Pastorius, Jaco

Jaco Pastorius was born in Pennsylvania , but his family soon moved to Fort Lauderdale (Florida), where he later received his first glory. Pastorius' musical career began at age 12 with playing drums, which his father taught him. At age 13, due to a broken arm and improper bone fusion, Pastorius leaves the drums and begins to study the guitar, saxophone and piano. At the age of 15, Pastorius was once again operated on, and he decided to opt for bass. In 1974, he began playing with his friend Pat Matini . In 1976, Pastorius was invited to the Weather Report band, where he played with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter until 1982 . The story of how Jaco got into the Weather Report group gives some idea of ​​his complex nature. After the band’s concert in Miami, Jaco met with Joe Zawinul . He told Zavinul that they played well, but he expected more. Then Jaco proposed himself as the new Weather Report bass player, arguing that he was the best bass player in the world. In response, Zavinul advised Jaco to rudely get out ("get the fuck outta here"), but after persevering Pastorius persuaded, he nevertheless agreed to listen to Jaco's demos. Zavinul was delighted with the play of Pastorius and invited him to the group to record the album "Black Market". Later, Zavinul recalled this incident and said that then Pastorius reminded him of himself - an “arrogant little boy”.

Jaco Pastorius' first solo album ("Jaco Pastorius") was released in 1976 . In 1980 - 1984, Pastorius toured the United States and Japan (1982) with his big band Word of Mouth.

Jaco Pastorius also recorded several albums with singer Joni Mitchell and other famous jazz and rock musicians.

In the mid -1980s , Pastorius began to have noticeable mental problems, and there were symptoms of manic-depressive psychosis . His health deteriorated due to the use of drugs and alcohol , which only exacerbated his inappropriate behavior. As a result, Jaco Pastorius lost the respect of a respectable public and became an outcast of the music business, he was evicted from his apartment for antisocial behavior, after which he began to live on the street. In the summer of 1986, with the support of his ex-wife Ingrid and brother Gregory, he was treated at a New York clinic, after which he returned to Fort Lauderdale, but even there he was forced to be a tramp.

Personal life

Pastorius was twice married, from his first marriage he had two children - Mary (b. 1970) and John (b. 1971). Having married for the second time in 1978, in the same year, Pastorius became the father of two twins - Felix Pastorius (plays the bass guitar) and Julius Pastorius (plays the drums). Daughter Mary Pastorius also practices vocal jazz.

Doom

In 1987, in Fort Lauderdale at the Midnight Club, one of the quarrels with the bouncer there ended in a fight. Due to his injuries, Jaco fell into a coma and was connected to an artificial life support device. At first, doctors predicted improvement, but a re-examination of Pastorius showed that due to the development of intracranial bleeding, brain death occurred. Jaco Pastorius passed away without leaving a coma on September 21, 1987 .

The work of Pastorius is clearly experimental in nature. His style is easily recognizable thanks to a specific set of performing techniques specific to this musician, among which the interpretation of the bass guitar as not only a fundamental but also a melodic instrument, playing in high register, including intervals and chords, subtle gradation of strokes (typical contrast of marked legato fast and with the perfectly intoned passages portamento), extensive use of ornamental microintervals , glissandi and so on. ekmeliki (thanks fretless bass, that is untempered m nzure) and so on. d. Performing style Pastorius significantly expanded the boundaries of traditional ideas about the possibilities of the bass guitar, has spawned many imitations in the medium of jazz and even some rock musicians throughout the world.

Jaco Pastorius, who played primarily on the 1962 Fender Jazz Bass fretless bass , was known for his virtuoso basses that combined Latin American rhythms with rhythm and blues. His syncopated funky bass lines often involved “dead notes” (extracted without pressing the strings to the fingerboard, percussive sounds without a specific pitch). An example is the bass part in “Come on, come over” and “The chicken”.

Pastorius was also known for popularizing the fretless electric bass, on which he achieved a timbre that resembled the timbre of wind instruments, especially when playing in uppercase. Examples include Remark you made from the Heavy Weather album by Weather Report and Continuum from his debut album, as well as his melodic lines in Joni Mitchell's songs Refuge of the road and Talk to me.

One of the main innovations of Jaco was the use of flagollets, thanks to which he was able to significantly expand the sound range of the bass guitar. The sound production technique using natural and artificial flagolots is clearly demonstrated in the compositions of “Portrait of Tracy” from the debut album of Jaco and “Birdland” by Weather Report .

Pastorius has been consistently described in hyperbolic terms. He, for example, was called "perhaps the most important and innovative electric bass player in history" and, "perhaps the most influential electric bass player today." William C. Banfield, director of research for African culture, music and society at Berkeley College, described Jaco as one of the few original virtuosos to define the musical movement, along with Jimi Hendricks, Louis Armstrong, Telonius Monk, Charlie Christian, Bad Powell, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus and Wes Montgomery.

Many ^[2] consider Pastorius to be the greatest bass player, not forgetting also about his compositions and arrangements . In 2011, Pastorius was recognized as one of the best bass players of all time according to a survey conducted by Rolling Stone magazine ^[3] . In honor of the great bass player Miles Davis, on the Amandla album, along with Marcus Miller, he recorded the song “Mr. Pastorius. "

Solo albums

• 1974 - Modern American Music ... Period! The Criteria Sessions (released in 2014)
• Jaco (live) (1974, DIW)
• Jaco Pastorius (1976, Epic / Legacy)
• The Birthday Concert (live) (1981, Warner)
• Word of Mouth (1981, Warner)
• 1982 - Twins I & II (released in 1999)
• Invitation (live) (1983, Warner)
• 1986 - Broadway Blues (released in 1998)
• 1986 - Honestly Solo Live (released in 1990)
• PDB (1986, DIW)
• Live in Italy (1986, Jazzpoint)
• Jazz Street (1986, Timeless)
• 1986 - Heavy'n Jazz (released in 1992)
• Curtain Call (live) (1986, Another Hit)
• 1991 - Live In New York City, Volumes 1-7.
• Portrait of Jaco, the Early Years (2002, HolidayParkRecords.com)
• 2003 - Punk Jazz: The Jaco Pastorius Anthology (compilation)
• “The Essential” (2007), Sony BMG)

With Weather Report Group

• 1976 - Black Market (on two tracks: "Cannonball" and "Barbary Coast")
• 1977 - Heavy Weather
• 1978 - Mr. Gone
• 1979 - 8:30
• 1980 - Night Passage
• 1982 - Weather Report
• 2002 - Live and Unreleased
• 2006 - Forecast: Tomorrow

Session Musician

• 1975 - Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life
• 1976 - Ian Hunter - All American Alien Boy
• 1976 - Albert Mangelsdorff - Trilogue-Live!
• 1976 - Joni Mitchell - Hejira (on “Coyote”, “Hejira”, “Black Crow” and “Refuge of the Roads”)
• 1977 - Joni Mitchell - Don Juan's Reckless Daughter
• 1979 - Trio of Doom - Trio of Doom (Released in 2007)
• 1979 - Joni Mitchell - Mingus
• 1979 - Michel Colombier - Michel Colombier
• 1980 - Joni Mitchell - Shadows and Light
• 1985 - Brian Melvin - Night Food
• 1986 - Brian Melvin - Jazz Street (released in 1989)
• 1986 - Brian Melvin - Nightfood (released in 1988)
• 1986 - Brian Melvin Trio - Standards Zone (released in 1990)
• 1986 - Biréli Lagrène - Stuttgart Aria
• 1988 - Francisco Mondragon Rio - Natural

Other Pastorius Albums

• 1974 - Little Beaver - Party Down (on the track "I Can Dig It Baby")
• 1975 - Ira Sullivan - Ira Sullivan (Acoustic Bass on the track "Portrait of Sal La Rosa")
• 1976 - Al Di Meola - Land of the Midnight Sun (on the track "Suite-Golden Dawn")
• 1976 - Joni Mitchell - Hejira (on four tracks: “Coyote”, “Hejira”, “Black Crow”, “Refuge of the Roads”)
• 1977 - Airto - I'm Fine, How Are You? (on the track "Nativity")
• 1978 - Cockrell & Santos - New Beginnings (rhythm guitar on “I Tried It All”)
• 1978 - Flora Purim - Everyday Everynight (on four tracks: “The Hope”, “Five-Four”, “Las Olas”, “Blues Ballad”)
• 1978 - Herbie Hancock - Sunlight (on the track "Good Question")
• 1978 - Tom Scott - Intimate Strangers (on the track “Lost Inside The Love Of You (Reprise)”)
• 1979 - Manolo Badrena - Manolo (on the track "The One Thing")
• 1979 - Michel Polnareff - Coucou Me Revoilou (on the track "Une Simple Melodie")
• 1980 - Herbie Hancock - Mr. Hands (on the track “4 AM”)
• 1982 - Jazz At The Opera House - Produced by Conrad Silvert (on the track "Footprints")
• 1982 - Bob Mintzer - Source (on two tracks: “I Don't Know”, “Spiral”)
• 1984 - Randy Bernsen - Music for Planets, People & Washing Machines (on two tracks: "Olde Hats", "Windsong")
• 1985 - Deadline - Down by Law (on the track "Makossa Rock")
• 1985 - Jimmy Cliff - Cliff Hanger (on the track "Brown Eyes")
• 1986 - Mike Stern - Upside Downside (on the track "Mood Swings")
• 1986 - Randy Bernsen - Mo 'Wasabi (on three tracks: "Swing Thing", "Jac Attack / Dover Days", "Califoric")
• 1986 - Randy Bernsen - Paradise Citizens (on the track "Paradise Citizens")

• Milkowski B. Jaco: The extraordinary and tragic life of Jaco Pastorius. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.

• Biography of Jaco Pastorius on the Russian rock portal
• Jaco Pastorius - biographical sketch
• Post-mortem review of Jaco Pastorius
• Jaco Pastorius (official site )
• (inaccessible link) Jaco, the Early Years (official site)
• Videos