Sunday, August 18, 2013

AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Pat Metheny

Artist:Pat Metheny
Song:Bright Size Life
Album:Rarum Vol. 9: Selected Recordings





Pat Metheny has been one of the most popular jazz guitarists since the 70s. Bright Size Life was his debut album in 1975. He was born Aug. 12, 1954 in Lee's Summit, MO which is a Kansas City suburb. His older brother is trumpeter Mike Metheny. He studied under Attila Zoller. Metheny briefly attended the University of Miami in 1972 and was offered a teaching position. Then he moved to Berklee in Boston as a teaching assistant to Gary Burton. He met Burton when he was in high school. Metheny made his recording debut with pianist Paul Bley in 1974. Also on those sessions was bassist Jaco Pastorius. This was before Pastorius joined Weather Report. Then Metheny joined Gary Burton's band to work alongside Mick Goodrick. Goodrick is a Berklee grad primarily known as an educator. He has taught many jazz guitarists. Then Metheny signed with Manfred Eicher's ECM Records and recorded Bright Size Life in 1975. Jaco Pastorius is on bass and Bob Moses is on drums. Moses has been a sideman since the mid-60s but at the time he was in Gary Burton's band. Bright Size Life was a huge success. Fans love Metheny's guitar technique and fans of jazz guitar can be obsessive about technique. Metheny's second album Watercolors was with pianist Lyle Mays. Mays has been Metheny's most frequent collaborator and was part of The Pat Metheny Group formed in 1978. Metheny left ECM in 1984. This comp is part of a series and the recordings were selected by Metheny. Since the mid-80s, Metheny has recorded for Geffen, Warner Bros. and he currently records for the Warner label Nonesuch. His current band is Unity Band with Chris Potter on sax, Ben Williams on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. A CD was released June 2012. He has recently released a CD with sax player John Zorn. Of course Metheny has won many awards and has been a sideman on tons of records. Here's Pat Metheny with bassist Richard Bona and drummer Antonio Sanchez performing Bright Size Life.

No comments:

Post a Comment