Jaco Pastorius
Word Of Mouth
"Word Of Mouth" is the second album by bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius, which was released in 1981 when he was still a member of Weather Report. He toured as a solo artist with the Word Of Mouth Orchestra until 1986. While his album focused on his extensive skills on the electric bass, "Word Of Mouth" focused more on his skills as a composer with arrangements for a larger band than the one used on his self-titled debut. Nevertheless, tracks such as the solo beginning of "Chromatic Fantasy" and the title track show that Pastorius can let the bass speak like no other. His bass is distorted here and flows into the arrangements, making them shine.
The music ranges from "Blackbord" by the Beatles to some Bach-to-Jaco originals with jazz, Coltrane-esque entries and fusion. Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Brecker, Don Alias and Toots Thielemans, who plays harmonica, are all involved.