Jaco Pastorius
In New York

The dark period, the relentless decline of Jaco Pastorius, is poorly documented regarding the artistic side. The testimonies, stories, and legends are numerous, but if we talk about recordings, you can count them on your fingers, if not on the fingers of one hand. The main reason is that his concerts had drastically decreased in number, simply put, no one wanted to let him play anymore because he was unpredictable... a top talent, certainly... a genius, a unique talent, but so unpredictable, so mad... the problem was his mind, not the music.

Jaco, until recently acclaimed by the masses and a star of the Weather Report tours, was now starving in the streets of the Big Apple. In November 1985, he was miraculously hired for a few nights in a small New York club. The group is good, with a raw sound and not perfectly polished (you can hear some mistakes or inaccuracies here and there), but they are all musicians who know their stuff: Hiram Bullock (electric guitar), Kenwood Dennard (drums), Delmar Brown (synthesizers), Michael Gerber (piano), Jerry Gonzales (trumpet, congas), Alex Foster and Butch Thomas on saxophones.

With the first two (with whom Pastorius formed the PDB trio, initials of their last names and "Pretty Damn Bad," "damn good") Jaco launches into devastating interpretations of "I Shot The Sheriff" (what Bullock does!!!) and "Dear Prudence." The dreamy Beatles melody is performed here by the guitar, alternating with more rhythmic, more funky strumming. But the melody is there, it's still so Lennon-like but different, and Bullock makes it all so lulling that it would make you want to close your eyes and imagine exotic and distant places if you weren't anchored to the hard, fantastic reality by Jaco's pulsating bass. In short, these three musicians literally breathe new life into the song. The performance of "3 Views Of A Secret" is also heartfelt (Pastorius on keyboards), as heartfelt as the frantic "Invitation" (by the way, what happened to "The Chicken"?!?). In short, our hero shows once again that he feels completely at ease in a trio formation (as anyone who has listened to "Live in Italy" or the "Trio Of Doom" knows well).

With the full group, our hero shows even more convincingly that he is still himself, always himself. Bright, deep, pulsating, rhythmic, and funky. If anyone can listen to "Dania" without dancing or even tapping their foot in time, they have all my respect. Relentless walking bass, wild and raw brass, a piano simply gone mad... Jaco can make even plants dance, and he shows us he is still capable of it. He proves to those who believe him finished that he can still give emotions. In November '85, with more alcohol than blood in his veins, with eyes constantly red and dilated, Jaco Pastorius can still create art. Don't believe it? Think after Word Of Mouth he said everything he could say? Or even after Heavy Weather and Night Passage? Okay, I understand you. It's understandable. Indeed, most of it had already been said. But Jaco had forgotten to tell us a little something more, and he makes up for it in that small New York club, so intimate that the screams and applause of the audience are part of the group's sound. He makes up with a long and moving "Punk Jazz," the intro with the bass phrases and brass is touching, the theme is always incredible, incredible in the sense of "not believable," because describing it is impossible, it can only be listened to... or played. And from punk jazz to the r&b of "Why I Sing The Blues" (I may be biased, but I love Jaco's voice, it's so soul!!) the step is short. Reggae, jazz, funk, rock, r&b... Jaco's influences are all represented in this record.

And then, "Naima," John Coltrane. From master to master, Jaco takes that incredible ballad and turns it into a desolate song for his bass, a showcase for his talent and style. In November '85, Pastorius still gave us his music, and we celebrate it, despite the frankly low audio quality of this record, despite the group not being 100% polished, Jaco resurrects Jaco and offers him to us. And he comes to life every time this music floods the air of our room, our living room, our car, our life.