Jaco Pastorius
It’s hard to think about the bass guitar and not think about Jaco Pastorius. It’s even harder to be a bass player and not miss him. Jaco was everything a jazz and funk bassist should be…and then some. In his nearly 36 years of life, Jaco astounded fans and musicians everywhere with his intricate mastery of the bass. His use of harmonics, his melodies, and his mind-blowing solos made him arguably the greatest bass player of all time
Born in 1951 to Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius and Jack Pastorius, a big band singer and drummer, Jaco had music in his life from an early age. He started very young wanting to emulate his father so Jaco took up the drums. Pastorius formed his first band, The Sonics, while still in school. He was the drummer of the band until the age of 13 when a football injury to his wrist caused a break so severe that Jaco could not properly hit the snare drum due to calcium deposits in the broken bone. At that time he was also in a nine-piece horn band called Las Olas Brass. The nine-piece set had recently lost its bass player and, unable to fulfill the drum duties, Jaco decided to take up the empty bass position. It was a fit right from the start.
He continued his music career throughout his school years and drew his influence from such musicians as Paul Chambers, Harvey Brooks, Jerry Jemmott, and Tommy Cogbill. It was plain to see from the start that Jaco’s main interest was jazz. Just out of high school, Jaco was already making a name as one of the premier jazz bassists of his time. In 1974, he began playing with another up-and-coming musician, Pat Metheny. Together, with Bob Moses on drums, they recorded a trio album entitled Bright Size Life. The album reached #26 on Billboard’s Jazz chart and garnered Jaco enough attention in the music industry to be able to release his first solo album titled simply, Jaco Pastorius. The album was loaded with big-name jazz performers of the time including, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Herbie Hancock, and Don Alias. Well-known R&B singers Sam & Dave reunited to appear on perhaps the album’s most famous track Come On, Come Over.
Shortly after the release of his debut album Jaco met up with keyboardist Josef Zawinul of Weather Report. Although he didn’t make a very good impression at first, it was his brashness and persistence which finally impressed Zawinul in the end. It wasn’t long before Zawinul asked Jaco for a demo tape. The correspondence between the two men continued until, in 1975, Pastorius was invited to perform on Weather Report’s new album, Black Market. The album was released in 1976 and it made Jaco a mainstay in Weather Report for the next seven years. The album featured Jaco on two tracks, Cannon Ball, and the other, Barbary Coast, was written by Pastorius himself.
Jaco’s flamboyant stage persona, stand-out play, and songwriting ability brought Weather Report a whole new audience. They became the premier fusion band of the 1970’s. Their next album, Heavy Weather, reached #1 on Billboard’s Jazz chart and hit as high as #30 on the pop chart. It has been their biggest album to date and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1977. Jaco used this album to show his diversity of skills as well, playing not only bass on the album but drums, steel drums, and mandocello as well.
Weather Report went on to release three more albums before splitting in early 1981. During his time in Weather Report, Jaco was invited to perform on several other projects with popular artists of the time such as Joni Mitchell, Blood Sweat and Tears, Paul Bley, and Ira Sullivan. It was obvious that his sound and innovation in funk fusion was in high demand. After his departure from Weather Report, Jaco recorded his second solo album, Word of Mouth. The album contained a who’s who of jazz including Jack DeJohnette, Don Alias, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, and Toots Thielemans. It was this album where Jaco highlighted his ability to loop rapid bass patterns and play intricate solos overtop. This technique is displayed on the album’s first track, Crisis.
By the mid-80’s Jaco’s mental health issues were in full tilt. These issues were only enhanced by his drug and alcohol use. Jaco would go on tour in 1982. The tour was released in Japan under the titles of Twins I and Twins II. The American version of the same album was condensed and named Invitation. It was the Japan leg of this tour where Jaco’s behavioral issues began to publicly surface. During his time overseas, Jaco shaved his head, threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay, and began suffering on-stage meltdowns. During this time he recorded his second solo album, Holiday for Pans, which saw him more as a producer and composer than a musician; however, the album was never released due to his record label, Warner Bros., releasing him from his contract just after its recording.
At the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival, Jaco had to be pulled off stage because of his behavior and inebriation. His on-stage antics and off-stage behavior led to his severe decline in popularity. The next two years Jaco fell almost completely out of the music scene. It is rumored that he spent much of this time in small, drug-infested, inner-city hangouts. In 1986 he was admitted to the psychiatric ward of Bellevue Hospital in New York. He was diagnosed as manic depressive and medicated. He was released shortly afterward.
On September 11, 1987, Jaco attempted to sneak onstage at a Carlos Santana concert. After being ejected from the concert he found his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida. He was refused entrance into the club and reportedly kicked in a glass door. This led to an altercation with one of the bouncers of the club and Jaco was beaten severely. He was hospitalized, suffering multiple facial fractures, where he fell into a coma and was placed on life support. His family decided to remove him from the life support 10 days later and Jaco passed on September 21, 1987.
At the time of his death Jaco had become a relative unknown in the music world, even though it had been less than a few years since his rapid ascendance to stardom. However, word of his death hit many performers hard and it has since led to many tributes by such greats as John McLaughlin, Peter Erskine, and Miles Davis. In 1988, Jaco was posthumously inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. He is one of only four bassists to ever receive this honor and the only electric bassist. In 2006, Bass Guitar magazine voted Pastorius “The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived.” Any true bassist would have to agree.
Playing Style
Unlike many funk and jazz performers, Jaco wasn’t fond of slap bass or a popping style. He utilized finger techniques and hand position to get his unique sound. He used overdubs, pedals, and harmonics to bring the bass to life, working more on melodies than rhythms. His mastery of harmonic work and finger speed can be heard on songs such as, Portrait of Tracy, Teen Town, Bright Size Life, and Sophisticated Lady.Jaco was arguably the most adept fretless bass player of all time. He was quoted in his video Jaco Pastorius – Modern Electric Bass saying, “I think it’s actually easier to play a fretless. That’s why I took the frets out of my first electric. When I first started playing, I wanted an old stand-up bass. It was just easier to slide down the scale, so I removed the frets from my electric and filled them in with wood putty.”
Equipment
Very rarely was Jaco ever seen not using one of his two Fender Jazz basses, a 1960 fretted, and a 1962 fretless, which was known by Jaco as the “Bass of Doom.” This was the bass that originally started off as a fretted until Jaco removed the frets with a butter knife and filled in the holes.He was a fan of Hartke cabinets with Variamp equalization over two Acoustic 360 amplifiers. He used Rotosound strings and an MXR digital delay for the looping effect that he used on songs like Slang.
