I was searching you tube and I couldn’t find anything I would consider “definitive Jaco” - though I did find this clip of him with the Word of Mouth Big Band (his band). Jaco (the dude on bass, for those who don’t know) sounds great and the steel drum player is killer - wow.
John Coltrane is amazing. Check him out here with Miles Davis and company (probably recorded around 1960).
This is the Miles Davis classic “So What” - the song everyone credits as the first modal jazz composition (I am not sure if this fact is true, but it is what they told me in high school).
Miles’ performance is classic Miles - simple, tasteful, colorful - everything you would expect. And then Coltrane kicks in and he rocks. The sidemen looking on are clearly blown away (Miles is indifferent, but that was his shtick). Coltrane creates an energy that is urgent and intense and he completely dominates as soon as he starts playing.
Aside from the men in Miles’ regular group, the rest of the musicians are probably studio guys in either New York or LA. I know this is strange, but the session reminds me of the video for “Touch Me Baby” by the Doors - it has the same let’s-be-cool-in-the-studio-with-large-orchestra feel. Have I lost my mind?
Child in Time - this is classic Deep Purple, back when they were young and extremely sixties. I first heard this song on their classic “Made in Japan” album, but I think this performance is better (although it could just be that the added element of “seeing” it is making me emotional).
Watching the video, I don’t understand how the audience can respectfully sit there when the energy starts to build and Ian Gillian (vocals) hits high notes way up in the stratosphere - but this was before the days of arena rock and it was a different world. Today, the crowd would be a sea of cigarette lighters, leather, and drunk aging bikers looking to party.