Customer Reviews

Live in New York 5

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You set your hand down right in the middle of a ring of water from your beer glass on the table in front of you. You can feel the claustrophobia of the room and breathe the smoke in the air. The stage is not ten feet in front of you, filled by four musicians' bodies and their instruments -- Jaco Pastorius, electric bass; Mike Stern, electric guitar; Steve Slagle, saxophone; Adam Nussbaum, drums. Once again Big World Records producer Neil Weiss has captured a night in the life of Jaco in Raça: Jaco Pastorius, Live in New York City, Volume 5.

This album is pure jazz -- four guys sitting around, finding a groove, and going with it. Unlike the first four volumes of the series, Mike Stern takes the helm at guitar. He plays with a fantastic balance of tone and expression without overshadowing Slagle's soaring sax lines. Nussbaum's drumming is tight, as you'd expect from any drummer Jaco recorded with. And Jaco, himself, is definitely having an "on" night, pulling off seamless transitions from one song to another. Lennon & McCartney's "Blackbird" is rendered beautifully, a totally different song than the version that appears on Jaco's Word of Mouth album. The title track, "Raça," features some nice interplay between all of the musicians. The album closes with a seemingly candid recording of Jaco playing two short originals on piano. Overall, I would say that this album truly captures Jaco in his element and belongs in any well-stocked jazz collection.

In this fifth volume of the Live in NYC series, Jaco is paired with running buddy Mike Stern and saxophonist Steve Slagle with Adam Nussbaum on drums. I was very excited initially by this all-star lineup but unfortunately, like many other of the releases in this series, the sound quality is disappointing. Jaco's bass is very low in the mix which is odd as he usually was the loudest onstage. Despite the musical shortcomings there are a few hot moments. Jaco's rendition of "Blackbird" is a flashy bolt of contrapuntal brilliance and the two solo piano pieces that end the album always get me choked up. However, the tracks in between are pretty missable. Both Stern and Slagle's tracks are very repetative and way too long, with very little of the improvisational magic one expects of Jaco. The "Teen Town" also disappoints as it is way too fast for Stern and Slagle (Jaco often complained that not many guitarists could keep up with him on this tune). All in all this is a fairly pedestrian record from artists at a career low (Jaco and Stern were not in good shape)but it is new music from Jaco, which automatically gets at least three stars, and the opening "Blackbird" is worth the price of admission.

Personally, I recommend this cd, especially for bassists and students of Jaco's style. I saw him several times during this period at the 55 Grand Club in NYC and many times left shaking my head. I coudn't believe such a brilliant artist had declined so drastically - literally a shell of his former brilliance. But although most of these "Jaco Live in New York" discs definitely chronicle an artist in decline, this particular volume seems to be a high point of those later years. Technically, Jaco's chops are surprisingly good - to my ears just about where they were during his glory years in the mid-1970s - and there are several moments of brilliance, especially the brief solo version of McCartney's "Blackbird." His improvising hovers around the level of his solo on "I Shot the Sheriff" on "Live in NYC Vol. 2" (generally considered one of the best solos from this series). If you're not familiar with that recording, suffice to say that there is some great soloing here by Jaco. If anything is lacking, I would say his accompaniment is not quite as imaginative as it was at the height of his powers. In fact, in light of how solid Jaco's chops are here, I would say that his imaginative edge is slightly dulled. But personally, I enjoy this recording, and it must be one of the stronger documents of Jaco's later playing. The other players turn in strong showings as well. I'm not a big fan of Mike Stern, but he plays the strongest and most imaginative solos I've ever heard from him here. Steve Slagle also sounds strong on alto and soprano sax, as does drummer Adam Nussbaum.

His arrangement of blackbird is the best in the world . and Raca is one of my favorites.

"Blackbird" is expertly rendered here, and listen to "Good Morning Anya!" Jaco is talking to himself, a sign of his mental stress at the time, and then out comes this beautiful melody! It is stunning. Jaco may not have the fire and beauty he had earlier, but he's a great musician on his worst day. Hanging with the coked up cats at 55 Grand was a bad period for him, but you have to admire the tenacious way he tries to hang on to his talent and chops. "Good Morning Anya" is from "Holiday for Pans," an album unreleased to this day except for bootlegs. I want to hear the rest of this album. Even in 1987, his last year, he was composing music for an album to be called Dixie Highway, and a friend of his who heard Jaco play some of it just a couple of days before he was kicked into a coma said it was beautiful.

This is a fantastic album, I'm not going to penalize it because of it's fidelity though. It's raw, take it or leave it. The most important thing though is the chemistry of the ensemble, and it's great. While this may Jaco's late period, it's a great example of his musicality

Although the sound quality on this live disc is what's to be expected, certainly for the time this was recorded, Stern & Slagle play the songs well however; Nussbaum sounds & plays like he's NEVER heard Jacos songs before (esp.'Teentown'he especially butchers!) Great playing on Jacos part. Buy it, but be aware.