Jaco Pastorius

[Tinnitus]

I'd like to collect some opinions on JP - especially from those of you, who saw him performing live. Thank you.

MP3, Jaco Pastorius interview, capitol radio, England, fall 1978

Ingrid Pastorius's site

Jaco Pastorius unissued live recordings

Jaco Pastorius - official site

Edited May 6, 2003 by Tinnitus

[doubleM]

I listened to the interview last night (per the link in y'r post), and I've read his bio. Also, I've listened to many a recording. I think that he was a bad-ass mother fucker. Especially with Joni Mitchell around '79. Teen-Town rocked my world the first time I heard it on one of those live in NYC recordings. I can't help but feel though, and I don't think that I'm going out on too much of a limb here, that his self-aggrandizing attitude was off-putting. Maybe it was a product of his mental illness, and or insecurity, or both. Sticking to the music , though, I always get a w/ the occassional . Wish he hadn't been flattened by that bouncer.

[chris olivarez]

Was the bouncer ever tried for that?

[7/4]

Happy Birthday Jaco. (December 1, 1951–September 21, 1987)

dB

[Bright Moments]

http://www.examiner.com/x-1010-Miami-Night...ouncement-12108

[jazzbo]

I saw Jaco with Weather Report three times, with Joni Mitchell and in a small hall (the Ritz Theater, Austin) with a trio including Mike Stern and Don Alias.

I think he was a phenomenal sonic innovator on the bass guitar. I think he had a trick bag that he always used and I don't listen to him much with gusto this century.

[7/4]

Ooooo...Bright Size Life!

[rockefeller center]

I think he had a trick bag that he always used

I guess you're talking about his solo spots; yes, they could get repetitive sometimes. But if you take a look at what I consider his essential recordings (mostly studio) I don't think that's true.

Jaco Pastorius (debut)

Bright Size Life (Metheny)

Trilogue Live! (Mangelsdorff)

Joni Mitchell albums

The WR stuff

Word Of Mouth (my favorite, the thing is brilliant and it's no bass showcase recording - although he pulls off some pretty wicked things on that one, too)

Twins I/II

(Toronto '82)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lO_-c8sZ2o (Montreal '82)

Edited December 2, 2008 by rockefeller center

[sidewinder]

The 2CD Jaco compilation set is great - I listen to that one a lot.

[jazzbo]

I think he had a trick bag that he always used

I guess you're talking about his solo spots; yes, they could get repetitive sometimes. But if you take a look at what I consider his essential recordings (mostly studio) I don't think that's true.

Jaco Pastorius (debut)

Bright Size Life (Metheny)

Trilogue Live! (Mangelsdorff)

Joni Mitchell albums

The WR stuff

Word Of Mouth (my favorite, the thing is brilliant and it's no bass showcase recording - although he pulls off some pretty wicked things on that one, too)

Twins I/II

(Toronto '82)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lO_-c8sZ2o (Montreal '82)

I'll just beg to disagree. . . .

[mjzee]

He really made the mood of "Hejira." I think he was a real innovator on bass, and had a very personal sound. Ellington would have hired him in a different day.

[Hot Ptah]

I saw Jaco several times with Weather Report. The first was in the spring of 1976, shortly after he joined. He seemed a bit nervous and played extremely well. He did not engage in any theatrics. It seemed like he was trying as hard as he could. His solos were outstanding.

After that, he engaged in increasing amounts of showboating and theatrics, and to me, never sounded as good again. He would get the crowd screaming with a few notes of feedback as he danced around.

To me, he was one of the few jazz musicians whose most memorable moments came on studio albums, instead of live performance.

[7/4]

His solo albums rocked me too, especially that first one. Woo-hoo - Donna Lee on the bass! And all that cool stuff he did with harmonics on other tunes too. He really raised the standard for the Jazz bassist who plays electric bass guitar.

Probably the most influential Jazz bassist of his generation, it a great shame he wasn't around for many more years. If only he stayed sober and on his medication.

[Christiern]

He did his best to destroy a Weather Report concert I attended at the Beacon Theater. Sad to say, he was quite successful.

[7/4]

Maybe if he stayed sober and on his medication, his musicianship wouldn't have suffered. He was a sick person.

dB

[PHILLYQ]

I saw him once with Weather Report at what then was called Avery Fisher hall at Lincoln Center. He did a bass solo where(IIRC) he quoted the 'Star Spangled Banner' as an homage to Hendrix. At the end of the solo he banged the bass on the floor, laid it down on the stage and walked off while the last note reverberated. it was show-offy but a lot of fun, too. I recall being amazed at how fluid he was.

[Jim Alfredson]

He had a mental illness, for sure. It's a shame he wasn't helped before it took control of him. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have been such an innovator without it.

In any case, RIP. And I don't blame him for the plethora of bad imitators that came afterward (and are still spawning).

[Joe G]

I listened to the interview last night (per the link in y'r post), and I've read his bio.

By Bill Milkowski, unless there's another. I read it when I came out. In the liner notes to Jaco's remastered debut, Metheny calls it, "a horribly inaccurate, botched biography".

I wonder what the inaccuracies are.

[7/4]

He had a mental illness, for sure. It's a shame he wasn't helped before it took control of him. Then again, maybe he wouldn't have been such an innovator without it.

Knowing a few people with manic depression (it was the manic upswings that helped get him get killed) and a few more recently with schizophrenia, it's amazing he got anything done.

[CJ Shearn]

the stuff Jaco plays on his debut, "Bright Size Life" and the "Birthday Concert" is simply astounding. More than anything, I love his compositions even more than his playing, and the big band charts on the "Birthday Concert" really showcase the amount of unique colors that type of ensemble could bring. "Three Views of a Secret" is one of my favorite tunes ever. IIRC the bouncer that murdered him only got 4 years in jail, a complete copout there. My guess is he reacted in self defense to a crazy man, and he had no idea who Jaco was.

Edited December 3, 2008 by CJ Shearn

[mjzee]

From The Stamford Advocate:

For a musician who has been dead for 20 years, Jaco Pastorius still elicits serious reverence from bass players and fusion fans.

Not widely known outside those circles, Pastorius helped revolutionize the bass guitar in the 1970s -- as a member of Weather Report and by leading his own bands -- only to become a victim of excess in the years leading up to his death in 1987.

His legacy still looms large. Last month, a group of top-call musicians including drummer Kenwood Denard and trumpeter Randy Brecker played a weekend's worth of gigs featuring Pastorius' music at Iridium jazz club in Times Square. In attendance was the bassist's widow, Ingrid; the evening also showcased the music of Pastorius' sons.

One of the two bassists in the tribute band was Joe Sinaguglia, a 21-year-old Stamford musician making his New York City debut. It was not only a trial by fire, but an appropriate professional introduction for the musician.

For the full article...

The Bassist

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

i have a jaco pastorius story too. once, this bass player i know, but back in like the early early 80s, was walking in the downtown area, just walkin' along chillin' and he just sees jaco walkin commin twd him (goin in opp. direction)....

and you see, since abe this guy was all into jazz and was a bass player and shit, of course he recgnoizes jaco immidiadetly- so he proclaims in a serious tone: "your jaco pastorious."-- and they got to talkin' and shit and apparently Jaco was just wandering around downtown, it was in the vicinity of a famous music/arts theater// jaco asked him if he can come over and chill or somethin and so he comes over and chills. Well anyways Jaco, stayed for THREE DAYS on guys couch, my friend remembered specifically he was watching a lot cartoons on tv- and he was there THREE WHOLE DAYS until my friend had 2 kick him out, lol.

[CJ Shearn]

Joe, I think a lot of the "horrible inaccuracies" Pat is talking about are due to use of drugs related to his mental illness.

[rockefeller center]

Ingrid Pastorius on Milkowski's book:

http://jacop.net/book.html

http://jacop.net/book2.html

[Aggie87]

bump...

I found this image over on the SH forums earlier today. It's in a discussion about the rock group KISS and vintage pictures of them without their makeup. Apparently Peter Criss was the drummer on this '79 album by tv's Lenny & Squiggy - though I'm not entirely convinced that's him.

But I did notice that the bass player looks like Jaco, at least to me. Does anyone know whether he actually did this gig or not? Seems curious, but I wouldn't put it past him.

Also interesting to see "Nigel Tufnel" on the credits, who as we all know would go on to play with Lenny/David St. Hubbins in Spinal Tap!

Edited February 2, 2009 by Aggie87