liked the most about this album. Pastorius' bass, when played, is precise and decisive, absolutely brilliant bass playing. The drums are as well great, but I gotta put Bob Moses into the shadow a little bit; his playing pales into comparison of the other two musicians, in my opinion.

"Bright Size Life" is sure a Fusion album, but there are no electric moments here, expect for the fact that playing there is an electric guitar and electric bass; but it's definitely not Fusion as one would usually imagine, like Bitches Brew era Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock or Mahavishnu Orchestra.Like I mentioned before, this album is much cleaner sounding, and there is no distortion whatsoever. The music is relaxing, totally chilled out, and even haunting in some tracks, especially the more melodic ones. Then again the tone can be a little more enlivened in some points thanks to Metheny's solos.

the title track opens the album majestically, thanks to it's beautiful melody that will be regarded as one of Metheny's most famous. "Sirabhorn" is just as beautiful, but it's a little more minimalistic and tense. Even more tense is the six minute "Midwestern Nights Dream", very chilling and evocative. Some songs like "Unity Village" or "Missouri Uncompromised" are much less melodic and are mainly focused on improvisation. "Unquity Road" has a more peculiar and energetic melody, still being able to sound very fetching. "Round Trip" closes very cheerfully the album, thanks to the bluesy melodies. This was actually an Ornette Coleman cover.

A really good album, that has just a few songs that I don't care for, but all the others are true gems, that should be listened to if a jazz fan.