Retro Chicken

I don’t know why but for some reason I am completely obsessed with Jaco these days. I was searching around You Tube and found an amazing trio version of the Weather Report classic “Teen Town” (it is incredibly fast and Jaco quotes “Third Stone from the Sun” – how can you get any better?), featuring a guitar player I have never heard of - Bireli Lagrene.

I looked him up on Wikipedia and they said he was a gypsy prodigy (learned the Django repertoire by the time he was eight, that kind of thing), and I vaguely remembered seeing him in Guitar Player magazine. But then I found this and wow – why isn’t Bireli Legrene a household name? Listen and be amazed.

I’ve already posted a big band version of the Chicken by Jaco Pastorius, this is a wild trio version with John Scofield on guitar - I don’t know who the drummer is. Scofield is a jazz guitar legend, and he has been around for ever, having played with Miles and everyone else - all the solos in this video clip are awesome.

Teen Town featuring Jaco from the classic Weather Report album Heavy Weather – the band’s mainstays are Wayne Shorter (became famous in the sixties as the sax player with Miles after Coltrane) and Joe Zawinul (from Vienna, also with Miles in the late sixties). The sound quality is not the greatest, but check out the bass parts – wow!

For my money Jaco Pastorius was one of the greatest bass players ever. He was the musician’s musician; boasting exceptional chops, masterful groove, taste, grace, finesse, and a mastery of many different styles and feels. He revolutionized the electric bass and his influence can be heard everywhere.

“Portrait of Tracy” is a short piece from his first solo album (the self-titled “Jaco Pastorius”) featuring an innovative use of harmonics. The solo in the video clip quotes the harmonics-laden melody from the studio recording within the greater context of an extend improvisation.

I was searching you tube and I couldn’t find anything I would consider “definitive Jaco” - though I did find this clip of him with the Word of Mouth Big Band (his band). Jaco (the dude on bass, for those who don’t know) sounds great and the steel drum player is killer - wow.