John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius ( ; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, Pastorius recorded albums as a solo artist, band leader, and as a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He also collaborated with numerous artists, including Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny and Joni Mitchell.
His bass style was influenced by funk and employed the use of fretless bass, lyrical solos, bass chords and innovative use of harmonics. As of 2017, he was the only one of seven bassists inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame to have been known for their work on the electric bass, and he has been lauded as among the best bassists of all time.
Pastorius suffered from drug addiction and mental health issues and, despite his widespread acclaim, over the latter part of his life he had problems holding down jobs due to his unreliability. In frequent financial difficulties, he was often homeless in the mid-1980s. He died in 1987 as a result of injuries sustained in a beating outside a South Florida after-hours nightclub.
Since his death in 1987, his work has continued to be widely influential. He was elected to the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1988, and was the subject of the 2014 documentary film Jaco.
Early life and education Pastorius was born December 1, 1951, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the oldest of three boys born to Stephanie Catherine ( Haapala; 1925–2001), who was of Finnish descent, and musician John Francis Pastorius Jr. (1922–2004), a singer and jazz drummer of Italian and German descent, who spent much of his time on the road. His family moved to Oakland Park near Fort Lauderdale when he was eight. Early American abolitionist Francis Daniel Pastorius is his ancestor.
The origin of Pastorius' nickname, "Jaco", is disputed. There is an interview with Jaco's father, Jack Pastorius, that took place in 2001 hosted by Bob Miles. Jack says that he was given the nickname during his service in the Navy. He later began calling Pastorius by this nickname in his early childhood. In the documentary Jaco, Pastorius' brother said that their mother came up with the nickname. It is also believed that the nickname was partially influenced by his love for sports as well as the umpire Jocko Conlan. In 1974, he began spelling it "Jaco" after it was misspelled by his neighbor, pianist Alex Darqui. His brother called him "Mowgli" after the wild boy in The Jungle Book because he was energetic and spent much of his time shirtless on the beach, climbing trees, running through the woods, and swimming in the ocean. He attended St. Clement's Catholic School in Wilton Manors, Florida, and was an altar boy at St. Clement's Church. His confirmation name was Anthony. He was intensely competitive and excelled at baseball, basketball, and football. He played drums until he injured his wrist playing football when he was thirteen. The damage was severe enough to warrant corrective surgery and inhibited his ability to play the drums.
By age 17, Pastorius began appreciating jazz and had saved enough money to buy an upright bass. Its deep, mellow tone appealed to him, though it strained his finances. He had difficulty maintaining the instrument, which he attributed to the humidity in Florida. When he woke one day to find it had cracked, he traded it for a 1962 Fender Jazz Bass.Bob Bobbing (2007), Jaco and the upright bass; Jaco Pastorius official website biography.
During his teens, he played bass guitar for Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders.
In the early 1970s, Pastorius taught bass at the University of Miami, where he befriended jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, who was on the school's faculty. With Paul Bley and Bruce Ditmas, Pastorius and Metheny recorded an untitled album, Jaco in 1974. Pastorius then played on Metheny's debut album, Bright Size Life (ECM, 1976). He recorded his debut solo album, Jaco Pastorius (Epic, 1976), with Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Lenny White, Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, Sam & Dave, David Sanborn, and Wayne Shorter.
Career Weather Report
Before recording his debut album, Pastorius attended a concert in Miami by the jazz fusion band Weather Report. After the concert, he approached keyboardist Joe Zawinul, who led the band. As was his habit, he introduced himself by saying, "I'm John Francis Pastorius III. I'm the greatest bass player in the world." While Zawinul didn't bite that night, upon later listening to an early mix of Pastorius' 1976 self-titled solo album, he realized that Pastorius had considerable skill.
After bassist Alphonso Johnson left Weather Report, Zawinul asked Pastorius to join the band. Pastorius made his band debut on the album Black Market (Columbia, 1976), in which he shared the bass chair with Johnson. Pastorius was fully established as sole band bass player for the recording of Heavy Weather (Columbia, 1977), which contained the Grammy-nominated hit "Birdland".
During his time with Weather Report, Pastorius began abusing alcohol and illegal drugs, which exacerbated existing mental problems and led to erratic behavior.Tom Moon 1987 He left Weather Report in 1982 because of clashes with tour commitments for his other projects, plus a growing dissatisfaction with Zawinul's synthesized and orchestrated approach to the band's music.
Word of Mouth
Warner Bros. signed Pastorius to a favorable contract in the late 1970s based on his groundbreaking skill and his star quality, which they hoped would lead to large sales. He used this contract to set up his Word of Mouth big band, which consisted of Chuck Findley on trumpet; Howard Johnson on tuba; Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, and Tom Scott on reeds; Toots Thielemans on harmonica; Kenwood Dennard, Peter Erskine and Jack DeJohnette on drums; and Don Alias on percussion. This was the group that recorded his second solo album, Word of Mouth (Warner Bros., 1981).
In 1982, Pastorius toured with Word of Mouth as a 21-piece big band. While in Japan, to the alarm of his band members, he shaved his head, painted his face black, and threw his bass guitar into Hiroshima Bay. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 1982 after the tour. Pastorius had shown signs of bipolar disorder years before his diagnosis, but these signs were dismissed as eccentricities, character flaws, and by Pastorius himself as a normal part of his freewheeling personality.Milkowski 2005Grayson, 2003
Despite attention in the press, Word of Mouth sold poorly. Pastorius and Word of Mouth had finished recording Holiday for Pans by 1982, but while this was intended to be his next solo album, Warner Bros. was unimpressed by the demo tapes and refused to release it. In its place, the label released Invitation (1983), a live recording from the Word of Mouth tour of Japan. As alcohol and drug problems dominated his life, he had trouble finding work and wound up becoming homeless. In 1985, while filming an instructional video (Modern Electric Bass), Pastorius told the interviewer, Jerry Jemmott, that although he had been praised often for his ability, he wished that someone would give him a job. However, the same year, he gave a much praised concert in Brussels, Belgium with Toots Thielemans.
Stage presence and bass techniques
Until about 1970, most jazz bassists played the upright bass, also known as the double bass. At the time, with few exceptions (such as the bass players in the trios Bill Evans led), bassists typically remained in the background with the drummer, forming the rhythm section, while the saxophonist, trumpeter, or vocalist handled the melody and led the band. Pastorius had other ideas for the bass player. He played an electric bass from which he had removed the frets. He played fast and loud, sang, and did flips. He spread powder on the stage so he could dance like James Brown. He joked around and talked to the crowd. A self-described Florida beach bum, he often went barefoot and shirtless. He was tall, lean, and strong, and for someone who played sports the nickname "Jocko" fit. His thumbs were "double jointed" and his fingers were long and thin.
After being taught about artificial harmonics, he added them to his technique and repertoire. Natural harmonics, also known as open string harmonics, are played by lightly touching the string with the fretting/fingering hand while plucking the string, resulting in a note that rings, somewhat like a bell. Artificial harmonics, also called false harmonics, involve fretting with the left hand as usual while using a finger or thumb of the right hand at the another fret, simultaneously playing and stopping the note.) An often-cited example is the melody to "Birdland".
He used virtuosic bass lines which combined Afro-Cuban rhythms, inspired by the likes of Cachao Lopez, with R&B to create 16th-note funk lines syncopated with ghost notes. He played these with a "movable anchor" thumb technique on the right hand, anchoring on the bridge pickup while playing on the E and A strings and muting the E string with his thumb while playing on higher strings. Examples include "Come On, Come Over" from the album Jaco Pastorius and "The Chicken" from The Birthday Concert.
Another characteristic of Jaco's playing was his use of the octave technique which is very often used with slap bass. Jaco's use of the technique with fingerstyle was revolutionary at the time, since previously it had only really been used on guitars. This technique is demonstrated on the tracks "Portrait of Tracy" from Jaco Pastorius and on "Birdland" from Heavy Weather. Another aspect of his playing was the heavy use of chromatic runs; these were played with immense speed and precision and became very characteristic of his style. These can be heard on "Opus Pocus" from Jaco Pastorius, and "Port of Entry" from Night Passage.
Influences Pastorius's influences were diverse. He was influenced by electric bassists, such as James Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmot, Paul McCartney, Tommy Cogsbill, Duck Dunn, Rocco Prestia, and Harvey Brooks; and upright bassists, such as Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Gary Peacock, and Dave Holland. First learning on upright bass, these artists laid the framework of Jaco's playing, providing him a grounded traditional jazz style. Despite being very different from Jaco's style, these artists provided him fundamental swing feel and understanding of harmonic movement. Influences also came from jazz and rock soloists, such as John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, and Charlie Parker. Jimi Hendrix was especially important in Jaco's development as a bassist. Hendrix had a wild stage presence and is known to have pushed the boundaries of what an electric guitar can sound like. Jaco adopted both of these traits himself, known for his unique stage presence, many also give him credit for revolutionizing role of the bass guitar in a band. Jazz and classical composers, such as Duke Ellington, Igor Stravinsky, and J. S. Bach, and singers and bands, such as the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Santana, Otis Redding, and Ray Charles.
The Urantia Book inspired Pastorius's track "Havona", which appears on the Weather Report album Heavy Weather. The track is known for its ethereal vibes, as well as Jaco's fast sixteenth note bass lines and solo. In the book, Havona is described as an eternal, perfect universe located at the center of all existence.
Equipment Bass of Doom