JACO PASTORIUS

A mixed bag for sure and often on the same track. Two of those would be "Kuru/ Speak Like A Child" and "Ocus Pocus" where there's lots to like but also some annoying stuff that keep me from completely enjoying the tunes. Those would be the disco vibes on the former and the island sounds on the latter. The opener "Donna Lee" is one crazy bass track, oh my! Percussion supports but this is all Pastorius. "Continuum" could be on the ECM label. Soul vocals from Sam & Dave on "Come On, Come Over". The closer is all bass. Top two though for me would be "Used To Be A Cha-Cha" at almost 9 minutes. We get flute, piano and bass soloing here. Love that determined sound with the bass and percussion on "Okonkole' Y Trompa", just relentless.

A good album but not as good as the World class bass player here.

Word of Mouth is a work for a large ensemble; most noticeably it contains lots of reeds, harmonica (Toots Thielemans) and percussion. Jaco handles also keyboards. The seven tracks vary between near-3 minutes and 12 minutes. 'Crisis' is a very hectic and nervously busy piece that gives me very little enjoyment. '3 Views of a Street' is relaxed like a balmy summer day and gives a central role to harmonica.

'Liberty City' starts with a sharp and fast brass intro and soon settles on a nice groove starring bass, piano, percussion (incl. steel drums) and reeds. Otherwise enjoyable, but 12 minutes of it is too much. 'Chromatic Fantasy' is based on a Bach tune; after the bass solo it gets quite an experimental mess of mainly percussion and reeds.

'Blackbird', the shortest track, is naturally the McCartney evergreen. The melody is loosely played by bass and harmonica while the sharp percussion makes it excitingly edgy. The title track is hectic like the opener. 'John and Mary' is the other long piece (10:53) and perhaps the easiest track to enjoy. It has some Pat Metheny reminding airiness and the biggest amount of lyricless vocals. In the halfway it fades and continues, for a couple of minutes before returning to the main groove, in completely another style.

This is admittedly a very personal and eclectic fusion album. At times I'm mildly charmed by it, but most of the time frankly not at all, in the sonic sense. I'm not fond of brass orientation, steel drums or harmonica, and there's not much of fresh melodies on the whole album. Three subjective stars.

The first track is a great tour de force of avantgarde elastic hyperkinetic jazz. "3 Views of a secret" is a mellow, slow and even vocalised track with nice brass textures and solo harmonica. "Liberty city" has a nice bass reaggae bass motive and the 12-minute track is filled with improvisational teasers. "Blackbird" is one of the most interesting and dynamic cover version I've heard, it brings new dimension with harmonica, bass and harp. The title track is the closest to progressive rock/fusion a la Mahavishnu Orchestra, it features heavy bass and drums. The last track is again very different - world fusion rhythms and sunny motives lighten the sky.

For my money, Bireli Lagrene is that guitarist. He opens up the album with some Neoclassical scales, mixed with Funk riffing. Already he proves that he is a musician that can think outside of the box, just like Jaco. They then launch into a fiery version of "Teen Town" wich just floors me every time. The drummer is a local uknown (atleast to me) but he does a good job at keeping time for the two giants he was playing with. Very straightforward and he gives the music a real Rock edge. The cover of "I Shot The Sheriff" from this album has gone on to become a minor classic and its no wonder. Jacos Bass and Lagrenes Guitar is dancing around and intercepting eachother like fencers and there is even a very good drumsolo!

You owe it to yourself to give this album a listen.Around this time Jacos life had begun unraveling into a nightmare of substance abuse and mental ilness and just one year later he would die a tragic and pointless death, virtually forgotten by the music world. But listening to this album you could believe that he was in the shape of his life. Musically this recording really stands as Jacos finest hour.

It is of no secret that Jaco had a serious problem with alcohol addiction. That in turn led to his untimely death at the hands of a bouncer at a Fort Lauderdale establishment.

A Jazz-Rock fan, I spent a small fortune on obtaining most of his seriously overpriced live recordings. Most of them were a flop, a disappointment and this one is only marginally better than the rest.

This trio of badly mis-matched musicians lacks cohesion, let alone direction. Pastorius, no matter how intoxicated he may be delivers his flawless bass line as if second nature. The only thing is missing - inspiration. Nothing really wrong with the delivery, it just fails to impress.

Lagrene on the other hand is more into showing off his Heavy-Rock, bordering on Speed- Metal licks , licks that don't really match the compositions. These two cats may share admiration for Hendrix, but their individual approach couldn't be more different. The end result is not very impressive.

The drumming comes across as quite ordinary, just keeping the beat, but nothing much more. Nothing to make me to look out for other recordings with his participation.

I am rather partial to good "jamming", but this performance is one of those that gives "jamming" a bad name. Indulgent and directionless, but still, slightly better than most other live recordings by Jaco.

Can't quite offer it 4 as I couldn't call it excellent, but it's certainly above 3 - if only marginally.

In this series he plays pretty much his own material over and over again - minus the grunt - and it can get a bit tedious. The main difference is the format. Either as in a trio (like here), or with saxes. It appears to me that the trio format is where he is somewhat compelled to pay more attention, but even then he doesn't appear to be under much pressure in order to excel. His bouncy style on the bass remains predictable and whilst still very credible, boredom soon sets in with me.

My impression is that he was much more innovative as a band member than as a solo artist taking liberties. Based on these series, he appears to be a rather overrated artist and by no means would I belittle his general talent. The fact is that there is hardly anything outstanding here.

As of these series I'd recommend either this, Vol. 2, or Vol 4, but I see little point in obtaining more than one, or two discs of Jaco just having some fun.

It certainly is good, but as for one who enjoys Jazz, I'd be reluctant to call it an excellent addition, let alone essential.

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.

In this live record he collaborated with many musicians as he is performing in full big-band style. I really love with the way he plays hiss bass on he "Soul Intro / The Chicken" track. It's really enjoyable as the bass-work is dominant and unique. All music played here are performed in big-band style where brass section is quite dominant. Peter Erskine is also excellent as the solo drums was performed dynamically. What makes this album interesting is that it combined the big-band style and jazz-rock fusion. The bass solo section is also interesting to enjoy. Jaco can communicate nicely with the audience through his bass guitar work.

It's an enjoyable album and I recommend those who love jazz-rock have this album in your collection. Keep on proggin' ....

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

This live album is one of the recordings I've heard where he really could shine, with music that could really push his bass to another level.

Invitation starts the album on a high note, with Jaco playing ferociously fast behind his big band orchestra. Amerika is a nice quick bass solo on the traditional patriotic piece (but why the "k"?). The Chicken was one of Jaco's signature pieces, and this is one of the best recordings of it I've heard. Othello Molineaux' steel drums really liven the song.

The second side drops a bit in quality. The songs are somewhat more low key, and Jaco's playing, while good, just doesn't elevate the songs. And strangely, I notice that the volume levels seem to fluctuate during many of the songs.