LIVE IN NEW YORK CITY, VOL. 3: PROMISE LAND

I am "fortunate" to have almost the entire Discography of Pastorius and after having paid mega- premium price for each of his live releases, I consider that it was money (not) well spent.

Not questioning his remarkable skills, but the excitement tends to wear off after having heard the same riffs in an almost identical set-list over and over again. The odd variation to that is often just indulgent meanderings that lead to little substance.

Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate Jaco's work in general, but he appears to have performed better in the employ of others (Weather Report, DiMeola, etc.) than on his own.

In a trio format he is compelled to excel, but here, there is too much reliance on the others and that affects the overall delivery. A number of rather mediocre Gospel/Soul like vocal pieces tend to disappoint - not unlike McLaughlin's disastrous attempts to do Santana imitations in the mid- '70s.

Not a bad album, but excellent - it isn't. Given half a chance, I'd let it go any minute in return for the money I paid for it.