Word of Mouth Sextet (Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival, July 3 1982)
The early 1980s were a busy time for Jaco Pastorius. Fresh from his gig as musical director for Joni Mitchell’s Shadows and Light tour he released a second solo album Word Of Mouth (1981), recorded his fifth studio album with Weather Report and departed that group to form his own. His subsequent Word Of Mouth ensembles alternated between big bands and small groups and this documents the first of his sextets. The set list should be largely familiar to Jaco fans. Pee Wee Ellis’ The Chicken, bebop classic Donna Lee, a bass solo feature with loop pedal and crowd participation, a pyrotechnical Bob Mintzer workout and Jaco’s favourite R’n’B closer, Fannie Mae stretched to nearly 12 minutes with a raucous vocal from the leader and solo spots for all. Performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival on July 3rd 1982, and broadcast by CBC radio, Othello Molineaux’s steel drums, Bob Mintzer’s doubling on bass clarinet and Randy Brecker's bionic trumpet give the group a unique feel and set this concert apart from Jaco’s later small group outings.