Weather Report: Barbary Coast (1976)

When Jaco Pastorius joined Weather Report, they were close to finishing Black Market, which had been recorded up to that point by bassist Alphonso Johnson.

Jaco played on two tracks on that album, which included one of his own compositions, “Barbary Coast”.

Here’s a live performance early on in Jaco’s tenure with the band, performing that tune at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 8, 1976.

I love how they jump into a version of “Come On, Come Over” around the 2:30 mark too.

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Leave a Reply to George Neidorf Cancel reply

  1. amazing. Always loved Barbary Coast. Pity the camera was not on Jaco a bit more!

  2. I just gotta say how awkward and funny it looks that everyone else in Weather Report is sweatin their faces off, and Jaco is in a sweater and not a spec of sweat on his brow, maybe cause he’s from Florida haha.

  3. I shall never forget this concert. I was there that very night – and heard WR on most gigs on the whole 1976 European Tour that summer, including Roskilde Festival and Aarhus Festival in my own home country, Denmark. To me this will always be THE best incarnation of WR, and I treassure each and every moment I spent in company with these great guys, who all became sort of friends during the years. I met Joe first time in 1972 and remained fan and friend until his death on Sept. 11 of 2007. Jaco was so Young and fresh and became another friend and mentor – and I kept in close contact with the P-Family until Ingrid P died one and a half year ago. To me WR, Joe, Wayne and all friends really paved the way for World music and contemporary jazz for thirty-odd years – and they still do. Respect is due. Love for those guys (and girls) is mandatory!

  4. Truly Stunning, I concur with Peter. One of my favorite Weather Repoet bands. Still love Alpjonzo’s period.
    Give Me Alex on Drums that’s Weather Report.

  5. love how we get the shots of sax players waiting for their spots, the undersides of hi-hats, & all kinds of other things while Jaco is going off…. camera men/women should be acquainted with the music, man, especially when making a vid! Super sick song anyway!

  6. love how we get the shots of sax players waiting for their spots, the undersides of hi-hats, & all kinds of other things while Jaco is going off…. camera men/women should be acquainted with the music, man, especially when making a vid!

    • Brian

      It’s not the cameraman calling the shots guys. If it was recorded as a live performance it was the director telling the cameraman where to get the shots. If it was recorded individually in each camera ultimately it was the Producer and/or Editor of the video (film) who was trying to be artsy which was typical in the late 70’s (pre MTV). Sorry to be so technical but I’m a video guy (and bassist too). If the focus was off then scream all you want at the camera guys LOL!

    • The sax player is Wayne Shorter, who had quite an impressive resume with Art Blakey and Miles Davis prior to becoming a founding member of Weather Report. The New York Times has described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser.”

      What amazes me is that whoever uploaded this video labeled it “Weather Report & Jaco Pastorius” – as if he wasn’t a member of the band at the time.

  7. props to manolo badrena, percussionist, keeping the pots boiling.