John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius & Tony Williams
Trio Of Doom

LA RECENSIONE

On March 3, 1979, during the Havana Jam festival (organized by Columbia to build a bridge between America and Cuba), there was the first and also last public appearance of the Trio Of Doom, composed of three immense musicians from jazz backgrounds but already fascinated by rock and its most representative format, the power trio: John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius, and Tony Williams, simply guitar bass and drums.

Unfortunately, the performance wasn't one of the best, or at least it seemed that way to McLaughlin himself: right from the first piece, a more and more unstable Jaco takes control of the concert with a trick, lowers the volume of his companions' instruments, and raises his Fender Jazz Bass Fretless excessively, leading the three pieces prepared for the occasion wherever he finds pleasing and fascinating. The three met again in the studio the following weekend, still annoyed, and after a brief jam, they bid farewell. Even though a compilation report of the festival held in Havana was published, few had heard these tracks: neither the record label nor John McLaughlin (the only one still alive) had deemed it necessary to publish them. At least until now.

Finally, the Trio Of Doom (with such a name, they couldn't aspire to a good fate) reaches our ears. And it is a great listen. The behavior of the marvelous and solipsistic Pastorius wasn't exactly the most correct, but you can't help but appreciate the result: this man doesn't play the bass, he simply makes it sing and we can only thank him for turning up the volume of his instrument. Jaco weaves graceful and irresistible grooves, but the others are not far behind: John is as stylish and rock, electric and swing as ever; Tony is lively and impeccably clean, sitting there behind the drums is a continuous fireworks display, pure pyrotechnic mastery.

"Drum Improvisation" is what my last sentence was trying to convey, but I don't think it does it well, so listen to it, "Dark Prince" is immensely powerful as it climbs into jazz-rock territories, "Continuum" is the apex of groove, while "Para Oriente" is extraordinarily rocky.

It may not be a masterpiece, but it's an important and highly entertaining testimony of a unique and unrepeatable event: the Trio Of Doom is perhaps the dream band, and being able to listen to it while awake is truly a noteworthy experience.