Jaco Pastorius and Biréli Lagrène Trade Blazing Solos on “The Chicken” – Live in 1986

The Jaco Pastorius Archive just dropped another live recording from Jaco’s tour with Biréli Lagrène and Serge Bringolf.

Here’s the background:

“On December 8, 1986, Jaco Pastorius, Biréli Lagrène, and Serge Bringolf performed at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Pistoia, Italy. The concert—Jaco’s first and last in Pistoia—was unusually well documented: taped by at least two attendees and filmed by one.

“This excerpt comes from Italian bassist and composer Alberto Bientinesi’s tape, which is the most complete source of this show. The recording starts with a brief bass solo, before going into a slightly disjointed medley of Freddie King’s “The Stumble,” Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “Purple Haze,” Sly and the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song,” and this, Pee Wee Ellis’ “The Chicken.” I think I’ll share the complete tape at some point, but this is the song I’d like to highlight for now.

“Most of the performance consists of Biréli (1:30) and Jaco’s (3:18) excellent solos (check out that brilliant riff at 2:25!). Last year I shared another very good version of “The Chicken” ( • Jaco Pastorius Trio – The Chicken (Li… ), which Alberto recorded nine months earlier in Rezzato. Jaco is using a fretted Fender Jazz Bass with a sunburst finish here, while on the Rezzato recording it’s a fretted Fender Jazz Bass with a white finish and tortoise pickguard. This solo also features a lot of fast licks and runs, and while he does stumble at times, the creativity more than makes up for it. The photo I picked for this video is one of many shot by Gabriele Bandini at the Bologna concert three days before Pistoia, and features Jaco playing the fretless prototype Ibanez made him in 1986.”