Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius in 1987

Jaco Pastorius (December 1 1951 – September 21 1987) was a jazz bassist and composer remembered for his style and technique on fretless bass. Apart from his career in the legendary jazz fusion band Weather Report, which won the 1979 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance for the album 8:30 with Pastorius on the bass, he had two Grammy Award nominations for his debut album. He was inducted into Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored beside Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton and Ray Brown and the only electric bassist to garner the distinction. Although acclaimed as a musical genius, he also suffered from mental health problems and substance abuse issues that were contributing factors to his death.

Early history

"Jaco" was born John Francis Pastorius III, the first of three sons born to John Francis Pastorius II and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius. Pastorius was of Finnish, German, Swedish, and Irish ancestry. Following Jaco's birth in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the family subsequently moved to Fort Lauderdale. Jaco 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, at which he excelled beyond all others. Inspired by the arrival of the Beatles in the United States in 1964, Jaco formed his first band "The Sonics" along with John Caputo and Dean Noel. He went to high school at Northeast High in Oakland Park. 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 basketball, and often watched basketball with his father, whose nickname was "Jack". Jaco's 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"; "Jaco" liked the new spelling.

Jaco started his musical career as a drummer (following in the footsteps of his father, stand-up drummer Jack Pastorius) but, when Jaco was 13, he injured his wrist very badly while playing football. At that time he was in a nine-piece horn band called Las Olas Brass (which covered popular material of the day by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown and the Tijuana Brass). Rendered unable to play the drums, he decided to fill in the spot left open by the recently departed bass player.

As Jaco's interest in jazz grew, he developed a desire to play the double bass. After saving money for a considerable length of time for the purchase of a double bass, he found that the instrument couldn't stand up to the Florida humidity. One morning, his double bass was "in a million pieces on the floor" as he put it. Deciding that this would prove to be way too expensive, he instead pried out the frets on his Fender, and filled the fret holes with wood putty. Thus, the Jaco bass sound was born.

Influences

Musical influences included James Jamerson, James Brown, The Beatles, Miles Davis, and Stravinsky. Other musical influences include: Jimi Hendrix, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Paul Hindemith, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, The Band, Santana, Frank Zappa, Bob Marley, Rocco Prestia, Tommy Cogbill, Ray Charles, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Otis Redding, James T. Doggington, Cannonball Adderley and Jerry Jemmott.

File:JacoPastorius-PunkJazz.jpg

Cover of anthology album Punk Jazz.

Music career

Joni Mitchell's Hejira album, and Al Di Meola's solo album are standouts, all released in 1976). Soon after that, Weather Report bass player Alphonso Johnson gave notice that he would be leaving to start his own band. Pastorius was happily invited by Zawinul to join the band where he played alongside Joe and Wayne Shorter until 1982. It is with Weather Report that Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy-nominated Heavy Weather. Not only did this album showcase Jaco's stunning bass playing, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul and even plays 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 Hejira, and many of the songs on that album seem to be composed using the bass as a melodic source of inspiration.

By the time he and Weather Report amicably parted ways in early 1982, Jaco had already been pursuing his interests in creating a Big Band solo project, one that found its debut aurally on his second solo release, which was distributed by Warner Brothers, Word of Mouth (which was also the name of the Big Band). Like his 1976 debut, Word of Mouth also boasted guest appearances by several distinguished jazz musicians; Herbie Hancock appears again here, as does Weather Report alumnus Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine, and other legends such as harmonica virtuoso Toots Thielemans and Hubert Laws.

The songwriting on Word of Mouth overshadowed his bass playing to a degree and really opened the eyes of a lot of people who thought that his prowess was confined to the electric bass. His production and ability to bring together a project that was recorded on both coasts of the United States was stunning indeed.

He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight (and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Jaco's deteriorating behavior first surfaced). That tour was released in Japan as Twins I and Twins II and was condensed for an American release which was known as Invitation.

His increasingly erratic behavior began to affect his musical career (see below), and he was eventually dropped by Warner Brothers. By 1984, the Word of Mouth Big Band had also splintered. He managed to record a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steel pans tinged release entitled Holiday for Pans, which once again showcased him as more of a tunesmith and producer than a bass player. (Historical Note: Jaco did not play any of the bass parts on the bootleg. Some years after his death, bass player Kenny Burrell Jr. confessed to playing the bass parts, though most all knew this due to Burrell's inferior capabilities as a bass player.) Jaco couldn't find a distributor for the album and the album was never released, however it has been widely bootlegged since. (In 2003, a cut from Holiday for Pans, entitled "Good Morning Anya", was included on Rhino Records' anthology Punk Jazz.)

Near the end of his career, he guested on low-key releases by jazz artists such as guitarist Mike Stern, gypsy guitarist Biréli Lagrène, and drummer Brian Melvin.

Instruments and technique

Pastorius was most identified by his use of two well-worn Fender Jazz Basses from the early 1960s: A 1960 Fretted, and a 1962 Fretless. The fretless was originally a fretted bass, from which he removed the frets and used wood filler to fill in the grooves where the frets had been, along with the holes created where chunks of the fretboard had been taken out. Jaco then sanded down the fingerboard, and applied several coats of marine epoxy (Petit's Poly-poxy) to prevent the rough Rotosound RS-66 roundwound bass strings he used from eating into the bare wood. 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."

The "Jaco growl" is obtained by using the bridge pickup exclusively and plucking the strings close to it. Additionally, Jaco used the "Variamp" EQ (equalization) controls on his two Acoustic 361 amplifiers (made by the Acoustic Control Corporation 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. Jaco typically used the delay in a chorus-like mode, providing a stereo doubling effect. He would often use the fuzz control built in on the Acoustic 361. Another effect he used live was an octave pedal (which provides a 2nd tone an octave lower). For the bass solo "Slang" on the 8:30 album, Jaco used the MXR digital delay to layer and loop a chordal figure and soloed over it.

Pastorius used natural and artificial/false harmonics to extend the range of the bass (exemplified in the bass solo masterpiece Portrait of Tracy from his eponymous album) and could achieve a horn-like tone through his playing technique. Both of his Fender basses were stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital in 1986; they were never recovered. Jaco also had two Jaydee Basses made for him shortly before he died; a fretted and a fretless.

In November of 2001, Jaco's Fretted Fender Bass was put up for sale of Ebay. Apparently many friends, fans, and musicians alike, sent the seller an email urging him to do the right thing, and give the family another chance to own it. The seller ended the listing early by posting that the item was no longer available for sale. http://jacop.net/images/jaco_fretted_head.jpg

Health problems and death

In the early to mid-1980s, Pastorius began to experience mental health problems, including symptoms of bipolar disorder. These were worsened by heavy drug and alcohol use. Although his on-stage and off-stage antics were already well-documented, his mental health and addiction problems exacerbated his unusual and often bizarre behavior and his musical performances also suffered.

During this time he played in various solo acts and many nightclubs in Fort Lauderdale and New York City. He became an outcast in the music business. His final address while alive was Holiday Park in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After sneaking onstage at a Carlos Santana concert September 11, 1987, he was ejected from the premises and made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida. What then happened was clouded with discrepancy. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he ended up in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer, Luc Havan, who was trained in martial arts. Pastorius was hospitalized with multiple facial fractures and gruesome disfigurement to his face, including the probable loss of his right eye and sustained irreversible brain damage. He slipped into a coma and was put on life support. Increasing signs pointed to brain death and his family decided to remove him from life support. Pastorius died on September 21 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.

In wake of his death, Havan was charged with second degree murder and went to trial. However, Havan ended up serving only 4 months for this crime.

Jaco is buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.

Trivia

• Miles Davis honored the late bassist on his album Amandla with the Marcus Miller composition "Mr. Pastorius," as Jaco was an inspiration to Marcus Miller.

• Victor Wooten also honored Jaco on his album Soul Circus on the track "Bass Tribute", thanking Pastorius several times.

• Pat Metheny Group also honored Jaco on their album Pat Metheny Group on the track "Jaco", with whom he'd played with previously.

• John McLaughlin also honored Jaco on his album Industrial Zen with the song "For Jaco".

Discography

	Solo	Weather Report	Collaboration
			Album	Artist
1974			Jaco	Metheny, Ditmas, Bley
1975			Bright Size Life	Pat Metheny
1976	Jaco Pastorius	Black Market	All-American Alien Boy Hejira	Joni Mitchell Ian Hunter
1977		Heavy Weather	Don Juan's Reckless Daughter Trilogue - Live at the Berlin Jazz Days	Joni Mitchell Albert Mangelsdorff, Alphonse Mouzon
1978		Mr. Gone	Everyday, Everynight	Flora Purim
1979		8:30	Mingus Shadows & Light (Live) Michel Colombier	Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell Michel Colombier
1980		Night Passage	Mr.Hands	Herbie Hancock
1981	Word of Mouth
1982	Holiday for Pans The Birthday Concert	Weather Report
1983	Invitation Twins I & II
1984			Last Flight	Essence
1985			Down By Law	Deadline
1986	Broadway Blues & Teresa Golden Roads Heavy & Jazz PDB		Nightfood Stuttgart Aria Upside Downside The Standards Zone Jazz Street (Japanese market)	Brian Melvin Biréli Lagrène Mike Stern The Brian Melvin Trio Brian Melvin

References

• Milkowski, Bill (1995). Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius, "The World's Greatest Bass Player". Backbeat Books. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

External links

• Official web site
• ThreeViews.com
• Jaco, the Early Years (official site)
• Recording: First 'Word Of Mouth' performance April 1981
• Jaco Pastorius Unissued Live Recordings Discography
• Discography
• Fantastic tribute site by his second wife, Ingrid
• Jaco Pastorius discography at MusicBrainz

edit

Visit the Guitar Portal