Jaco Pastorius's time with Gil Evans and the Monday Night Orchestra might be best known for the Live Under the Sky '84 video where he's covered in mud, but it began during one of his best periods of the '80s: early 1984. This recording is from his second performance with the group on January 16, 1984, and while it doesn't quite reach the heights of the year-opening shows a week prior, it's also got its fair share of good moments.
These improvisations followed the 40-minute show opener, Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free," and resulted in one of the most unique Jaco recordings. The first two minutes are reminiscent of the typical, unaccompanied Jaco solos, except the loop is played in real time by his former student and Pat Metheny Group bassist, Mark Egan. Some clichés aside, Jaco plays beautifully. The duet transforms into "Continuum" with ambient keyboard sounds and guitar swells, which make me think of Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and Roger Eno's 1983 space ambient album _Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks._ Towards the end, Egan performs some beautiful countermelodies perfect for the atmosphere.
That atmosphere is unfortunately slaughtered with the introduction of slap bass and harmonics, and thereupon Thelonious Monk's "Friday the 13th"—but we're lucky to have these jams in the first place, as moody, minimalist songs weren't part of the orchestra's repertoire. They weren't really part of Jaco's repertoire either, which is a shame as it suits many of his compositions. The only other somewhat ambient moment I can recall is from Weather Report's 1979 Jazz à Juan performance, where "A Remark You Made's" outro features a keyboard arpeggio reminiscent of those in the Minecraft: Volume Alpha soundtrack (https://youtu.be/KFYUckHWgZA?si=-SHnWzpV_JVsSBTt&t=3139). The next 2½ hours of this Gil Evans recording were groovier, but just as good (if not better!). Most Gil Evans tapes are a chore to get through, but I'll make sure to upload everything worth hearing.
Shunzo Ohno – trumpet
Miles Evans – trumpet
Hannibal Lokumbe (Marvin Peterson) – trumpet
Lew Soloff – trumpet
Tom Malone – trombone
Ricky Ford – tenor sax
Bill Evans – tenor and soprano sax
Chris Hunter – alto sax
Gil Evans – piano
Pete Levin – keyboard
John Scofield – guitar
Jaco Pastorius – bass
Mark Egan – bass
Adam Nussbaum – drums
00:00 Bass Duet
02:38 Continuum
Recorded at Seventh Avenue South (New York City, New York, U.S.A.), 1/16/1984.
Photo by unknown photographer, 1980s.
https://linktr.ee/jacoarchive
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