In the end, there's less than forty minutes of music left behind by The Trio Of Doom with only four distinct songs, none of which runs over six and a half minutes. With Pastorius dead for twenty years and Williams ten, McLaughlin has had final say over the full release of this material and he's resisted until now. As the producer of this CD, released today, McLaughlin worked meticulously with Wippersburg to mix out as much of the recording imperfections as possible.
While there's some phenomenal playing squeezed into this brief playing time, ultimately this remains a collection of jam sessions. Some students of the drums, bass, and electric guitar will lap up the chops on display, but those who dismiss seventies fusion as a bunch of high-falutin' wanking have another exhibit with which to bolster their argument (and as I write this, Michael J. West has initiated a good discussion covering, among other things, that very topic). Your enjoyment of this CD largely depends on which side you fall on that debate.
Given the short amount of time they had and never really getting on the same page consistently, Trio Of Doom only hints of the promise had the protagonists had taken the time to settle up their differences and polish their product. But thanks to the heroic efforts of McLaughlin and Wippersburg, we can at least dream about that promise with some basis in reality.
Article comments
1 - Michael J. West
Brilliant! I love this album, find it surprisingly unwanky. Probably because the three players were all the most creative and smart of their day on their respective instruments.
Nice one, Pico!
2 - Tom Johnson
That was an awesome review, Pico. Really looking forward to picking this up, especially after this very enthusiastic piece. Glad to hear some more history behind this one. Fascinating.
3 - Pico
High praise coming from you guys, thanks very much!
4 - Mark Saleski
really nice review pico. this is one of those recordings that a person feels compelled to check out, even though it might be one of those musical train wreck-sorta things.
5 - Michael J. West
Oh, and thanks for the shout-out. :-)
6 - Bilvis
I am going to search this bit of musical history out as soon as I can. Blemished or not I think it will be an interesting listen that's for sure.