Jaco Pastorius
Encyclopedia
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz
musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso
electric bass player.
His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register and for the "singing" quality he achieved on the fretless bass. His innovations also included the use of harmonic
s. Pastorius suffered from mental illness
including a substance-related disorder, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
in 1982. He died in 1987 at age 35 following a violent altercation at a Fort Lauderdale drinking establishment.
Pastorius was inducted into the Down Beat
Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist). He is one of the most influential electric bass players of all time.
to Jack Pastorius (big band
singer/drummer) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius, the first of their three children, Jaco Pastorius was of Finnish, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry.
Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Oakland Park, Florida
, (near Fort Lauderdale
). Pastorius went to elementary and middle school at St. Clement's Catholic School in Wilton Manors
, and he was an altar boy at the adjoining church. In his years at St. Clement's, the art he was most known for was drawing.
Pastorius formed his first band named The Sonics along with John Caputo and Dean Noel. He went to high school at Northeast High
in Oakland Park, Florida
. He was a talented athlete with skills in football, basketball, and baseball, and he picked up music at an early age. He took the name "Anthony" at his confirmation.
He loved baseball and often watched it with his father. Pastorius' nickname was influenced by his love of sports and also by the umpire
Jocko Conlan
. He changed the spelling from "Jocko" to "Jaco" after the pianist Alex Darqui sent him a note. Darqui, who was French, assumed the name was spelled "Jaco"; Pastorius liked the new spelling. Jaco Pastorius had a second nickname, given to him by his younger brother Gregory: "Mowgli
", after the wild young boy in Rudyard Kipling
's children's classic, The Jungle Book
. Gregory gave him the nickname in reference to his seemingly endless energy as a child. Jaco Pastorius would later establish his music publishing company as Mowgli Music. In 1973, he was an instructor at the University of Miami
's Frost School of Music
.
By 1968–1969, Pastorius had begun to appreciate jazz and had scraped up enough money to buy an upright bass. Its deep, mellow tone appealed to him even if its cost was prohibitive. Pastorius discovered the difficulties in maintaining the instrument, which Pastorius attributed to the humidity of his Florida home, coupled with his shift in focus to R&B music. Following the development of a crack in the body, he finally traded the instrument for a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass
.
Pastorius' first real break came when he secured the bass chair with Wayne Cochran and The C.C. Riders
He also played on various local R&B and jazz records during that time such as Little Beaver
, Ira Sullivan's Quintet
, and Woodchuck. In 1974, he began playing with his friend and future famous jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny
. They recorded together, first with Paul Bley
as leader and Bruce Ditmas
on drums, then with drummer Bob Moses
. Metheny and Pastorius recorded a trio album with Bob Moses
on the ECM label
, entitled Bright Size Life
.
drummer Bobby Colomby
, who had been given the green light by CBS Records
to find "new talent" for their jazz division. Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby was the eponymous Jaco Pastorius
(1976), a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this to be the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was widely praised by critics. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time—essentially a stellar backup band—including Herbie Hancock
, Wayne Shorter
, David Sanborn
, Lenny White
, Don Alias
, and Michael Brecker
among others. Even legendary R&B singers Sam & Dave
reunited to appear on the track "Come On, Come Over".
, was playing. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night and talked about the performance and said that it was all right but that he had expected more. He then went on to introduce himself to Zawinul, adding that he was the greatest bass player in the world. An unamused Zawinul told him to "get the fuck outta here." According to Milkowski's book, on that same evening, Pastorius persisted and, according to Zawinul, reminded Zawinul of himself when he was a "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band, which made Zawinul admire the young bassist. Zawinul asked for a demo tape from Pastorius, and thus began a correspondence between the two.
Pastorius joined Weather Report during the recording sessions for Black Market
, and he became a vital part of the band both by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer and his exuberant showmanship
on stage. His stage act and melodic, propulsive solos brought Weather Report a large new African-American audience; before his arrival the band had mostly pulled in white college fans.
of Mott the Hoople
fame, on All American Alien Boy
, which again featured David Sanborn as well as Aynsley Dunbar
. Other recordings included Joni Mitchell
's Hejira
album, and a solo album by Al Di Meola
which were also standouts, both released in 1976. Soon after that, Weather Report
bass player Alphonso Johnson
gave notice that he would be leaving to start his own band. Zawinul invited Pastorius to join the band, where he played alongside Joe and Wayne Shorter
until 1983. During his time with Weather Report, Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, notably by being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy Award
-nominated Heavy Weather
. Not only did this album showcase Pastorius's bass playing and songwriting, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul
and even played drums on his self-composed "Teen Town."
During the course of his musical career, Pastorius played on dozens of recording sessions for other musicians, both in and out of jazz circles. Some of his most notable are four highly regarded albums with acclaimed singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
: Hejira
(1976), Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
(1977), Mingus
(1979) and the live album Shadows and Light (1980). His influence was most dominant on Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
, and many of the songs on that album seem to be composed using the bass as a melodic source of inspiration. Also worthy of mention is his collaboration with important jazz figures Flora Purim
and Airto Moreira
. Pastorius can be heard on Moreira's 1977 release I'm Fine, How Are You? His signature sound is prominent on Purim's 1978 release Everyday Everynight, on which he played the bass melody for a Michel Colombier composition entitled "The Hope", and performed bass and vocals on one of his own compositions entitled "Las Olas".
Near the end of his career, he guested on low-key releases by jazz artists such as guitarist Mike Stern
, guitarist Biréli Lagrène
, and drummer Brian Melvin. In 1985, he recorded an instructional video, Modern Electric Bass, hosted by acclaimed bassist Jerry Jemmott
.
Pastorius' original compositions for solo electric bass guitar, "Portrait of Tracy
" and "Three Views of a Secret" have been arranged for piano and published in The New Real Book: Volume 1 published by Sher Music.
parted ways in early 1981, and Jaco began pursuing his interest in creating a big band
solo project named Word of Mouth, one that found its debut aurally on his second solo release, Word of Mouth
. This 1981 album also boasted guest appearances by several distinguished jazz musicians: Herbie Hancock
, Weather Report's Wayne Shorter
and Peter Erskine
, harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans
and Hubert Laws
. The album allowed Pastorius' songwriting to take some of the spotlight from his bass performance. It also showcased his producing skills and ultimately, his ability to bring together a project that was recorded on both coasts of the United States, as well as in Belgium where he recorded Thielemans.
On his 30th birthday, December 1, 1981, he threw a party at a club in Fort Lauderdale, flew in some of the artists from his Word of Mouth project, and other noteworthy musicians that included Don Alias
, and Michael Brecker
. The event was recorded by his friend and engineer Peter Yianilos, who intended it as a birthday gift. The concert remained unreleased until 1995.
He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight, and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Pastorius' deteriorating behavior first surfaced. He shaved his head, painted his face black and threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay at one point. That tour was released in Japan as Twins I and Twins II and was condensed for an American release which was known as Invitation.
In 1982, he recorded a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steelpan
s-tinged release entitled Holiday for Pans, which once again showcased him as a composer and producer rather than a performer. Jaco Pastorius did not play any of the bass parts on this album. He could not find a distributor for the album and the album was never released; however, it has since been widely bootlegged
. In 2003, a cut from Holiday for Pans, entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' anthology Punk Jazz.
, formerly known as manic depression.
Pastorius showed numerous features of the condition long before his initial diagnosis, although they were insufficiently extreme to have been diagnosed at the time as mental illness, being regarded instead as eccentricities or character flaws. The condition in its earlier stages is likely to have contributed to his success as a musician. Hypomania
, the cyclical peaks in mood that distinguish bipolar disorder from unipolar depression, have been associated with enhanced creativity. It was recognized (retrospectively) by friends and family that these peaks played an essential role in his urge to create music.
In his early career, Pastorius avoided both alcohol and drugs, but he became increasingly involved in alcohol and other drugs during his time with Weather Report. Alcohol abuse ultimately exacerbated Pastorius' condition, leading to increasingly erratic and sometimes anti-social behavior.
Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 1982 following the Word of Mouth
tour of Japan in which his erratic behavior became an increasing source of concern for his band members. Drummer Peter Erskine
's father, Dr. Fred Erskine, suggested that Pastorius was showing signs of the condition and, on his return from the tour, his wife, Ingrid, had Pastorius committed to Holy Cross hospital under the Florida Mental Health Act
, where he received the diagnosis and was prescribed lithium
to stabilize his moods.
By 1986, Pastorius' health had further deteriorated. He had been evicted from his New York apartment and had begun living on the streets. In July 1986, following intervention by his then ex-wife Ingrid with the help of his brother Gregory, he was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he was prescribed Tegretol in preference to lithium. He moved back to Fort Lauderdale in December of that year, again living on the streets for weeks at a time.
concert on September 11, 1987, and being ejected from the premises, Pastorius made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida
. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer
, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and injuries to his right eye and left arm. He fell into a coma and was put on life support
.
There were initially encouraging signs that he would come out of his coma and recover, but a massive brain hemorrhage a few days later pointed to brain death
. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and was buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.
In the wake of Pastorius' death, Havan was charged with second degree murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter
. Because he had no prior convictions, and accounting for time served while waiting for the verdict, he was sentenced to 22 months in jail and five years probation. He was released after four months in jail for good behavior.
honored the late bassist on his album Amandla
with the Marcus Miller
composition "Mr. Pastorius", as Jaco Pastorius was an inspiration to Marcus Miller. Victor Wooten
also honored Jaco Pastorius on his album Soul Circus
on the track "Bass Tribute", thanking Pastorius several times. Wooten and Steve Bailey's Bass Extremes includes the tracks "Glorius Pastorius", "Portrait of Tracy," and also a tribute to Pastorius' interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee
" titled "Madonna Lee". The Pat Metheny Group
also honored Pastorius on their album Pat Metheny Group
with the track "Jaco". This song was not specifically written for Pastorius. Metheny wrote the song and then realized that the main melody sounded a lot like Pastorius' "Come On, Come Over", and subsequently decided to name the tune for Pastorius. Bass player Brian Bromberg
recorded a Pastorius tribute album entitled Jaco, which includes his interpretations of "Come On, Come Over", "The Chicken", "Portrait of Tracy", and more.
John McLaughlin
also honored Pastorius on his album Industrial Zen with the song "For Jaco". English keyboard player Rod Argent
includes a track titled "Pastorius Mentioned" on his 1979 Album Moving Home. The song "Big Country", by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
, contains the opening lick from Pastorius' "Continuum". Stuart Zender
, the original bass player and founding member of Jamiroquai
, cites Pastorius as one of his main influences. "With his sense of rhythm, melody and use of harmonics, Jaco pushed the envelope and transformed the way the electric bass guitar was played."
Since 1997, an annual birthday event takes place around December 1 in South Florida, hosted by his sons Julius and Felix Pastorius.
On December 2, 2007, the day after what would have been Pastorius' 56th birthday, a concert called "20th Anniversary (of his death) Tribute to Jaco Pastorius" was held at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, featuring performances by the award-winning Jaco Pastorius Big Band with special guest appearances by Peter Erskine
, Randy Brecker
, Bob Mintzer
, David Bargeron
, Jimmy Haslip
, Gerald Veasley
, Pastorius' sons John and Julius Pastorius, Pastorius' daughter Mary Pastorius, Ira Sullivan
, Bobby Thomas, Jr., and Dana Paul. Also shown were exclusive home movies and rare concert footage as well as video appearances by Pat Metheny
, Joni Mitchell
, and other luminaries from Pastorius' life. Almost 20 years after his death, Fender released the Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass, a fretless instrument from its Artist Series.
On December 1, 2008, on what would have been Pastorius' 57th birthday, the park in Oakland Park's
new downtown redevelopment was formally named 'Jaco Pastorius Park' in honor of its former resident.
to extend the range of the bass (exemplified in the bass solo composition Portrait of Tracy
from his eponymous album) and could achieve his signature horn-like tone by utilizing his fretless neck (covered in polyurethane marine varnish). His playing techniques earned him accolades both from the critics and his audiences. He used finger-style playing exclusively, and was not seen using the slap and pop method that dominated the R&B charts.
es from the early 1960s: a 1960 fretted, and a 1962 fretless. The fretless, known by Jaco Pastorius as the "Bass of Doom", was originally a fretted bass that had the frets removed. Pastorius claimed to have removed the frets himself but later said he had bought it with the frets already removed. Pastorius finished the fretboard with marine epoxy
(Petit's Poly-poxy) to protect the wood from the roundwound Rotosound
strings he was using. Even though he played both the fretted and the fretless basses frequently, he preferred the fretless, because he felt frets were a hindrance, once calling them "speed bumps". However, he said in the instructional video that he never practiced with the fretless because the strings "chew the neck up." Both of his Fender basses were stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital
in 1986. In 1993, one of the basses resurfaced in a New York City music shop, with the distinctive letter P written between the two pickups. In 2008, the 1962 fretless "Bass of Doom" also turned up in good condition in New York. It was subsequently acquired by Robert Trujillo
, bassist with Metallica
. Although Trujillo currently owns the instrument, the Metallica bassist agreed in writing to relinquish the instrument to the family at any time for the same purchase price.
of Van Nuys, California) to boost the midrange frequencies, thus accentuating the natural growling tone of his fretless passive Fender Jazz Bass and roundwound string combination. His tone was also colored by the use of a rackmount MXR
digital delay unit that fed a second Acoustic amp rig.
He often used Hartke
cabinets during the final three years of his life because of their characteristic aluminum speaker cones (as opposed to paper speaker cones). These gave his tone a bright, clear sound. He typically used the delay in a chorus
-like mode, providing a shimmering stereo doubling effect. He would often use the fuzz control built in on the Acoustic 361. For the bass solo "Slang" on the 8:30
album, Pastorius used the MXR digital delay to layer and loop
a chordal figure and then he soloed over it.
, Jaco Pastorius had two Grammy Award
nominations for his self-titled debut album. He won the readers' poll for induction into the Down Beat
Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (the others being Charles Mingus
, Milt Hinton
, and Ray Brown
), and the only electric bassist to receive this distinction.
Pastorius's second wife Ingrid has complained that the book treated Jaco Pastorius with a lack of sensitivity, and has listed a number of contextual inaccuracies on her website. Guitarist Pat Metheny
, who was a close friend before Pastorius joined Weather Report, wrote in the liner notes of the reissue of Pastorius' first album that Milkowski's book was "a horribly inaccurate, botched biography". Meanwhile, John Corbett of Downbeat wrote: “With insight, care and plenty of musical detail, Milkowski charts the bassists’s trip from Florida beach and cruise-ship gigs and a year in Wayne Cochran’s C.C. Riders to fame with Weather Report and misfortune in his drug-and-drink ridden ‘dark years.’” Michael Point of the Austin American-Statesman wrote: “To his great literary credit, Milkowski tells the bassist’s story with enlightening candor, allowing his sympathy to be palpable without obscuring the hard, cold facts.” Rick Anderson of Library Journal called it “A clean, carefully written biography that tells Jaco’s story without lurid drama but also without flinching from the tragic details.”
A 10th anniversary edition, published in 2005 by Backbeat Books, was a greatly expanded and updated version that included a 40-minute CD of spoken word testimonies from key figures in Jaco's life along with examples of his early bands before joining Weather Report in 1976.
, Tony Franklin
and Pedro Aznar
among many others.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
electric bass player.
His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register and for the "singing" quality he achieved on the fretless bass. His innovations also included the use of harmonic
Harmonic
A harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency, i.e. if the fundamental frequency is f, the harmonics have frequencies 2f, 3f, 4f, . . . etc. The harmonics have the property that they are all periodic at the fundamental...
s. Pastorius suffered from mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
including a substance-related disorder, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
in 1982. He died in 1987 at age 35 following a violent altercation at a Fort Lauderdale drinking establishment.
Pastorius was inducted into the Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist). He is one of the most influential electric bass players of all time.
Early life and education
John Francis Pastorius III was born December 1, 1951 in Norristown, PennsylvaniaNorristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown is a municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, northwest of the city limits of Philadelphia, on the Schuylkill River. The population was 34,324 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Montgomery County...
to Jack Pastorius (big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
singer/drummer) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius, the first of their three children, Jaco Pastorius was of Finnish, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry.
Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Oakland Park, Florida
Oakland Park, Florida
Oakland Park is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Originally named Floranada , the town was forced into bankruptcy after the hurricane of 1926. When the town reincorporated, residents chose the name Oakland Park. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,363, mainly due to...
, (near Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
). Pastorius went to elementary and middle school at St. Clement's Catholic School in Wilton Manors
Wilton Manors, Florida
Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,632. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census. Although the city is...
, and he was an altar boy at the adjoining church. In his years at St. Clement's, the art he was most known for was drawing.
Pastorius formed his first band named The Sonics along with John Caputo and Dean Noel. He went to high school at Northeast High
Northeast High School (Oakland Park, Florida)
Northeast High School is a high school in Broward County, Florida. Northeast serves Oakland Park and Fort Lauderdale as well as the portion of North Lauderdale east of Florida's Turnpike...
in Oakland Park, Florida
Oakland Park, Florida
Oakland Park is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Originally named Floranada , the town was forced into bankruptcy after the hurricane of 1926. When the town reincorporated, residents chose the name Oakland Park. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,363, mainly due to...
. He was a talented athlete with skills in football, basketball, and baseball, and he picked up music at an early age. He took the name "Anthony" at his confirmation.
He loved baseball and often watched it with his father. Pastorius' nickname was influenced by his love of sports and also by the umpire
Umpire (baseball)
In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...
Jocko Conlan
Jocko Conlan
John Bertrand "Jocko" Conlan was an American Hall of Fame umpire who worked in the National League from 1941 to 1965. He previously had a brief career as an outfielder with the Chicago White Sox....
. He changed the spelling from "Jocko" to "Jaco" after the pianist Alex Darqui sent him a note. Darqui, who was French, assumed the name was spelled "Jaco"; Pastorius liked the new spelling. Jaco Pastorius had a second nickname, given to him by his younger brother Gregory: "Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
", after the wild young boy in Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's children's classic, The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
. Gregory gave him the nickname in reference to his seemingly endless energy as a child. Jaco Pastorius would later establish his music publishing company as Mowgli Music. In 1973, he was an instructor at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
's Frost School of Music
Frost School of Music
The Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music or Frost School of Music of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, known from 1926 to 2003 as University of Miami School of Music, is a music school in the United States....
.
Music career
Jaco Pastorius started out following in the footsteps of his father Jack, playing the drums, however he injured his wrist playing football at age 13. The damage to his wrist was severe enough to warrant corrective surgery and ultimately inhibited his ability to play drums. At the time, he had been playing with a local band, Las Olas Brass, and since the bass player, David Neubauer, had decided to quit the band, he picked up an electric bass guitar from a local pawn shop for $15, and began to learn to play, with drummer Rich Franks assuming his former position in the band.By 1968–1969, Pastorius had begun to appreciate jazz and had scraped up enough money to buy an upright bass. Its deep, mellow tone appealed to him even if its cost was prohibitive. Pastorius discovered the difficulties in maintaining the instrument, which Pastorius attributed to the humidity of his Florida home, coupled with his shift in focus to R&B music. Following the development of a crack in the body, he finally traded the instrument for a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
.
Pastorius' first real break came when he secured the bass chair with Wayne Cochran and The C.C. Riders
Wayne Cochran
Wayne Cochran is an American soul singer, known for his outlandish outfits and white pompadour. He is sometimes referred to as The White Knight of Soul....
He also played on various local R&B and jazz records during that time such as Little Beaver
Willie Hale
Willie Hale , often known by the name Little Beaver, is an American R&B guitarist, singer and songwriter featured on many hit records since the 1960s....
, Ira Sullivan's Quintet
Ira Sullivan
Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....
, and Woodchuck. In 1974, he began playing with his friend and future famous jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
. They recorded together, first with Paul Bley
Paul Bley
Paul Bley, CM is a pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing.-Biography:...
as leader and Bruce Ditmas
Bruce Ditmas
Bruce Ditmas is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.Ditmas was born in Atlantic City but grew up in Miami; his father was a trumpeter in Miami big bands. He studied with Tony Crisetello and then with Stan Kenton at Indiana University and Michigan State University in the early 1960s...
on drums, then with drummer Bob Moses
Bob Moses (musician)
Rakalam Bob Moses is an American jazz drummer born in New York City.Moses played with Roland Kirk in 1964-65 while he was still a teenager. In 1966 he and Larry Coryell formed The Free Spirits, a jazz fusion ensemble, and from 1967 to 1969 he played in Gary Burton's quartet...
. Metheny and Pastorius recorded a trio album with Bob Moses
Bob Moses (musician)
Rakalam Bob Moses is an American jazz drummer born in New York City.Moses played with Roland Kirk in 1964-65 while he was still a teenager. In 1966 he and Larry Coryell formed The Free Spirits, a jazz fusion ensemble, and from 1967 to 1969 he played in Gary Burton's quartet...
on the ECM label
ECM (record label)
ECM is a record label founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a wide variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres...
, entitled Bright Size Life
Bright Size Life
Bright Size Life is Pat Metheny's debut album, released in 1976, when Metheny was only 21. It is notable for the maturity of its compositions as well as the strength of Metheny's sidemen, as fellow fusion pioneer Jaco Pastorius was on bass along with drummer Bob Moses.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Pat...
.
Debut album
In 1975, Pastorius was introduced to Blood, Sweat & TearsBlood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
drummer Bobby Colomby
Bobby Colomby
Bobby Colomby is an innovative jazz-rock fusion drummer, and an original member of the group Blood, Sweat & Tears...
, who had been given the green light by CBS Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
to find "new talent" for their jazz division. Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby was the eponymous Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius (album)
This self-titled album was Pastorius' solo debut and was originally released in 1976. The album was produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer/founder Bobby Colomby...
(1976), a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this to be the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was widely praised by critics. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time—essentially a stellar backup band—including Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, Lenny White
Lenny White
Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
, Don Alias
Don Alias
Charles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
, and Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
among others. Even legendary R&B singers Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
reunited to appear on the track "Come On, Come Over".
Weather Report
Around the time of his solo album, he ran into keyboardist Josef Zawinul in Miami, where Zawinul's band, Weather ReportWeather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, was playing. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night and talked about the performance and said that it was all right but that he had expected more. He then went on to introduce himself to Zawinul, adding that he was the greatest bass player in the world. An unamused Zawinul told him to "get the fuck outta here." According to Milkowski's book, on that same evening, Pastorius persisted and, according to Zawinul, reminded Zawinul of himself when he was a "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band, which made Zawinul admire the young bassist. Zawinul asked for a demo tape from Pastorius, and thus began a correspondence between the two.
Pastorius joined Weather Report during the recording sessions for Black Market
Black Market (album)
Black Market is an instrumental jazz fusion album released by Weather Report in 1976. This album was produced by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. It was recorded in December 1975 and released in April 1976 through Columbia Records...
, and he became a vital part of the band both by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer and his exuberant showmanship
Showmanship (performing)
Showmanship, concerning artistic performing such as in Theatre, is the skill of performing in such a manner that will appeal to an audience or aid in conveying the performance's essential theme or message....
on stage. His stage act and melodic, propulsive solos brought Weather Report a large new African-American audience; before his arrival the band had mostly pulled in white college fans.
Guest appearances on albums
Pastorius guested on many albums by other artists, as for example in 1976 with Ian HunterIan Hunter (singer)
Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and...
of Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople
Mott the Hoople were a British rock band with strong R&B roots, popular in the glam rock era of the early to mid 1970s. They are popularly known for the song "All the Young Dudes", written for them by David Bowie and appearing on their 1972 album of the same name.-The early years:Mott The Hoople...
fame, on All American Alien Boy
All American Alien Boy
All American Alien Boy is the second solo album by Ian Hunter. Because of management issues, Mick Ronson did not appear on this album; instead, Hunter brought in keyboardist Chris Stainton in order to act as a balancing force in the studio...
, which again featured David Sanborn as well as Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, and Journey...
. Other recordings included Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's Hejira
Hejira (album)
Hejira is a 1976 folk/rock/jazz album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The album title is a transliteration of the Arabic word hijra, which means "journey", referring specifically to the prophet Muhammad's and his followers' escape from Mecca to Medina in 622...
album, and a solo album by Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola
Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date...
which were also standouts, both released in 1976. Soon after that, Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
bass player Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson
Alphonso Johnson is an American jazz bassist who has been influential since the early 1970s.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Johnson started off as an upright bass player, but switched to the electric bass in his late teens. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, Johnson showed...
gave notice that he would be leaving to start his own band. Zawinul invited Pastorius to join the band, where he played alongside Joe and Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
until 1983. During his time with Weather Report, Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, notably by being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather (album)
The album received positive reviews since its publication. American music journalist Richard Ginell gave the album the maximum rating, five stars out of five, and concluded his review for Allmusic by stating that, "[r]eleased just as the jazz-rock movement began to run out of steam, this landmark...
. Not only did this album showcase Pastorius's bass playing and songwriting, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul
Joe Zawinul
Josef Erich Zawinul was an Austrian-American jazz keyboardist and composer.First coming to prominence with saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, Zawinul went on to play with trumpeter Miles Davis, and to become one of the creators of jazz fusion, an innovative musical genre that combined jazz with...
and even played drums on his self-composed "Teen Town."
During the course of his musical career, Pastorius played on dozens of recording sessions for other musicians, both in and out of jazz circles. Some of his most notable are four highly regarded albums with acclaimed singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
: Hejira
Hejira (album)
Hejira is a 1976 folk/rock/jazz album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The album title is a transliteration of the Arabic word hijra, which means "journey", referring specifically to the prophet Muhammad's and his followers' escape from Mecca to Medina in 622...
(1976), Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by the folk/pop/rock musician Joni Mitchell. It is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before...
(1977), Mingus
Mingus (album)
Mingus is the tenth studio album by Joni Mitchell, and a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus. Recorded in the months before his death, it would be Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him....
(1979) and the live album Shadows and Light (1980). His influence was most dominant on Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by the folk/pop/rock musician Joni Mitchell. It is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before...
, and many of the songs on that album seem to be composed using the bass as a melodic source of inspiration. Also worthy of mention is his collaboration with important jazz figures Flora Purim
Flora Purim
Flora Purim is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Chick Corea's landmark album Return to Forever...
and Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira
Airto Moreira is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. Airto is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. He currently resides in Los Angeles.-Biography:...
. Pastorius can be heard on Moreira's 1977 release I'm Fine, How Are You? His signature sound is prominent on Purim's 1978 release Everyday Everynight, on which he played the bass melody for a Michel Colombier composition entitled "The Hope", and performed bass and vocals on one of his own compositions entitled "Las Olas".
Near the end of his career, he guested on low-key releases by jazz artists such as guitarist Mike Stern
Mike Stern
Mike Stern is an American jazz guitarist. After playing for a few years with Blood, Sweat & Tears, he landed a gig with Billy Cobham and then broke through with Miles Davis' comeback band from 1981 to 1983, and again in 1985. Since then, he launched a solo career, releasing more than a dozen albums...
, guitarist Biréli Lagrène
Biréli Lagrène
Biréli Lagrène is a French guitarist and bassist. He came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt-influenced style on the classical guitar, as well as for being a jazz fusion virtuoso on the electric guitar...
, and drummer Brian Melvin. In 1985, he recorded an instructional video, Modern Electric Bass, hosted by acclaimed bassist Jerry Jemmott
Jerry Jemmott
Gerald Joseph Stenhouse "Jerry" Jemmott is an American bass guitarist. Also known as Gerald "Fingers" Jemmott, Rasan Mfalme or "the Groovemaster", Jemmott was one of the chief session bassists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, working with many of the period's well known soul, blues, and jazz...
.
Pastorius' original compositions for solo electric bass guitar, "Portrait of Tracy
Portrait of Tracy
is a composition by bassist Jaco Pastorius. It appears on his landmark self-titled debut album, and is widely recorded as a tribute by bassists such as Joe Ferry, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Brian Bromberg, and others...
" and "Three Views of a Secret" have been arranged for piano and published in The New Real Book: Volume 1 published by Sher Music.
Projects
He and Weather ReportWeather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
parted ways in early 1981, and Jaco began pursuing his interest in creating a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
solo project named Word of Mouth, one that found its debut aurally on his second solo release, Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)
Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1986...
. This 1981 album also boasted guest appearances by several distinguished jazz musicians: Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Weather Report's Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.He is generally acknowledged to be jazz's greatest living composer, and many of his compositions have become standards...
and Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
, harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
and Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws is an American flutist and saxophonist with a 40+ year career in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Alongside Herbie Mann, Laws is probably the most recognized and respected jazz flutist...
. The album allowed Pastorius' songwriting to take some of the spotlight from his bass performance. It also showcased his producing skills and ultimately, his ability to bring together a project that was recorded on both coasts of the United States, as well as in Belgium where he recorded Thielemans.
On his 30th birthday, December 1, 1981, he threw a party at a club in Fort Lauderdale, flew in some of the artists from his Word of Mouth project, and other noteworthy musicians that included Don Alias
Don Alias
Charles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...
, and Michael Brecker
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...
. The event was recorded by his friend and engineer Peter Yianilos, who intended it as a birthday gift. The concert remained unreleased until 1995.
He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight, and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Pastorius' deteriorating behavior first surfaced. He shaved his head, painted his face black and threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay at one point. That tour was released in Japan as Twins I and Twins II and was condensed for an American release which was known as Invitation.
In 1982, he recorded a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steelpan
Steelpan
Steelpans is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago...
s-tinged release entitled Holiday for Pans, which once again showcased him as a composer and producer rather than a performer. Jaco Pastorius did not play any of the bass parts on this album. He could not find a distributor for the album and the album was never released; however, it has since been widely bootlegged
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
. In 2003, a cut from Holiday for Pans, entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' anthology Punk Jazz.
Behavior and health problems
Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, formerly known as manic depression.
Pastorius showed numerous features of the condition long before his initial diagnosis, although they were insufficiently extreme to have been diagnosed at the time as mental illness, being regarded instead as eccentricities or character flaws. The condition in its earlier stages is likely to have contributed to his success as a musician. Hypomania
Hypomania
Hypomania is a mood state characterized by persistent and pervasive elevated or irritable mood, as well as thoughts and behaviors that are consistent with such a mood state...
, the cyclical peaks in mood that distinguish bipolar disorder from unipolar depression, have been associated with enhanced creativity. It was recognized (retrospectively) by friends and family that these peaks played an essential role in his urge to create music.
In his early career, Pastorius avoided both alcohol and drugs, but he became increasingly involved in alcohol and other drugs during his time with Weather Report. Alcohol abuse ultimately exacerbated Pastorius' condition, leading to increasingly erratic and sometimes anti-social behavior.
Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 1982 following the Word of Mouth
Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)
Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1986...
tour of Japan in which his erratic behavior became an increasing source of concern for his band members. Drummer Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
's father, Dr. Fred Erskine, suggested that Pastorius was showing signs of the condition and, on his return from the tour, his wife, Ingrid, had Pastorius committed to Holy Cross hospital under the Florida Mental Health Act
Florida Mental Health Act
The Florida Mental Health Act of 1971 is a Florida statute allowing for involuntary examination of an individual....
, where he received the diagnosis and was prescribed lithium
Lithium pharmacology
Lithium pharmacology refers to use of the lithium ion, Li+, as a drug. A number of chemical salts of lithium are used medically as a mood stabilizing drug, primarily in the treatment of bipolar disorder, where they have a role in the treatment of depression and particularly of mania, both acutely...
to stabilize his moods.
By 1986, Pastorius' health had further deteriorated. He had been evicted from his New York apartment and had begun living on the streets. In July 1986, following intervention by his then ex-wife Ingrid with the help of his brother Gregory, he was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he was prescribed Tegretol in preference to lithium. He moved back to Fort Lauderdale in December of that year, again living on the streets for weeks at a time.
Death
After sneaking onstage at a Carlos SantanaCarlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
concert on September 11, 1987, and being ejected from the premises, Pastorius made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida
Wilton Manors, Florida
Wilton Manors is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,632. Wilton Manors is part of the Miami–Fort Lauderdale–Pompano Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010 census. Although the city is...
. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and injuries to his right eye and left arm. He fell into a coma and was put on life support
Life support
Life support, in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life...
.
There were initially encouraging signs that he would come out of his coma and recover, but a massive brain hemorrhage a few days later pointed to brain death
Brain death
Brain death is the irreversible end of all brain activity due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of brain oxygenation. It should not be confused with a persistent vegetative state...
. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale and was buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.
In the wake of Pastorius' death, Havan was charged with second degree murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
. Because he had no prior convictions, and accounting for time served while waiting for the verdict, he was sentenced to 22 months in jail and five years probation. He was released after four months in jail for good behavior.
Honors and tributes
Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
honored the late bassist on his album Amandla
Amandla (album)
Amandla is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1989. It is the third collaboration between Miles Davis and producer/bassist Marcus Miller, after Tutu and Music From Siesta , and their final album together. The album mixes elements of the genres go-go, zouk, funk and swing jazz,...
with the Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
composition "Mr. Pastorius", as Jaco Pastorius was an inspiration to Marcus Miller. Victor Wooten
Victor Wooten
Victor Lemonte Wooten is an American bass player, composer, author, and producer, and has been the recipient of five Grammy Awards....
also honored Jaco Pastorius on his album Soul Circus
Soul Circus
Soul Circus is the fifth album by Victor Wooten, released in 2005. Wooten claims he took inspiration from what played in radio stations in the 70s, so most songs have lyrics to them.-Track listing:#"Intro: Adam" – 0:09...
on the track "Bass Tribute", thanking Pastorius several times. Wooten and Steve Bailey's Bass Extremes includes the tracks "Glorius Pastorius", "Portrait of Tracy," and also a tribute to Pastorius' interpretation of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee
Donna Lee
"Donna Lee" is a bebop jazz standard composed by Miles Davis. It was written in A flat and is based on the chord changes of the traditional jazz standard " Indiana". One unusual feature of the tune is that it begins with a half-bar rest...
" titled "Madonna Lee". The Pat Metheny Group
Pat Metheny Group
The Pat Metheny Group is a jazz group founded in 1977. The core members of the group are guitarist and bandleader Pat Metheny, composer, keyboardist and pianist Lyle Mays , and bassist and producer Steve Rodby...
also honored Pastorius on their album Pat Metheny Group
Pat Metheny Group (album)
Pat Metheny Group is the first album by Pat Metheny Group, released in 1978. It features Pat Metheny on guitar, Lyle Mays on piano and keyboards, Mark Egan on bass, and Dan Gottlieb on drums.-Track listing:-Personnel:...
with the track "Jaco". This song was not specifically written for Pastorius. Metheny wrote the song and then realized that the main melody sounded a lot like Pastorius' "Come On, Come Over", and subsequently decided to name the tune for Pastorius. Bass player Brian Bromberg
Brian Bromberg
Brian Bromberg is an American jazz bassist and record producer who performs on both electric and acoustic instruments...
recorded a Pastorius tribute album entitled Jaco, which includes his interpretations of "Come On, Come Over", "The Chicken", "Portrait of Tracy", and more.
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
also honored Pastorius on his album Industrial Zen with the song "For Jaco". English keyboard player Rod Argent
Rod Argent
Rod Argent is an English rock musician and a founding member of the 1960s English pop group The Zombies and the 1970s band Argent....
includes a track titled "Pastorius Mentioned" on his 1979 Album Moving Home. The song "Big Country", by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is a primarily instrumental group from the United States, that draws equally on bluegrass, fusion and jazz, sometimes dubbed "blu-bop". The band formed in 1988, initially to perform once on the PBS series Lonesome Pine Specials. The Flecktones have toured extensively...
, contains the opening lick from Pastorius' "Continuum". Stuart Zender
Stuart Zender
Stuart Patrick Jude Zender is an English bassist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for being the original bass player for Jamiroquai.-Early life:...
, the original bass player and founding member of Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai
Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
, cites Pastorius as one of his main influences. "With his sense of rhythm, melody and use of harmonics, Jaco pushed the envelope and transformed the way the electric bass guitar was played."
Since 1997, an annual birthday event takes place around December 1 in South Florida, hosted by his sons Julius and Felix Pastorius.
On December 2, 2007, the day after what would have been Pastorius' 56th birthday, a concert called "20th Anniversary (of his death) Tribute to Jaco Pastorius" was held at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts
Broward Center for the Performing Arts
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is a large multi-venue theater and entertainment complex located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA....
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, featuring performances by the award-winning Jaco Pastorius Big Band with special guest appearances by Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine
Peter Erskine is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has enjoyed a long and successful career as a session drummer, recording and touring with many famous jazz and rock artists, including Steely Dan and Weather Report...
, Randy Brecker
Randy Brecker
Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...
, Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer
Bob Mintzer is a jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader based in Los Angeles, California. Mintzer is a member of the jazz rock band the Yellowjackets.-With The Yellowjackets:*Greenhouse, 1991;*Live Wires, 1992;...
, David Bargeron
Dave Bargeron
David 'Dave' W Bargeron is an American trombonist and tuba player from Athol, Massachusetts, most famous for playing with the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He joined the group in 1970, after Jerry Hyman departed, and first appeared on the album Blood, Sweat & Tears 4...
, Jimmy Haslip
Jimmy Haslip
Jimmy Haslip is an American electric bass player and record producer best known as a founding and current member of the pioneering fusion group Yellowjackets...
, Gerald Veasley
Gerald Veasley
Gerald Veasley is an American jazz bass guitarist.Veasley was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he played in R&B groups as a teenager. He worked with Joe Zawinul from 1988 to 1995, and began releasing his own records in 1992. He has also done extensive work as a studio musician....
, Pastorius' sons John and Julius Pastorius, Pastorius' daughter Mary Pastorius, Ira Sullivan
Ira Sullivan
Ira Sullivan is a bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, flautist, saxophonist and composer born in Washington, D.C.. An active musician since the 1950s, he may be best known for his extensive work with Red Rodney and Lin Halliday among others....
, Bobby Thomas, Jr., and Dana Paul. Also shown were exclusive home movies and rare concert footage as well as video appearances by Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, and other luminaries from Pastorius' life. Almost 20 years after his death, Fender released the Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass, a fretless instrument from its Artist Series.
On December 1, 2008, on what would have been Pastorius' 57th birthday, the park in Oakland Park's
Oakland Park, Florida
Oakland Park is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Originally named Floranada , the town was forced into bankruptcy after the hurricane of 1926. When the town reincorporated, residents chose the name Oakland Park. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,363, mainly due to...
new downtown redevelopment was formally named 'Jaco Pastorius Park' in honor of its former resident.
Technique
The "Jaco growl" is obtained by using the bridge pickup exclusively, and plucking the strings right above the bridge pickup. Pastorius used natural and false harmonicsGuitar harmonics
A guitar harmonic is a musical note played by preventing or amplifying vibration of certain overtones of a guitar string. Music using harmonics can contain very high pitch notes difficult or impossible to reach by fretting...
to extend the range of the bass (exemplified in the bass solo composition Portrait of Tracy
Portrait of Tracy
is a composition by bassist Jaco Pastorius. It appears on his landmark self-titled debut album, and is widely recorded as a tribute by bassists such as Joe Ferry, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Brian Bromberg, and others...
from his eponymous album) and could achieve his signature horn-like tone by utilizing his fretless neck (covered in polyurethane marine varnish). His playing techniques earned him accolades both from the critics and his audiences. He used finger-style playing exclusively, and was not seen using the slap and pop method that dominated the R&B charts.
Basses
Pastorius was most identified by his use of two well-worn Fender Jazz BassFender Jazz Bass
The Jazz Bass was the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. The bass is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental harmonic...
es from the early 1960s: a 1960 fretted, and a 1962 fretless. The fretless, known by Jaco Pastorius as the "Bass of Doom", was originally a fretted bass that had the frets removed. Pastorius claimed to have removed the frets himself but later said he had bought it with the frets already removed. Pastorius finished the fretboard with marine epoxy
Epoxy
Epoxy, also known as polyepoxide, is a thermosetting polymer formed from reaction of an epoxide "resin" with polyamine "hardener". Epoxy has a wide range of applications, including fiber-reinforced plastic materials and general purpose adhesives....
(Petit's Poly-poxy) to protect the wood from the roundwound Rotosound
RotoSound
-History of Rotosound:Started in the late 1950's by James How -a musician and engineer by trade. How started manufacturing music strings for many famous artists across the world. Still a family run business all Rotosound strings are made in England....
strings he was using. Even though he played both the fretted and the fretless basses frequently, he preferred the fretless, because he felt frets were a hindrance, once calling them "speed bumps". However, he said in the instructional video that he never practiced with the fretless because the strings "chew the neck up." Both of his Fender basses were stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital
Bellevue Hospital Center
Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...
in 1986. In 1993, one of the basses resurfaced in a New York City music shop, with the distinctive letter P written between the two pickups. In 2008, the 1962 fretless "Bass of Doom" also turned up in good condition in New York. It was subsequently acquired by Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...
, bassist with Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
. Although Trujillo currently owns the instrument, the Metallica bassist agreed in writing to relinquish the instrument to the family at any time for the same purchase price.
Amplification, effects, and strings
Jaco Pastorius used the "Variamp" EQ (equalization) controls on his two Acoustic 360 amplifiers (made by the Acoustic Control CorporationAcoustic Control Corporation
Acoustic Control Corporation was a manufacturer of instrument amplifiers, founded by Steve Marks and based in Van Nuys, California. Its original location was a shack on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California....
of Van Nuys, California) to boost the midrange frequencies, thus accentuating the natural growling tone of his fretless passive Fender Jazz Bass and roundwound string combination. His tone was also colored by the use of a rackmount MXR
MXR
MXR, also known as MXR Innovations, was a manufacturer of guitar effects units, co-founded in 1973 by Keith Barr and Terry Sherwood . MXR was based in the United States in Rochester, New York. MXR Innovations, Inc. was incorporated in 1974...
digital delay unit that fed a second Acoustic amp rig.
He often used Hartke
Hartke
Hartke is a brand of electronics best known for their bass guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets. They also produce amplifiers and speakers for keyboard and acoustic guitar, as well as effects pedals, strings and other accessories.- History :...
cabinets during the final three years of his life because of their characteristic aluminum speaker cones (as opposed to paper speaker cones). These gave his tone a bright, clear sound. He typically used the delay in a chorus
Chorus effect
In music, a chorus effect occurs when individual sounds with roughly the same timbre and nearly the same pitch converge and are perceived as one...
-like mode, providing a shimmering stereo doubling effect. He would often use the fuzz control built in on the Acoustic 361. For the bass solo "Slang" on the 8:30
8:30
8:30 is an album by the jazz fusion group Weather Report. It was recorded live except for tracks 10-13, which were studio recorded. Among other titles, it features a live version of the group's signature piece "Birdland". The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.-History:The...
album, Pastorius used the MXR digital delay to layer and loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
a chordal figure and then he soloed over it.
Awards
Apart from his career in the jazz fusion band Weather ReportWeather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, Jaco Pastorius had two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations for his self-titled debut album. He won the readers' poll for induction into the Down Beat
Down Beat
Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond" to indicate its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois...
Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (the others being Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Milt Hinton
Milt Hinton
Milton John "Milt" Hinton , "the dean of jazz bass players," was an American jazz double bassist and photographer. He was nicknamed "The Judge".-Biography:...
, and Ray Brown
Ray Brown (musician)
Raymond Matthews Brown was an American jazz double bassist.-Biography:Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one...
), and the only electric bassist to receive this distinction.
Biography controversy
In 1995, jazz author Bill Milkowski wrote Jaco: The Extraordinary And Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Published by Miller-Freeman, the book incorporated Milkowski's firsthand experiences with Jaco when he lived in New York between 1982 and 1986, when Pastorius' health had deteriorated. This was supplemented by extensive interviews with friends, family and colleagues of Pastorius', as well as musicians and industry insiders.Pastorius's second wife Ingrid has complained that the book treated Jaco Pastorius with a lack of sensitivity, and has listed a number of contextual inaccuracies on her website. Guitarist Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
, who was a close friend before Pastorius joined Weather Report, wrote in the liner notes of the reissue of Pastorius' first album that Milkowski's book was "a horribly inaccurate, botched biography". Meanwhile, John Corbett of Downbeat wrote: “With insight, care and plenty of musical detail, Milkowski charts the bassists’s trip from Florida beach and cruise-ship gigs and a year in Wayne Cochran’s C.C. Riders to fame with Weather Report and misfortune in his drug-and-drink ridden ‘dark years.’” Michael Point of the Austin American-Statesman wrote: “To his great literary credit, Milkowski tells the bassist’s story with enlightening candor, allowing his sympathy to be palpable without obscuring the hard, cold facts.” Rick Anderson of Library Journal called it “A clean, carefully written biography that tells Jaco’s story without lurid drama but also without flinching from the tragic details.”
A 10th anniversary edition, published in 2005 by Backbeat Books, was a greatly expanded and updated version that included a 40-minute CD of spoken word testimonies from key figures in Jaco's life along with examples of his early bands before joining Weather Report in 1976.
Influence
Jaco has been cited as an influence by such great bass players of both jazz and rock as Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, Neil Stubenhaus, Jimmy Haslip, Oteil Burbridge, Linley Marthe, Richard Bona, Hadrien Feraud, Robert Trujillo, Neil MurrayNeil Murray (British musician)
Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish bass player, best known for his work in Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.-Early days:Originally a drummer, Murray formed his first band with school friends in 1967 and his musical tastes were heavily influenced by the mid-1960s 'blues boom' bands and musicians,...
, Tony Franklin
Tony Franklin (musician)
Anthony James "Tony" Franklin is an English rock musician, best known for his work on the fretless bass guitar with Roy Harper, The Firm, Jimmy Page, John Sykes' Blue Murder, Whitesnake and briefly, with Quiet Riot.-Fretless bass:...
and Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Argentine musician, with a lifetime of experience in jazz, Argentinian folk music, and rock and has had a successful career as a solo artist. He is very well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented style, by playing the fretless bass, with a big influence from Jaco Pastorius...
among many others.
Selected discography
| Solo | Weather Report Weather Report Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter... |
Collaboration | ||
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| Album | Artist | |||
| 1975 |
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Pat Metheny Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects... |
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| 1976 |
Jaco Pastorius (album) This self-titled album was Pastorius' solo debut and was originally released in 1976. The album was produced by Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer/founder Bobby Colomby... |
Black Market (album) Black Market is an instrumental jazz fusion album released by Weather Report in 1976. This album was produced by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. It was recorded in December 1975 and released in April 1976 through Columbia Records... |
All American Alien Boy All American Alien Boy is the second solo album by Ian Hunter. Because of management issues, Mick Ronson did not appear on this album; instead, Hunter brought in keyboardist Chris Stainton in order to act as a balancing force in the studio... Hejira (album) Hejira is a 1976 folk/rock/jazz album by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The album title is a transliteration of the Arabic word hijra, which means "journey", referring specifically to the prophet Muhammad's and his followers' escape from Mecca to Medina in 622... Land of the Midnight Sun (album) Land of the Midnight Sun is the first album by Al Di Meola, released in 1976. The complex pieces show Di Meola's range even at this early stage.-Track listing:#"The Wizard" – 6:46#"Land of the Midnight Sun"... |
Ian Hunter Ian Hunter (singer) Ian Hunter Patterson is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer of the English rock band Mott the Hoople from its inception in 1969 to its dissolution in 1974, and he again fronted them at the time of their 2009 reunion. Hunter was a musician and songwriter before Mott The Hoople, and... Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto... Al Di Meola Al Di Meola Al Di Meola is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz to date... |
| 1977 |
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Don Juan's Reckless Daughter Don Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by the folk/pop/rock musician Joni Mitchell. It is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before... |
Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto... |
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| 1978 |
Mr. Gone (album) Mr. Gone is Weather Report's eighth studio album, and is perhaps best known for receiving a "one-star" rating by Down Beat magazine.According to Down Beat magazine, "Zawinul, Shorter, et al. have made the controversial music a commercial product; unfortunately ..... |
Sunlight (Herbie Hancock album) Sunlight is a 1978 jazz-funk fusion album by keyboardist Herbie Hancock. Originally a UK import album, it features Hancock's vocals through a vocoder as well as performances by drummer Tony Williams and bassist Jaco Pastorius.... |
Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound... |
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| 1979 |
8:30 8:30 is an album by the jazz fusion group Weather Report. It was recorded live except for tracks 10-13, which were studio recorded. Among other titles, it features a live version of the group's signature piece "Birdland". The album won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance.-History:The... |
Mingus (album) Mingus is the tenth studio album by Joni Mitchell, and a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus. Recorded in the months before his death, it would be Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him.... |
Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto... Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto... |
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| 1980 |
Night Passage (Weather Report album) -Personnel:*Josef Zawinul – Keyboards*Wayne Shorter – Saxophones*Jaco Pastorius – Bass*Peter Erskine – Drums*Robert Thomas Jr. – Hand drums... |
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Herbie Hancock Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound... |
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| 1981 |
Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album) Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1986... |
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| 1982 |
The Birthday Concert The Birthday Concert is a live album by Jaco Pastorius, recorded in Florida in 1981 in celebration of the bassman's 30th year. It was released posthumously by Warner Bros. on Sept... |
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| 1983 |
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