TRIO OF DOOM (WITH JACO PASTORIUS AND TONY WILLIAMS)

For a lot of Jazz Rock / Fusion fans out there this is a dream trio if there ever was one. John McLaughlin on guitar, Tony Williams on drums and Jaco Pastorius on bass. Sadly 2 of the 3 are no longer with us. Jaco came up with the name TRIO OF DOOM for the band. This really was a one-off performance as they were invited along with many CBS recording artists (including WEATHER REPORT who Jaco was playing with at the time) to Cuba for a cultural exchange of music in 1979. It became known as "The Bay Of Gigs" to the artists. This was a 3 night affair in Havana, Cuba sponsored by the U.S. State Department. It was the first time in two decades that Cubans and Americans shared the same stage. TRIO OF DOOM had 25 minutes to do their thing. Five days after their performance they re-recorded three of the tracks at Columbia Studios in New York bringing the combined studio and live songs up to 39 minutes and enough to release on an album.

We get the live show first opening with a drum solo from Tony called "Drum Improvisation". It blends into McLaughlins "Dark Prince" the most energetic track on here. The problem with this one is knowing who to focus on. This is lights out good as all three guys let their hair down. Beyond amazing ! "Continuum" is Jaco's composition and it's a beautiful laid back track but there is this underlying power that never raises it's head but you know it's there. The band is introduced to the audience after this song. "Para Oriente" is a Williams composed track and is quite powerful at times. McLaughlin lays down some fire later then a calm ends it. "Are You The One, Are You The One ?" is the final live track and a McLaughlin song. John recorded this with Jack Bruce and Tony Williams on his solo record called "Electric Guitarist". Killer drumming to open then they get into this groove a minute in. This is a monster. Check out the bass after 3 minutes. A big roar from the crowd when they finish. The studio tracks are "Dark Prince" , "Continuum" and "Para Oriente" and while they are more polished they do standup well to the fiery energy of their live counterparts.

For me this is a no-brainer at 4 stars. I have the remastered version and there's a blurb from John about the experience of working with these two legends among other things.