Jaco Pastorius

Truth, Liberty & Soul

RESONANCE. CD/DL/LP Much-bootlegged concert by the legendary bassist now officially released.

When Jaco Pastorius quit Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report at the end of 1981, he focused on leading his own Word Of Mouth big band. It was a huge ensemble whose unique sound was not so much defined by Pastorius’s funky, elastic, fretless bass lines but rather by Othello Molineaux’s iridescent steel drums and Toots Thielemans’ bluesy harmonica. This 130-minute live recording (originally recorded for a radio broadcast, it took six years of negotiations to release) captures Pastorius’s band performing at Avery Fisher Hall in June 1982 as part of New York’s Kool Jazz Festival. It’s a remarkable concert noteworthy for the band’s elegant ensemble work while the leader’s widescreen orchestrations highlight his skill as a composer and arranger. Beautifully presented, the set also includes an informative 100-page booklet.