Unearthed: A Rare 1977/78 Jaco Pastorius Performance at The Sting

The Jaco Pastorius Archive shared a newly discovered live recording of Jaco, recorded in either 1977 or 1978. This 63-minute recording was likely recorded at The Sting in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

JPA shares the background:

“Much like the two previous years, Jaco Pastorius spent most of 1977 touring and recording with Weather Report. Despite his busy schedule, he always found time to visit his father, crooner and drummer Jack Pastorius, who by this point was living in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania. Although the details are scarce, it is likely that this cassette recording—given to Freddie Lamour Erny by his friend Jerry Lopez on a CD in Las Vegas in 1984—comes from a performance during the 1977 holiday season at The Sting, a small club in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which Jack (heard at 24:19 and 47:02) used to frequent.

“The recording opens with a lengthy 24-minute bass solo, combining ‘Portrait of Tracy,’ The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s ‘Third Stone From the Sun,’ Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 903: I. Fantasia,’ and the Weather Report hit ‘Birdland’ with long improvised sequences. The first bass solo is followed by a six-minute medley comprising ‘Teen Town’ and Charlie Parker’s ‘Donna Lee,’ for which Jaco is joined by an unknown drummer. The drummer not knowing ‘Teen Town’ suggests that this could also be from early 1977, when Jaco was touring in the Herbie Hancock Quartet prior to the release of Heavy Weather in March.

“The first set is followed by an intermission, also recorded, which provides unique insight into Jaco’s thoughts on two of his early influences, James Brown and The Ventures, as well as a range of other topics, including his childhood band Las Olas Brass, his current band Weather Report, and The Ventures’ choice of guitar brand, Mosrite. At 32:02, you can also hear someone strumming an unplugged electric guitar, which makes me think this recording might have taken place either before or after a concert or jam session.

“The second set starts with another Charlie Parker tune, and this time it’s ‘Dexterity.’ Jaco often included it in his Weather Report solo routines, particularly between 1977 and 1978, although an even earlier recording was released in the Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years, 1968–1978 CD box set. A brief, one-minute improvisation transitions into an improvisation-heavy rendition of ‘Continuum’ at 39:49. This performance likely predates the solo versions from the 1979 Berliner Jazztage by over a year and is markedly different from other versions I’ve heard.

“The next several minutes comprise mostly of some more improvisation, with short renditions of ‘Portrait of Tracy’ and a ‘Birdland’ intro vamp, the straight-ahead phrasing of which further makes me believe this is from the late 1977 to very early 1978 period. The bass solo is proceeded by yet another rendition of ‘Teen Town’ with drums, which evolves into a short jam. The next two tracks are a bluesy bass and drum jam, and a bass solo, which includes many of Jaco’s signature licks and phrases, ending with another take on ‘Donna Lee,’ this time unaccompanied. The second set closes with a one-of-a-kind solo bass rendition of Victor Young’s ‘Stella by Starlight.’ For well over a decade, this excerpt was all we had of the recording, having originally been shared by Jaco’s second wife Ingrid Pastorius (née Horn-Müller) on her now-defunct website Ingrid’s Cybernest.”

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