Unearthed Treasure: Jaco Pastorius, Alex Darqui, and Rich Franks Live in Fort Lauderdale (1978)

The Jaco Pastorius Archive shared a newly discovered recording of Jaco along with his childhood friends, pianist Alex Darqui and drummer Rich Franks.

This was recorded on January 29, 1978 at the Players Club in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “It sounds fantastic (especially for an audience recording) and is filled with jazz standards rarely played by Jaco,” JPA shared with us.

Here’s the background:

“Late last year, I had a discussion with Florida-based musician Bob Lyons about a cassette tape that he had received from a student of drummer Rich Franks’ student Jay French in February 1978. It consisted of two early 1978 recordings from the Players Club—one from January 29, and another one from an unknown, possibly earlier January date. These tapes were recorded with the trio’s permission by musician Peter Trias on his Sony stereo recorder, and feature Jaco Pastorius with his longtime friends pianist Alex Darqui and drummer Rich Franks. As some of you might know, Alex plays on the 2014 Omnivore Records release Modern American Music…Period! The Criteria Sessions, and is the Frenchman whose misspelling of Jocko Jaco would adopt.

“The tape was transferred to a digital audio tape in 1995 with the help of Jaco’s brother-in-law, musician Paul Horn-Müller, and had been kept in storage ever since. Lucky for us, Bob was generous enough to digitize it and send me a copy, which is what you’re listening now. But for many Jaco fans, this isn’t the first time hearing some of the contests of the tape.

“Throughout the years, Jaco’s youthhood friend and former Jaco Pastorius Inc. manager Bob Bobbing had been borrowed various recordings from Jaco’s early years for the Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years, 1968–1978, but later refused to give them back and instead started issuing them as unauthorized bootlegs. One of the tapes was Rich’s water-damaged and incomplete copy of the Players Club recordings, which was issued as Back in Town: Live From the Players Club in December 2007. Despite missing ‘Nefertiti,’ this copy is generally superior, as it does not only sound better, but is more complete.

“Earlier this year, I sent Rich the files for Bob Lyons’ copy, and he was kind enough to educate me on his friendship with Jaco, whom he replaced in the top 40 soul/R&B cover band Las Olas Brass in 1966. Here’s what he had to say about the jam session and his friendship with Jaco:

“‘OK, I was asked to join a band in 1966 put together by two brothers Richard and Gary Kaydis. They were trumpet players in the high school band. They were writing the horn parts to James Brown, Sam & Dave etc. songs so I said yes. Our first rehearsal went great, and at the end the bass player [David Neubauer] mentions he will be leaving and this skinny kid walks in and says ‘Hey, I’m your new bass player.’ I didn’t realize I had replaced Jaco on the drums, so I became his first drummer from 1966 to 1970. Then we split ways, because I was more into the Bill Evans trio-type of playing than Weather Report-type of drummer.

“One day I was at a stop light, and Alex pulled up next to me, I looked over surprised and Alex pointed to pull over, we reconnected, and I told Alex I was playing in this trio, ‘would you like to play piano?,’ and that was that. John Eatmon was the bass player, a few weeks went by and by total surprise Jaco walked in with his fans and followers, the club seated 75 people. There had to be well over 100 and the club owner hated jazz and all these people. I had a to chase our pay check down every week till finally we came to work one night and the piano was gone. The owner sold it without calling me, so the gig was over. He was nowhere to be found. We packed that place, not even a thank-you, and they went out of business a few months later. I also made a CD that I dedicated to Jaco called For Our Friend with Alex Darqui and John Patitucci.’

“The tape runs at a total 53 minutes, and is filled with rarities and first-timers. Included are the only known recordings of ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams,’ ‘Antigua,’ and ‘Infant Eyes,’ and the earliest known recordings of ‘Dolphin Dance,’ ‘So What,’ and ‘Freedom Jazz Dance,’ which Jaco would perform frequently in 1985 and 1986. This version of ‘Stella by Starlight,’ which he had been performing since at least 1974, starts with a great bass solo that’s missing from the bootleg album. The recording ends with what I consider to be the strongest performance: a ten-minute medley of ‘Dolores’ and ‘Freedom Jazz Dance.’ Jaco, who also plays the theme to ‘Dolores,’ takes two bass solos, the first of which might be my favourite on the entire recording.

“As many of the tapes I discover are from high generation copies or otherwise sound bad, it’s amazing to have something that sounds as good as this. I hope that you all enjoy this treat as much as I. Special thanks to Bob Lyons for digging up, digitizing, and sending me the recording, and to Rich Franks for sending me this photo and telling about his friendship with Jaco.”

Set list:

• 00:00:00 Polka Dots and Moonbeams
• 00:04:22 Antigua
• 00:08:17 F Major Blues
• 00:10:48 Stella by Starlight
• 00:18:50 Dolphin Dance
• 00:26:45 So What
• 00:35:35 Infant Eyes
• 00:44:16 Dolores / Freedom Jazz Dance / Dolores (Reprise)

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