Jaco Pastorius

John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), better known as Jaco Pastorius, was an influential American jazz musician, composer and electric bass player. He is best known for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1981, as well as work with artists including Joni Mitchell and his own solo projects.

His playing was known for its highly technical, latin-influenced 16th-note funk, lyrical soloing on fretless bass and innovative use of harmonics. He is said to have redefined the role of the electric bass and is almost universally recognized as one of the greatest bass players in history. He was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only seven bassists so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist).

Jaco suffered from bipolar disorder, a mood disorder that is typified by episodes ofmania alternating with periods of depression. He died in 1987 at age 35 following a violent altercation at a Wilton Manors bar.

Early life

John Francis Pastorius III was born December 1, 1951 in Norristown, Pennsylvania to Jack Pastorius (big band singer and drummer) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius, the first of their three children. Jaco Pastorius was ofFinnish, German, Swedish and Irish ancestry. He is a descendant of Francis Daniel Pastorius.

Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Oakland Park, Florida, (near Fort Lauderdale). Pastorius 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.

Pastorius formed his first band named The Sonics (unrelated to the Seattle-based band of the same name) along with John Caputo and Dean Noel. He went to high school at Northeast High in Oakland Park, Florida. 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 baseball and often watched it with his father. Pastorius' 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 "Jaco" was the correct spelling. Pastorius liked the new spelling. Jaco Pastorius had a second nickname, given to him by his younger brother Gregory, "Mowgli", after the wild young boy in Rudyard Kipling's children's classic, The Jungle Book. Gregory gave him the nickname in reference to his seemingly endless energy as a child. Pastorius later established his music publishing company as Mowgli Music. In 1973, he was an instructor at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Career

Pastorius in November 27, 1977

Jaco Pastorius started out following in the footsteps of his father Jack, playing the drums, until he injured his wrist playing football at age 13. The damage to his wrist was severe enough to warrant corrective surgery and ultimately inhibited his ability to play drums. At the time, he had been playing with a local band, Las Olas Brass. When the band's bass player, David Neubauer, decided to quit the band, Pastorius bought an electric bass guitar from a local pawn shop for $15.00 USD and began to learn to play with drummer Rich Franks, becoming the bassist for the band.

By 1968–1969, Pastorius had begun to appreciate jazz and had scraped up enough money to buy an upright bass. Its deep, mellow tone appealed to him, though it strained his finances. Pastorius had difficulties maintaining the instrument, which he attributed to the humidity of his Florida home, coupled with his additional interest in R&B music. After waking one day, he found his costly upright bass had cracked. Following this development, he traded it in for a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass.

Pastorius' first real break came when he secured the bass chair with Wayne Cochran and The C.C. Riders. He also played on various local R&B and jazz records during that time such asLittle Beaver and Ira Sullivan. In 1974, he began playing with his friend and future famous jazz guitarist, Pat Metheny. They recorded together, first with Paul Bley as leader and Bruce Ditmason drums, then with drummer Bob Moses. Metheny and Pastorius recorded a trio album withBob Moses on the ECM label, entitled Bright Size Life (1976).

Debut album

In 1975, Pastorius was introduced to Blood, Sweat & Tears drummer Bobby Colomby, who had been given the green light by Columbia Records to find "new talent" for their jazz division.Pastorius' first album, produced by Colomby, was Jaco Pastorius(1976), a breakthrough album for the electric bass. Many consider this the finest bass album ever recorded; when it exploded onto the jazz scene it was widely praised by critics. The album also boasted a lineup of heavyweights in the jazz community at the time — essentially a stellar backup band — including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, David Sanborn, Lenny White, Don Alias, andMichael Brecker among others. Even the legendary soul singers Sam & Dave reunited to appear on the track Come On, Come Over.

Weather Report

Pastorius playing in Convocation Hall in Toronto Canada on November 27, 1977

Some time prior to the sessions for his debut album, he attended a concert in Miami by the jazz band, Weather Report. After the concert, he approached keyboardistJosef Zawinul who fronted the band. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night (in Miami) and talked about the performance, saying that it was all right but that he had expected more. He then went on to introduce himself, adding that he was the greatest bass player in the world. An unamused Zawinul at first told him to "get the fuck outta here." According to Zawinul (quoted in Milkowski's book), Pastorius persisted and as they talked the Austrian found himself reminded of his own younger self, the "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band. Pastorius' attitude that night made Zawinul admire the unknown young bassist after all; he asked for a demo tape, which he received at his hotel room the next day. Zawinul listened to some of the tape and realized at once that the young man had considerable technical skills and real potential. He gave him an address to get in touch by mail, and thus began a correspondence between the two. In time, Pastorius sent Zawinul an early rough mix of his solo album.

Pastorius joined Weather Report during the recording sessions for Black Market (1976), and he became a vital part of the band by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer (and, in time, arranger) and his exuberant showmanship on stage.

Guest appearances

Pastorius guested on many albums by other artists, as for example in 1976 with Ian Hunter of Mott the Hoople fame, on All American Alien Boy, which again featured David Sanborn as well as Aynsley Dunbar. Other recordings included Joni Mitchell's Hejira album, and a solo album by Al Di Meola, which were also standouts, both released in 1976. Soon after that, Weather Report bass playerAlphonso Johnson left to start his own band. Zawinul invited Pastorius to join the band, where he played alongside Zawinul andWayne Shorter until 1981. During his time with Weather Report, Pastorius made his indelible mark on jazz music, notably by being featured on one of the most popular jazz albums of all time, the Grammy Award-nominated Heavy Weather (1977). Not only did this album showcase Pastorius's bass playing and songwriting, but he also received a co-producing credit with Joe Zawinul and even played drums on his self-composed "Teen Town".

In 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 onDon Juan's Reckless Daughter, and many of the songs on that album seem to be composed using the bass as the melodic source of inspiration. Also worthy of mention is his collaboration with important jazz figures Flora Purim and Airto Moreira. Pastorius can be heard on Moreira's 1977 release I'm Fine, How Are You? His signature sound is prominent on Purim's 1978 release Everyday Everynight, on which he played the bass melody for a Michel Colombier composition entitled "The Hope", and performed bass and vocals on one of his own compositions entitled "Las Olas".

Near the end of his career, he guested on low-key releases by jazz artists including guitarist Mike Stern, guitarist Bireli Lagrene and drummer Brian Melvin. In 1985, he recorded an instructional video, Modern Electric Bass, hosted by acclaimed bassist Jerry Jemmott.

Solo projects

He and Weather Report parted ways in early 1981, and Jaco began pursuing his interest in creating a big band solo project named Word of Mouth, one that found its debut aurally on his second solo release, Word of Mouth. This 1981 album also boasted guest appearances by several distinguished jazz musicians: Herbie Hancock, Weather Report's Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine, harmonica player Toots Thielemans and Hubert Laws. The album evidenced Pastorius's composing talent alongside the focus on his instrumental performance. It also demonstrated his skills in production and his ability to deal with the studio logistics of a project that was recorded not only on both coasts of the United States, but also overseas: he recorded Thielemans' contributions in Belgium.

However, according to Milkowski and company boss Bruce Lundvall, the sessions and production became painfully expensive and the album that emerged was very advanced listening and without appeal to the wider jazz audiences at the time - also, these audiences were moving away from the more loose, improvising and "chamber-like" jazz-rock styles of the seventies towards sounds and stylings that emphasized compressed power soloing and a more commercial and sheeny sound. Warner Bros had signed Jaco on a very favourable contract due to his groundbreaking playing and his star quality at the time, in the late seventies, but now found themselves with a very difficult-to-sell second album on their hands, and the next year they released Pastorius from his contract. He was not signed by anyone else for quite some time.

On his 30th birthday, December 1, 1981, he threw a party at a club in Fort Lauderdale, flew in some of the artists from his Word of Mouth project, and other noteworthy musicians that included Don Alias, and Michael Brecker. The event was recorded by his friend and engineer Peter Yianilos, who intended it as a birthday gift. The concert remained unreleased until 1995.

He toured in 1982; a swing through Japan was the highlight, and it was at this time that bizarre tales of Pastorius' deteriorating behavior first surfaced. He shaved his head, painted his face black and threw his bass into Hiroshima Bay at one point. This tour recording was released in Japan as Twins I and Twins II and later condensed for an American release, which was known asInvitation.

In 1982, he recorded a third solo album, which made it as far as some unpolished demo tapes, a steelpans-tinged release entitledHoliday for Pans, which once again showcased him as a composer and producer rather than a performer. He could not find a distributor for the album and the album was never released; however, it has since been widely bootlegged. In 2003, a cut fromHoliday for Pans, entitled ”Good Morning Anya”, was included on Rhino Records' anthology Punk Jazz.

Behavior and health problems

Pastorius performing in New York City (with Jorma Kaukonen behind him, left); March 1986

Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression. Pastorius showed numerous features of the condition long before his initial diagnosis, though they were too mild to diagnose at the time as mental illness — being regarded instead as eccentricities or character flaws. The condition in its earlier stages is likely to have contributed to his success as a musician. Hypomania, the cyclical peaks in mood that distinguish bipolar disorder from unipolar depression, have been associated with enhanced creativity. Friends and family recognized retrospectively that these peaks played an essential role in his urge to create music.

In his early career, Pastorius avoided alcohol and drugs, but increasingly used alcohol and other drugs while with Weather Report. Alcohol abuse ultimately exacerbated Pastorius' mental issues, leading to increasingly erratic and sometimes anti-social behavior.

Pastorius was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in late 1982 following the Word of Mouthtour of Japan, in which his erratic behavior became an increasing source of concern for his band members. Drummer Peter Erskine's father, Dr. Fred Erskine, suggested that Pastorius was showing signs of the condition and, on his return from the tour, his wife, Ingrid, had Pastorius committed to Holy Cross hospital under the Florida Mental Health Act, where he received the diagnosis and was prescribed lithium to stabilize his moods.

By 1986, Pastorius' health had further deteriorated. He had been evicted from his New York apartment and began living on the streets. In July 1986, following intervention by his then ex-wife Ingrid with the help of his brother Gregory, he was admitted toBellevue Hospital in New York, where he was prescribed Tegretol in preference to Lithium. He moved back to Fort Lauderdale in December of that year, again living on the streets for weeks at a time.

Death

After sneaking onstage at a Carlos Santana concert on September 11, 1987, and being ejected from the premises, Pastorius made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida. After reportedly kicking in a glass door, having been refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and injuries to his right eye and left arm. He fell into a coma and was put on life support.

Initial encouraging signs that he would come out of the coma and recover faded. A massive brain hemorrhage a few days later led tobrain death. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, and was buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.

In the wake of Pastorius' death, Havan was charged with second degree murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Because he had no prior convictions, and recognising time served while waiting for the verdict, he was sentenced to 22 months in prison, and five years' probation. After four months in prison, he was paroled for good behavior.

Musical style

Jaco was noted for his virtuosic bass lines which combined Afro-Cuban rhythms, inspired by the likes of Cachao López, with R&B to create 16th-note funk lines syncopated with ghost notes. He played these with a floating 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.

He was also known for popularizing the fretless electric bass, with which he was able to achieve an almost horn-like tone while playing in the upper register. Examples include the melody on the Weather Report album Heavy Weather and his line on the Joni Mitchell song "Refuge of the Road" from her album Hejira.

One of Jaco's major innovations was in the use of harmonics, which isolate the overtones of a note by muting the string at a harmonic node, resulting in a much higher note than would otherwise be sounded. He used this technique extensively to construct melodies, such as in his composition Portrait of Tracy from his eponymous album.

Equipment

Basses

Jaco is most frequently associated with the 1962 Fender Jazz Bass nicknamed the Bass of Doom, was originally a fretted bass that had the frets removed. Pastorius claimed to have removed the frets himself but later said he had bought it with the frets already removed. Pastorius finished the fretboard with marine epoxy (Pettit's PolyPoxy) to protect the wood from the roundwound Rotosound Swing 66 strings he used. The Bass of Doom was heavily worn and was repaired several times, most notably in the mid-1980s when the bass was smashed into a number of pieces and rebuilt with figured maple veneers added to the front and back to improve the structural integrity.

Though he played both fretted and fretless, he preferred the fretless, because he felt frets were a hindrance, once calling them "speed bumps". However, he said in the instructional video that he never practiced with the fretless because the strings "eat the neck up".

His Fender bass was stolen shortly before he entered Bellevue hospital after he had gotten it repaired in 1986. In 1993, his bass was in the hands of a New York City music shop. In 2008, it was subsequently acquired by Robert Trujillo, bassist with Metallica. Although Trujillo currently owns the instrument, the Metallica bassist agreed in writing to relinquish the instrument to the family at any time for the same purchase price.

Amplification, effects, and strings

Jaco Pastorius used the "Variamp" EQ (equalization) controls on his two Acoustic 360 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. He also controlled his tone color with a rackmount MXR digital delay unit that fed a second Acoustic amp rig.

At times, he used Hartke cabinets during the final three years of his life because of the bright character of aluminum speaker cones (as opposed to paper speaker cones). These provided a bright, clear sound. He typically used the delay in a chorus-like mode, providing a shimmering stereo doubling effect. He often used the fuzz control built in on the Acoustic 361. For the bass solo ”Slang” on the Weather Report's live album 8:30 (1979), Pastorius used the MXR digital delay to layer and loop a chordal figure and then soloed over it; the same technique, with a looped bass riff, can be seen during his solo spot on the Joni Mitchell concert videoShadows and Light.

Legacy

Pastorius has consistently been described in hyperbolic terms. He has, for instance, been called "arguably the most important and ground-breaking electric bassist in history" and "perhaps the most influential electric bassist today". Wiliam C Banfield, director of Africana Studies, Music and Society at Berklee College, describes Jaco as one of the few original American virtuosos who defined a musical movement, alongside Jimi Hendrix, Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Christian, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus and Wes Montgomery.

Awards and tributes

Pastorius received two Grammy Award nominations in 1977 for his self-titled debut album, including Best Jazz Performance By A Group and Best Jazz Performance By A Soloist for "Donna Lee". He received another nomination in 1978, Best Jazz Performance By A Soloist, for his work on Weather Report's Heavy Weather. In 1988, following his death, Jaco was elected by readers' poll for inclusion in the Down Beat Hall of Fame, the second bassist honored in this way. To date, only seven bassists have been inducted, the others being Jimmy Blanton, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden and Milt Hinton).

Numerous artists have recorded tributes to Jaco, including the Pat Metheny Group track "Jaco" on their album Pat Metheny Group(1978); the Marcus Miller composition "Mr. Pastorius" on Miles Davis' album Amandla; Victor Bailey (who replaced Jaco in Weather Report)'s cover of "Continuum" on his Who Loves You album; several tracks on Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey's Bass Extremes album; John McLaughlin's "For Jaco" on his album Industrial Zen (2006) among others.

Since 1997, an annual birthday event takes place around December 1 in South Florida, hosted by his sons Julius and Felix Pastorius.

On December 2, 2007, the day after his birthday, a concert called "20th Anniversary Tribute to Jaco Pastorius" was held at The Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, featuring performances by the award-winning Jaco Pastorius Big Band with special guest appearances by Peter Erskine, Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer, David Bargeron, Jimmy Haslip, Gerald Veasley, Pastorius' sons John and Julius Pastorius, Pastorius' daughter Mary Pastorius, Ira Sullivan, Bobby Thomas, Jr., and Dana Paul. Also shown were exclusive home movies and rare concert footage as well as video appearances by Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, and other luminaries from Pastorius' life. Almost 20 years after his death, Fender released the Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass, a fretless instrument in its Artist Series.

On December 1, 2008, on his birthday, the park in Oakland Park's new downtown redevelopment was formally named 'Jaco Pastorius Park' in honor of the area's former resident.