Holiday for Pans

Holiday for Pans was legendary bass player Jaco Pastorius's final solo album. While he still guested on various releases during the mid-1980s, his alleged erratic behavior prevented him from securing a contract with a record company to be able to create another solo release before his untimely and tragic death in 1987.

In the case of "Holiday For Pans", even though said behavior was beginning to affect his emotional and creative well being, he still managed to record this album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes. The tracks were recorded in early 1981, while Pastorius was still under contract to Warner Bros. Records. The original intent was to release this album as an Othello Molineaux (who plays the steelpans that is the prominent sound of "Holiday For Pans") solo album with Pastorius and Peter Yianilos as co-producers. The style of the music was a small forerunner in a way of Westernizing World Music. It was a steel pans tinged release, which, like the solo record that came before "Holiday For Pans", the big band "Word Of Mouth", once again showcased Pastorius as more of a tunesmith and producer than a bass player. Upon the completion of the album in a demo form, Pastorius was released from his Warner Bros. Records deal but retained exclusive rights to the tapes. Said Garland Hogan, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney who represents the estate of Pastorius. "During the period of confusion and chaos for Jaco, (following his severance with [Warner Bros. Records] Jaco shopped it around the record companies but couldn't find a distributor for the album and the album was never released. Shortly after that, the master tapes were alleged to have been stolen, then recovered, but not before it had been widely bootlegged. In 2003, a cut from "Holiday For Pans", entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' Pastorius Anthology Punk Jazz, marking the first time an official release had included a song from "Holiday For Pans".