The landmark first album by this legendary 70s soul group. The style here is a pronounced gospel influence that focuses most strongly on the chorus vocals of the ensemble - soaring out with a tremendously soulful feel, and really updating an older sound for a more contemporary 70s vibe! Backing is relatively stripped-down, with piano by Patti Brown, organ by Richard Tee, guitar by Cornell Dupree, bass by Chuck Rainey, and congas from Montego Joe and Ralph MacDonald. The album's easily one of the most righteous efforts issued by Elektra at the time. This amazing reissue also features a 11 bonus tracks - including a number of previously unissued titles recorded with production by Donny Hathaway! Killer album, don't miss it.
There's an avalanche of dazzling playing on this generous, superbly selected compilation; it gives a brilliant, comprehensive testament to a legendary musician.
This is a logical tribute album from one great bassist (Brian Bromberg) to another (Jaco Pastorius). The front of the CD purposely resembles Pastorius' debut recording and the program features six Pastorius songs (including two versions apiece of "Come on, Come Over" and "Teen Town"), Joe Zawinul's "A Remark You Made," the R&B standard "The Chicken," and Bromberg's "Tears." A master at tapping his bass and equally skilled on electric and acoustic basses, Bromberg also has the ability to sound a bit like Pastorius when he wants. This excellent tribute set uses different personnel and instrumentations on each selection and shows off the many sides of Pastorius, both as a bassist and as a composer.
On an irregular basis in the early '80s, the innovative electric bassist Jaco Pastorius led a big band that he called Word of Mouth. This excellent CD documents Pastorius' 30th birthday party, a concert at which he was joined by the Peter Graves Orchestra (consisting of 14 horns, two steel drums, and two percussionists) plus drummer Peter Erskine, Don Alias on conga, and both Michael Brecker and Bob Mintzer on tenors.
Thankfully, there is finally a definitive Jaco Pastorius anthology that offers an accurate portrait of the breadth and depth of his innovative artistry beyond what his contributions to Weather Report and his own Word of Mouth and Trio of Doom (which many would argue are sufficient in and of themselves) would suggest. This two-CD, 28-track collection ranges across the fretless bass inventor's earliest recordings, documented by a live appearance with Wayne Cochran's C.C. Riders and home playing the Cochran standard "Amelia," to his work with underground R&B act Little Beaver and such artists as Pat Metheny, Mike Stern, Joni Mitchell in and out of the studio, Paul Bley, Airto and Flora Purim, Michel Columbier, Brian Melvin, and his diverse projects.