After an opening that manages to be sparse and yet unresolved, “Jaco” transitions into the first (only?) track on this album structured to feature rounds of solos in a more traditional jazz fashion. Pat really takes off here, particularly when transitioning from one chorus to the next. Even this early in his career, his “high-density” runs have a relaxed feel. It’s quite a trick to pack in so many notes and still make it feel like you’re not bearing down.
I don’t know the history of this song, though some folks on the Internet say that the original title was “Jaco Can You Hear Me?” Great title, especially considering the room given to Mark Egan and his fretless bass.
Check out the two versions embedded below. I’ve always thought that the studio track had something of a light funk feel to it during the solo passages. The live take, a little more hurried, actually leans more toward Disco here and there, believe it or not.
Up next: Aprilwind
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The main line was such a cop of the horn line from Jaco’s “Come On, Come Over” (featuring Sam and Dave!), that Pat decided to just call this one ‘Jaco’, is the story I heard…
This one could have branched the Group off in a certain more structured direction, but at this point, just really helped to show that these guys were young, and clearly influenced by Rock n Roll.
The live versions of this era are simply stellar, with some nutty Pat soloing, and tasty drums aplenty from Danny Gottlieb. As Mark mentioned, into the 80’s, the sped-up versions have not aged well (yup, Disco comes to mind, and an awful, over-composed clunky modulation towards the end).