Trio of Doom - Jazz Fusion Supergroup And Album

‘Trio of Doom‘ is the title of a very short-lived jazz rock/jazz fusion supergroup which was active solely in 1979 and had a fantastic line-up which included John McLaughlin on guitar (frontman of legendary American jazz rock/jazz fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra), Jaco Pastorius on electric bass guitar (best known for being part of the American legendary jazz rock/jazz fusion band Weather Report during the late 1970s up until the early 1980s), and distinguished jazz rock/jazz fusion drummer Tony Williams, who pioneered this genre along with Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Ron Carter in the Second Great Quintet of Miles Davis Quintet/group during the late 1960s.

The Trio of Doom: John McLaughlin (guitar), Jaco Pastorius (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). Image source: www.blogspot.com

The three aforementioned fantastic musicians were brought together by Columbia Records in 1979 to play at the Havana Jam festival in Havana, Cuba, alongside other legendary rock musicians such as Billy Joel, Kris Kristofferson, Rita Coolidge, and others. The trio got its name from Jaco Pastorius, in reference to his bass, which he referred to as ‘the bass of doom’ given its growling sound.

The only live performance of the group took place on 3 March 1979 and is recorded in the Havana Jam ’79 documentary film by Ernesto Juan Castellanos. 5 days later, on 8 March 1979, the three decided to go to New York City in order to record all of the songs they have performed live in Havana in studio. Nevertheless, a quarrel that broke out between Jaco Pastorius (bass) and Tony Williams (drums) marked the end of the trio.

Subsequently, in 2007, an eponymous studio album was released by Legacy Recordings/Columbia Records on 26 June 2007. The album contained both the songs performed live in Havana as well as their studio counterparts recorded in New York City. The album was produced by John McLaughlin in collaboration with executive producer Richard Seidel. It has a total length of 39 minutes and 39 seconds and includes 10 tracks in total. The 5 studio songs were recorded at CBS Studios in New York City during the day of 8 March 1979.

Trio of Doom (1979/2007), frontal cover artwork. Image source: www.blogspot.com

The album has the following tracklist:

Drum Improvisation (by Tony Williams);
Dark Prince (composed by John McLaughlin);
Continuum (composed by Jaco Pastorius);
Para Oriente (composed by Tony Williams);
Are You the One? Are You the One? (composed by John McLaughlin);
Dark Prince (live version; composed by John McLaughlin);
Continuum (composed by Jaco Pastorius);
Para Oriente (alternate take one; composed by Tony Williams);
Para Oriente (alternate take two; composed by Tony Williams);
Para Oriente (composed by Tony Williams).

Special note: It is important to note the fact that ‘Continuum’ is a song which was originally featured on Jaco’s official namesake debut solo studio album released in 1976.

The album was well to very well received by such publications as The Guardian (which gave it 3 out of 5 stars) or Allmusic (which gave it 4 out of 5 stars). Romanians fan can buy it on Rockshop here! Below you can integrally listen to the entire album, track by track, via Youtube. I truly hope you’ll like it! All the best, much health, take care, stay safe, many blessings, and great peace your way! God bless you and keep on listening to jazz fusion! 😊🙏✌️☮️🤘