In early 1987, Jaco Pastorius was starting to make a bit of a comeback. He had returned from a late 1986 tour of Italy and was now living with his mother and girlfriend in Florida. He did some gigs around Fort Lauderdale, most of them with his good friend, guitarist Randy Bernsen, with whom he was planning to start a new band called The Holy Ghost. Even though the comeback was short-lived, it did produce two good live recordings: one from a jam session at the Musicians Exchange and this one, recorded at an NRG show at Jumpin' Jack's.

Jaco kicked off the show with a medley that included "The Chicken," "Black Market," "Third Stone from the Sun," "America the Beautiful," "Purple Haze," 'Them Changes," "Sing a Simple Song," and "Sunshine of Your Love." What you're listening to right now are the first three minutes of that medley, one of the more unusual parts of the recording, as he rarely, if ever, performed these two songs solo. The bass tone, produced by whatever bass with a jazz pickup configuration he could get his hands on, is excellent, as is the audio quality.

I hope this excerpt helps clear up some misconceptions about the year, as it wasn't all bad, despite the events that would transpire in September. If you're interested in hearing more highlights from 1987, I recommend checking out Music Universe's YouTube channel and subscribing if you haven't already. He recently shared two great bass solos from the Pat Metheny Trio's 1974 shows, along with a rare audience recording of the Word of Mouth Band's 1983 Beverly Hills concert. If you have any suggestions for what I should upload next, let me know in the comments section below, and I'll consider them. Thanks for watching!

00:00 The Chicken
02:02 Black Market

From Jumpin' Jack's (Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA), 2/1987.
www.linktr.ee/jacoarchive

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