Gil Evans Orchestra with Jaco Pastorius: Live in New York, NY - March 19, 1984 (First Show)

Throughout 1984, Jaco Pastorius would perform with Gil Evans and his all-star big band, the Monday Night Orchestra. The group had a residency at Seventh Avenue South in Manhattan, NYC, where they would play for up to 3½ hours every Monday, with some songs stretching as long as 40 minutes. Much of the material would stem from the 1974 tribute album The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix, with some exceptions like "Jelly Roll" and "Gone." Many of the shows with Jaco would have a secondary bassist — usually Darryl Jones or former student and Pat Metheny Group member Mark Egan — but that's not the case here, which leads to some groovy interplay between Jaco and drummer Adam Nussbaum. The tape starts with a medley — a fragmented take on Lionel Richie's "Hello" and the explosive "Stone Free" (23:12), one of Hendrix's staples — bridged by a jam between the two. The following tune, Masabumi Kikuchi's "Drizzling Rain," was most likely the least frantic and maximalist on their setlists at the time — and one of my personal favorites. Kikuchi had first recorded it with Gil Evans for their collaborative studio album Masabumi Kikuchi with Gil Evans in 1972, but it was performed live by Evans rarely, if ever, before 1984. This song is the longest on the recording, clocking in at nearly 35 minutes. This tape ends with Evans' "Gone" (not to be confused with "Gone, Gone, Gone" or "My Man's Gone Now"), written for his and Miles Davis' 1959 album Porgy and Bess. At the very beginning, Jaco delivers a fast bass solo typical of his 1984 shows, quoting Weather Report's "Barbary Coast" in the process, before returning to backing the group. This tune brings back the explosive atmosphere of "Stone Free," with Jaco taking a more prominent role throughout. This period in Jaco Pastorius' life — ranging from January to spring or early summer — is unfortunately overshadowed by the Word of Mouth Band's disastrous Playboy Jazz Festival set (June 17) and the partly chaotic Gil Evans Orchestra tour of Japan (July 28–August 5), and is — in my opinion — severely underrated. My good friend Music Universe has shared another great Gil Evans/Jaco Pastorius recording to zone out to from a January 9 show, which features a fantastic bass solo — you can find it here:    • Gil Evans Orchestra w/Jaco Pastorius - Liv...  . If you'd like to hear more from these gigs, just let me know, and I'll consider it. My next upload will be a special all-star recording of "Stella by Starlight" in the spirit of Halloween, which will naturally be shared on Thursday, October 31. See you there! Shunzo Ohno, trumpet Miles Evans, trumpet Johnny Coles, trumpet Tom Malone, trombone George Lewis, tuba and baritone saxophone David Sanborn, alto saxophone Chris Hunter, alto saxophone Gil Evans, keyboard Pete Levin, keyboard Jaco Pastorius, bass Adam Nussbaum, drums 00:00:00 Hello / Jam / Stone Free 00:37:40 Drizzling Rain 01:11:21 Gone 01:28:51 Band Introduction From Seventh Avenue South (New York City, New York, USA), 3/19/1984. Photo by Gérald Bosshard, 1983.