Pastrami Standards

The Trio of Stridence came into existence back in early 2002 when Alex Masi was invited down to The Kibitz Room at Canter's Deli in Los Angeles to perform improvisational music and jam with other regulars. Paul Marangoni was invited to join Alex soon thereafter, and after a few weeks of playing with different bassists, they decided to secure someone for a regular spot. Once Jeffrey Allan was in the line-up, the trio began playing a few fusion tunes from their collective memory and then used these compositions as starting points for their own improvisations. They learned a few more classics and continued to combine them with improvisations every Monday night at Canter's, as well as several other venues around Los Angeles. They went by the name 'The Trio Of Doom' at this point, borrowing the name from the band that featured John McLaughlin, Jaco Pastorius and Tony Williams. That band only played one show in Havana, Cuba but epitomized the approach that they were going for. The trio was featured in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles times in 2003 and continued to entertain their loyal fans at the Kibitz Room whenever schedules would permit. In early 2004, it was decided that it would be nice to properly record their regular material. 'Pastrami Standards' is a collection of most of the songs they regularly played, with a few newer ones thrown in for good measure. This was pretty much the standard repertoire and since most of the material came into fruition at a deli, the title 'Pastrami Standards' was inevitable. The songs were recorded over a period of 12 months, whenever schedules would permit. The recording was mastered and the disc was manufactured in the summer of 2005. Track Information Red is a Robert Fripp masterpiece that originally appeared on the King Crimson album by the same name. Bambu Forest, Even Odds and Blue Wind flow together in a medley and these pieces were written by Jan Hammer. Even Odds and Blue Wind both appear on Jeff Beck records. Bambu Forest was included on Jan Hammer's great 'Oh Yeah?' record. Teen Town is a Jaco Pastorius classic that originally appeared on Heavy Weather by Weather Report. Too Much To Lose is another Jan Hammer composition which was released as an instrumental on There And Back, by Jeff Beck. Zoot Allures is a Frank Zappa composition from the record with the same name. Continuum is another Jaco classic that first appeared on his first solo album and also appears on some Word of Mouth live recordings. Stratus is an old Billy Cobham classic from the record Spectrum. Everybody's Party is a John Scofield composition which originally appeared on I Can See Your House from Here, which was a Scofield/Metheny collaboration. Vital Transformation is a John McLaughlin composition that he wrote for The Mahavishnu Orchestra and was on that band's debut album, Inner Mounting Flame. Red Rocks is a song written by Simon Phillips that was released on his first solo EP called Protocol.