In 1979, three legendary jazz musicians united as the Trio Of Doom - and it was a combustible mix to say the least.
The trio consisted of guitarist John McLaughlin, bassist Jaco Pastorius and drummer Tony Williams.
They performed only one concert - the Havana Jam Festival in Cuba - and recorded enough material for just one album.
In a 2016 interview with Jazz Times, John McLaughlin recalled the chaos of the Trio’s brief lifespan and explained how he and Williams struggled to cope with the errant Pastorius.
McLaughlin said of his introduction to Pastorius in the ’70s: "The first person Jaco Pastorius came to see in New York was me, and we jammed together at SRI [Studio]. He found me and asked me for 20 bucks to fix a flat—money I never got back!
“He walked in and said, 'I'm Jaco Pastorius, the greatest bass player in the world.' I said, 'Oh, I like the way you talk. Let's play.'
“And we played and it was marvellous.
“I told him, 'If I didn’t have a great bass player already I'd hire you.' But I called Tony Williams that night and said, 'See if there's something you can do with this guy Jaco, because he's amazing.’”
In the meantime, Pastorius was poached by keyboardist Joe Zawinul for the jazz fusion group Weather Report.
“Within six months Joe Zawinul had snatched him up,” McLaughlin said, “and the rest is history.”
According to McLaughlin, Pastorius was already experiencing troubles with mental health and drug addiction when he joined the Trio Of Doom.
"In 1979 we were booked for the Havana Jam,” McLaughlin said, “and Jaco had already started his descent. So sad.
“But we went to rehearsals, and the rehearsals were just amazing. I'm so sad those rehearsals weren't recorded, because they were outstanding.
“So we played… but the performance was not good at all. Jaco went on a star trip, and musically it was a bit of a disaster.
"The three of us are onstage, and all of a sudden, Jaco, in the middle of a C-minor blues, starts playing in A-major, real loud, and going up front.
“[Tony and I] did what we could, as best as possible, and when we get offstage, Jaco says, 'You know, you're a bad motherfucker.'
“And I said, 'I have never felt so ashamed to be onstage … If I never see you again, it's too soon.' And all the rats and snakes came out.
McLaughlin recalled: “I was so angry, because I felt he betrayed Tony and me. I'm the kind of guy, I just let it all out and I told him to fuck off.
"But CBS knew, and they could hear [the Havana recording], of course. So CBS calls two weeks later and says, 'Will you go into the studio with Tony and Jaco?' And I said, 'If Tony is ready to go, I'll go.’”
According to McLaughlin, when the trio got back together, tensions quickly came to a head.
"We went in, and Tony was very angry, still,” he recalled. “He should have gotten it out, really, because it was boiling over.
“Anyway, in the studio, he wouldn't talk to Jaco, he wouldn't even look at Jaco until finally Jaco said something and that was the trigger—Tony flipped.
“Jaco thought he was gonna die that day in the control room of CBS!
"Tony was furious. He didn't touch [Pastorius], but Tony, in anger, was a volcano in activity.
“I thought it was funny by this time, because I'd let [his anger with Pastorius] out. But he [Williams] let it all out, and Jaco was afraid.
“Tony went in and destroyed his drums in the studio. And walked out.”
It was in 2007 that the self-titled Trio Of Doom album was finally released - 20 years after the death of Pastorius, and 10 years after the death of Williams.
McLaughlin insisted that only he was qualified to mix it the album.
He recalled his orders to Sony: “I said, 'Give me all the tapes. Because I love them both, I miss them both, and only I know how this should be mixed.' And so I did.
“But it was very tricky, because you've got two versions of things. I wanted to get the Havana part in as well, as part of the story, because it's interesting.
“Trio of Doom is a document,” he said. “It's not just a record.
“These two giants, they're gone. And I told Sony they had to give the money to their widows. I've lost a lot of friends over the years. More than friends—people I loved."
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