December 20 - In France They Kiss On Main Street

The fantastic bass player on Birdland and today's song, In France They Kiss On Main Street is Jaco Pastorius. The documentary Jaco, produced by Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo, gives a very fascinating portrait of a troubled soul but an incredibly gifted bassist. In France They Kiss On Main Street shows his style, filled with staccato notes but weaving a rich tapestry built around the chords played at all times. I highly recommend checking out more of his music. Anyway, the album was Shadows and Light by Joni Mitchell from 1980. I am not a huge Joni Mitchell fan, but I am really appreciating some of the work she has done, and the band she assembled here with Jaco Pastorius on bass, Pat Metheny on guitar, Don Alias on drums, Michael Brecker on saxophone, and Lyle Mays on keyboards is really solid.

So where do we go from here? Well... One of the tracks from this album appeared on Joni Mitchell's album with music by a giant in jazz - and it is a tribute to another jazz great. This song has also been done by a great rock guitarist (I know, word choice - I shouldn't put so many greats together, but rather vary my verbiage, but it's almost the end of the year, so please cut me some slack), and the most recent version he did was on a live album where he earned a Grammy for a recording of a Beatles song. However, I am looking for the song that is shared with Joni Mitchell, the jazz great that wrote it, the guitarist that covered it, and what live album and year. Got it? You should. This one isn't that difficult - I am giving far too much away...