Jaco Pastorius

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Jaco Pastorius at a concert in Naples , 1986

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III. (Born December 1, 1951 in Norristown , Pennsylvania , † September 21, 1987 in Fort Lauderdale , Florida ) was an American bassist . He mostly played fretless electric bass and was one of the most influential bassists in recent music history. From 1976 to 1981 he was a member of the band Weather Report ; he played with Pat Metheny , Joni Mitchell , Al Di Meola , Herbie Hancock , John McLaughlin , Mike Stern , John Scofield and recorded albums as a band leader.

He also gave solo concerts only with the electric bass, for example in November 1979 at the Berlin Jazz Days . His bass playing included funk , lyrical solos, and harmonics . He is the only electric bass player among seven bassists in the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame .

biography

Childhood and youth

Pastorius was born on December 1, 1951, the son of the drummer and singer John Francis Pastorius II and his wife Stephanie. He was a descendant of Franz Daniel Pastorius . 1959 his family moved to Oakland Park in the US state of Florida. There he later attended Northeast High School, where he discovered his passion for sports such as baseball , basketball and football . His musical career also began here. Pastorius played drums in several bands at a young age.

In 1964 he suffered a wrist injury while playing football, which made it difficult for him to play the drums. In 1966, when he was still in high school, he joined the soul cover band Las Olas Brass . When an experienced drummer introduced himself to the band and the bassist left the band at the same time, he switched to the electric bass at the age of 15.

Musical career

Beginnings

In 1969 Pastorius played in the trio Woodchuck with organist Billy Burke and drummer Bob Herzog. At that time Pastorius named Jerry Jemmott as a major influence, whose funk bass lines he incorporated into his own style.

In the early 1970s, Pastorius accompanied The Supremes and Nancy Wilson in local clubs and played with soul singer Wayne Cochran . This quickly made him known in the Florida club scene. In 1972 he learned to read notes. He then played with Ira Sullivan's band.

As a member of the house band at the Bachelors III Club in Fort Lauderdale , there was a musical encounter with Paul Bley and Pat Metheny . In 1974 he released the album Pastorius / Metheny / Ditmas / Bley with Bley, Metheny and Bruce Ditmas , which was later released under the title Jaco . He played with the jazz rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears from late 1975 to early 1976.

From 1976 to 1977 he played on Joni Mitchell's albums Hejira and Don Juan's Reckless Daughter , worked on Pat Metheny's debut album Bright Size Life and released his first solo album Jaco Pastorius , on which Herbie Hancock participated and which was nominated for two Grammys ; it was produced by Bobby Colomby , the drummer for Blood, Sweat & Tears .

Weather Report 1976-1981

Jaco Pastorius 1977 with Weather Report
Pastorius 1986

At the beginning of 1975 Pastorius introduced himself to the leader Joe Zawinul after a concert by the Weather Report group in Miami with the sentence:

"My name is John Francis Pastorius III, and I'm the greatest electric bass player in the world."

- Jaco Pastorius

After a spontaneous defense reaction, Zawinul asked him for a demo tape.

After Alphonso Johnson left Weather Report in January 1976, Pastorius joined the group in April 1976 while recording the album Black Market . He belonged to her until 1981 and was very successful with her. “The Jaco Years” ( a weather report compilation called The Jaco Years was also released in 1998 ) are considered the high phase of the group. On the albums Black Market (1976) and Heavy Weather (1977; with the classic Birdland ) "an artistic unity was found that was hardly heard on later albums." In 1978, instead of Alex Acuña, drummer Peter Erskine joined the group, who harmonized better with Pastorius.

“Every band needs a driving force, a motor. And in this band Jaco was the engine. "

- Joe Zawinul

From 1979 Pastorius also gave solo concerts with the bass, including on November 2nd at the Berlin Jazz Days . He was also on the jazz-oriented album Shadows and Light by Joni Mitchell (with the participation of Pat Metheny and Michael Brecker), released in 1980 .

On July 11, 1981, Pastorius played his last concert with Weather Report.

Solo 1982–1984, Drugs and Mental Illness

In 1981 Pastorius recorded his second solo album Word of Mouth and then put together his eponymous big band Word of Mouth with Peter Erskine on drums. Because concert dates were booked for this 1982, Pastorius wanted Weather Report to pause as a live band in 1982. When Weather Report was contractually forced to tour in this situation, Zawinul took the opportunity to replace Pastorius, who had become unreliable due to alcohol problems, with bassist Victor Bailey . Pastorius began using drugs around 1980, initially limited to alcohol and cocaine, but later increased.

In 1982 Pastorius toured with his big band Word of Mouth . During the Japan tour, increasingly bizarre stories were reported about Pastorius: He painted his face black and threw his bass guitar into the sea on the Bay of Hiroshima. At a party, he fell from a balcony and broke his arm. In 1982 he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder .

“Jaco… wanted to do without medication. In its bright phases it was able to inspire, but the dark phases became more frequent and, reinforced by alcohol and cocaine, also more intense. "

- Joe Zawinul

In May 1983 he appeared on the front page of Guitar World , in August 1984 on the front page of Guitar Player .

Homelessness 1985–1987, death

In 1985 he played regularly in New York with Mike Stern in the then important jazz club 55 Grand ; both were constantly using cocaine. In mid-1985 he lost his apartment in New York and was homeless from then on. He lived in the baseball courts on West Fourth Street near Washington Square Park .

In the summer of 1985, his interview and instructional video, Modern Electric Bass, was recorded. At the beginning of the video he was interviewed by bassist Jerry Jemmott . When asked what he had to say about his role as the leading bass player, Pastorius replied, “Give me a gig .” The video ended with a jam session by Pastorius with John Scofield and Kenwood Dennard .

In the spring of 1986 he gave several concerts in Europe, with Hiram Bullock and Kenwood Dennard as well as with the twenty-year-old Biréli Lagrène in Europe, of which three live recordings exist. From this time a year before his death, a compilation of his solo parts from various concerts was published posthumously in 1995, Honestly: Solo Live , about which critic Thom Jurek wrote:

“It's nice to know that there is a historical record of his worth as a solo instrumentalist and improviser. He was clearly the benchmark - musically, technically and emotionally - and probably still is. "

- Thom Jurek

In July 1986 he was admitted to the Bellevue Clinic, where he stayed for seven weeks. By the summer of 1986 he had lost almost all of his social contacts and found himself in a downward spiral of alcohol and other drugs . In December 1986, he went back to warmer Fort Lauderdale, where he was also homeless.

At 4:20 a.m. on September 12, 1987, Jaco Pastorius was beaten up by a bouncer. The brawl came when Pastorius was denied entry to the Midnight Bottle Club at Wilton Manors because he was drunk and abusive. A fight began, and in the end Pastorius fell on the back of his head on the concrete. The bouncer testified that he thought the bassist was an aggressive drug addict. After nine days in a coma, Jaco Pastorius died at the age of 35 on September 21, 1987 at 10:00 p.m. as a result of his injuries.

Marriages and children

In August 1970 Tracy Pastorius became his wife, from this marriage came the children Mary (* 1970) and John (* 1973); the marriage was divorced in 1979. In 1979 he married Ingrid; In this marriage in 1982 twins were born who also became musicians: Felix Pastorius plays bass and Julius Pastorius drums. The marriage ended in divorce in 1985.

Style of play

Pastorius mostly used the bridge pickup on his bass, which makes the sound more precise and crisp.

He often played dead notes in which the string is muted with the grasping hand. An example can be heard in the chorus of Come On, Come Over (1976):

Sample notes from Come On, Come Over
Dead notes are marked with a × as a note head.

Pastorius also often used flageolet tones , e.g. B. in Portrait of Tracy (1976):

Intro to Portrait of Tracy with flageolet tones (indicated by square brackets in the tablature).

Musical meaning

Jaco Pastorius plays harmonics, his bass is on the floor, 1980 with Weather Report

Pastorius has decisively changed the role of the electric bass with its distinctive sound and its virtuoso and melodic solo play. His rhythmic precision play with fast runs involving Flageoletttönen in all positions of the fingerboard set completely new standards, especially when playing on the fretless bass ( fretless bass ). Examples of his revolutionary bass techniques are his own composition "Portrait of Tracy", which consists largely of flageolet tones, from his 1976 debut album Jaco Pastorius , " Donna Lee " - probably one of the most virtuoso cover versions of this jazz standard - also from his debut album or Joe Zawinul's compositions " A Remark You Made "and" Birdland "(both published on the published 1977 album Heavy Weather by Weather Report ).

“In 'A Remark You Made', the special tone of the bass makes the melody sing. I am a composer who works with sound. … When I heard Jaco's sound, I started to write a song based on him and the saxophone and my little jive. ... Nobody had a better, cleaner sound. "

- Joe Zawinul

Many bass players, for example Marcus Miller or Victor Bailey , were shaped by Pastorius. Marcus Miller composed the piece Mr. Pastorius , which he recorded with Miles Davis . His influence on subsequent electric bassists can only be compared to that of Charlie Parker on subsequent saxophonists or that of Jimi Hendrix on electric guitarists.

Many bass players underline the importance of Pastorius:

“Everything changed with him. He tore up what had been before. He just changed the rules of what's possible on the bass. "

- Flea

“Those weren't easy tones. They felt, they had meaning, and they had character. You can't learn something like that - Jaco could just play what he had in his heart. "

- Jerry Jemmott

“We are all on Jaco's shoulders. No one can exist without this part of DNA. We needed Jaco to get to where we are today. "

- Sting

“Jaco Pastorius was certainly the brightest star in the sky of the musical personalities I met, whether on the bass or other instruments. He made sure that our interaction was always a pleasant challenge. He was a good friend. And his innate sense of time, as well as his rhythmic skills, were as clear and articulate as you can imagine. The fact that Jaco had previously started out as a drummer and was an eager and astute listener gave him an understanding of rhythm that few bassists will ever have. Jaco counted Frank Sinatra as one of his influences, as did Bernard Purdie ; Johann Sebastian Bach and Igor Stravinsky were just as important to his education as the bassists Jerry Jemmott , Chuck Rainey , Ron Carter and James Jamerson . ... He could play rock-hard rhythms or let the bass sing lyrically. The way he played sixteenth notes was beyond compare. ... His Caribbean rhythm on the bass consisted of drum patterns for the conga , which he transferred to the bass, interspersed with poetic melody lines that mysteriously never interrupted the groove. "

- Peter Erskine

Awards and honors

In 1977 he received two Grammy nominations for his solo album Jaco Pastorius . One for the album in the category Best jazz performance group ( Best Jazz Instrumental Performance (Group) ), the other in the category Best Jazz Performance by a soloist (instrumental) ( Best Jazz Instrumental Performance (Soloist) ) for his interpretation of the jazz classic Donna Lee . In 1978 he was again nominated for Best Jazz Soloist for his performance on the Weather Report album "Heavy Weather".

In the annual Down Beat poll , Pastorius won many awards in the Electric Bass category , from 1978 to 1981 for Critics and Readers, from 1982 to 1984 for Readers and in 1988 for Readers' Hall of Fame .

In 1980, he and Weather Report won a Grammy for the live album 8:30 in the category of Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocals or Instrumental . In 1988, Pastorius was elected into the Jazz Hall of Fame by the readers of Down Beat as the only electric bass player among seven bassists .

On December 1, 2008, on which Pastorius would have celebrated his 57th birthday, a park in his hometown Oakland Park was renamed "Jaco Pastorius Park".

Instruments, equipment

Jaco with the "Bass of Doom" at a concert with Weather Report, 1977

Bass

His most famous bass, a Fender Jazz Bass from 1962 with a narrow neck, was named Pastorius bass of doom . He had removed all the frets with a knife and filled the slots with putty; so he could play fretless. With his instrument, Pastorius created an "incomparable musical tone that could change in a flash from a deep, long rumble to a bright jubilee."

When Pastorius was in Central Park in New York in 1986 because he was homeless, his instrument was stolen from him. It reappeared in May 2008; it was given to the musician Will Lee, who had the authenticity of the instrument confirmed by Victor Wooten and Victor Bailey .

Fender released a fretless Jaco Pastorius version of the jazz bass.

During a stay in Germany in 1986 and the recordings for the album "Broadway Blues", Pastorius played an instrument made by the German manufacturer Framus , which can now be seen in the company's own museum in Markneukirchen, Saxony .

Pastorius also played fretted basses, such as a 1960 jazz bass that he bought for $ 90 in Florida.

amplifier

Pastorius used two Acoustic 360 amplifiers from 1968, each with 200 watts and 18-inch speakers, for his performances. He told Guitar Player Magazine about the settings on the amplifier:

“I usually put the bass setting all the way up and the treble about midway up, depending on the condition of strings. The older your strings are, the more treble you have to have, because the fidelity of the string really starts losing it after a while. "

“I usually turn the bass control all the way up and the treble up about halfway, depending on what condition the strings are in. The older the strings, the more heights you have to have, because the strings really lose their fidelity after a while. "

For studio recordings he did not use amplifiers, but connected his electric bass directly to the sound engineer's mixer.

Others

He used Rotosound swing bass strings. He also used an unbranded Fuzzbox , an effects pedal that can produce a distorted, cracking sound. At concerts he often used the delay function of the pedal, with which he let certain parts of the bassline play in an endless loop in order to improvise over it. He connected an MXR digital delay effects unit to one of the two amplifiers to create vibrato . He himself said it almost sounded like a flanger .

Discography

Studio work

album Artist year Remarks
Jaco Paul Bley  - Pat Metheny  -
Jaco Pastorius - Bruce Ditmas 		1974 The first studio album that Jaco Pastorius participated in.
Bright size life Pat Metheny 1975 Pat Metheny's debut album
Hejira Joni Mitchell 1976 Pastorius can be heard on four songs on the album. He also accompanied Joni Mitchell on the subsequent tour.

Solo albums

album year Remarks
Jaco Pastorius 1976 Pastorius' debut solo album features the cover of Charlie Parker's Donna Lee . It was nominated for two Grammys .
Word of Mouth 1981 Word of Mouth is a big band founded by Pastorius. With this he recorded the seven tracks for this album.
Invitation (Live) 1983 The album was recorded during the tour with the big band Word of Mouth in Japan.
Live in Italy (Live) 1986 Concert in March 1986 with guitarist Bireli Lagrene and drummer Tomas Böröcz.

literature

Work editions

  • Jaco Pastorius Greatest Jazz Fusion Bass Player Bass: Sheet music for bass guitar. Hal Leonard Europe 2002, ISBN 978-0-634-01768-1 .
  • Jon Liebman: Play Like Jaco Pastorius: The Ultimate Bass Lesson. Hal Leonard 2016, ISBN 978-1-4803-9245-8 .

Lexical entries

documentary

  • Jaco , documentary, USA 2014, directed by Stephen Kijak, Paul Marchand

Web links

Commons : Jaco Pastorius  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d jpastorius.net: FAQ ( Memento from October 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ GQ - Gentlemen's Quarterly : Pat Jordan: Who killed Jaco Pastorius ?, April 1988, p. 270 (PDF bronxbanterblog.com ).
  3. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 22.
  4. ↑ Biography on a fan page ( Memento from June 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ a b c The Life of Jaco | Jaco Pastorius. Retrieved July 3, 2019 (American English).
  6. ↑ Jaco Pastorius. In: guitarmasterclass.net. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 32.
  8. ^ Jaco Pastorius / Wayne Cochran & CC Riders - Rice Pudding (1972). Retrieved August 19, 2019 .
  9. ↑ guitarworld.com: Jaco Pastorius Opens Up in His First Guitar World Interview From 1983
  10. ↑ a b c by Wolfgang Kehle: On the 30th anniversary of Jaco Pastorius' death. February 1, 2018, accessed on August 12, 2019 (German).
  11. ↑ allmusic.com: Jaco: Review by Scott Yanow
  12. ↑ a b Review: Non-fiction book: The fearless . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed August 12, 2019]).
  13. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 71.
  14. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 73.
  15. ↑ a b Reinhard Bock: In Memoriam: Jaco Pastorius 1951–1987.
  16. ↑ This Is Jazz, Vol. 40: The Jaco Years - Weather Report | Songs, reviews, credits. Retrieved July 7, 2019 (American English).
  17. ↑ Gunther Baumann: Zawinul. A life of jazz. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg 2002, p. 129
  18. ^ W. Kampmann Reclams Jazzlexikon Stuttgart 2005, p. 545
  19. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 81.
  20. ↑ berlinerfestspiele.de: Jaco Pastorius solo
  21. ^ Wieland Harms: The Unplugged Guitar Book. 20 of the most beautiful songs for acoustic guitar. Gerig Music, ISBN 3-87252-249-3 , p. 13.
  22. ↑ threeviews.com: 1981 ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ↑ a b Baumann: Zawinul, A life from jazz. Pp. 130-132.
  24. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , Sn 93, 118.
  25. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 120.
  26. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 131.
  27. ↑ Baumann: Zawinul, A Life from Jazz , p. 132
  28. ↑ guitarworld.com: Guitar World Magazine Covers Through the Years: 1,983th
  29. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 148.
  30. ↑ tedpanken.wordpress.com: For Mike Stern's 61st Birthday, a 2003 Downbeat Feature.
  31. ^ Jaco basketball and bass. Retrieved August 12, 2019 . , Photo by Anthony Kiedis
  32. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 165.
  33. ^ Gimme A Gig - Jaco Pastorius (1985). Retrieved August 18, 2019 .
  34. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 166.
  35. ^ Jaco Pastorius And John Scofield - The Chicken (Studio). Retrieved August 15, 2019 .
  36. ↑ allmusic.com: Discography
  37. ↑ allmusic.com: Honestly: Solo Live: Review by Thom Jurek
  38. ↑ Manic Depression, Lithium, Tegretol ( Memento from March 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  39. ↑ Man and Myth. Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
  40. ↑ browardpalmbeach.com: Jaco Incorporated
  41. ↑ Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Miller Freeman Books, San Francisco 1995 / Backbeat Books 2006, ISBN 0-87930-859-1 , p. 208.
  42. ↑ Biography on the Warner Music website ( Memento from June 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  43. ↑ Tracy and Jaco; High School Times ... | Musicians in 2019. Retrieved August 17, 2019 .
  44. ↑ youtube.com: Jaco Pastorius Tribute with Felix and Julius Pastorius at the Iridium
  45. ↑ Cast 'Herrnkind' ( Memento from June 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  46. ↑ Appreciation at NRP
  47. ^ Awardsandshows.com: 1977 Grammy Awards
  48. ^ Josef Woodard: Joe Zawinul: The Dialects of Jazz, Down Beat April 1988, pp. 16-19.
  49. ↑ Miles Davis & Marcus Miller - Mr. Pastorius. Retrieved August 12, 2019 .
  50. ↑ Marcus Miller on Jaco | Jaco Pastorius. Retrieved August 12, 2019 (American English).
  51. ^ Cf. Robert Fischer : Anything goes. In: All that Jazz. The story of a music. Reclam publishing house, Stuttgart. 3rd, expanded and updated edition 2007, p. 415.
  52. ↑ a b c music pioneer Jaco Pastorius - an ace on bass. Retrieved on August 15, 2019 (German).
  53. ↑ Peter Erskine : No Beethoven: Autobiography and Chronicle of Weather Report. Alfred Music Publishing 2014, p. 100f
  54. ↑ a b Grammy nomination 1977 ( Memento from December 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  55. ^ "Heavy Weather" on the official Jaco Pasotius homepage ( Memento from March 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  56. ↑ downbeat.com: DownBeat Hall of Fame
  57. ^ DownBeat Hall of Fame. ( Memento from March 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  58. ↑ Homepage about the Jaco Pastorius Park. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 7, 2009 ; accessed on November 4, 2010 (English).
  59. ↑ Thomas Steinfeld: Resurfaced after 20 years Der Bass des Schicksals . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. May 16, 2008.
  60. ↑ Jaco Pastorius Signature Model ( Memento from February 22, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  61. ↑ Jaco Pastorius. Retrieved July 24, 2019 .
  62. ↑ framus-vintage.de Jaco Pastorius. Framus Vintage Archives, accessed April 29, 2015
  63. ↑ framus-vintage.de 12700 S-380. Framus Vintage Archives, accessed April 29, 2015
  64. ↑ Jacos Equipment ( Memento from March 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  65. ↑ questions by Cork Green ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  66. ^ "Hejira" on the official Jaco Pastorius homepage ( Memento from March 12, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  67. ^ "Word of Mouth" on the official Jaco Pastorius homepage ( Memento from March 23, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  68. ^ "Invitation" on the official Jaco Pastorius homepage ( Memento from July 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  69. ↑ imdb.com: Jaco


This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on August 18, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Pastorius, Jaco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pastorius, John Francis III.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician and composer
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH Norristown , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH September 21, 1987
Place of death Fort Lauderdale , Florida