STUTTGART ARIA (WITH BIRELI LAGRENE)

Like many albums with Jaco Pastorius, this one is very uneven. It has some soaring bass, but also some mediocre tunes. This time, Jaco is playing with guitarist Bireli Lagrene and his European jazz band.

The album begins well with the rocking American Boy and continues with an interesting version of Charlie Parker's Donna Lee. This song is essentially Jaco taking a bass solo over drums and a bass synth. It's very nice.

The first downturn is Stuttgart Aria I, which is basically a disco-funk jam, with Pastorius singing the chorus from Sly Stone's Don't Call Me Whitey, N*****. Besides the blandness of the disco, the singing comes off (at least these days) as a bit racist. Jaco Reggae is okay, and the slow version of The Chicken is actuall good, due to some fine blues playing by Lagrene.

Theresa is too slow to be interesting. Stuttgart Aria II, a much better jam than part I, is only marred by simplistic drumming by Peter Lubke. But it would have made a better closing track than the downbeat The Days Of Wine And Roses.