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Jaco Pastorius |
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Born:
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1951-12-01, U. S. A., Norristown; Died: 1987-09-21, U. S. A., Fort Lauderdale |
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Member of:
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Weather Report |
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Genres:
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Fusion, Jazz, Jazz Rock |
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Instrument(s):
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bass |
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Note & Curiosity:
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References:
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Profile:
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In the early evening of 21st September 1987, Jaco Pastorius's life ended after a blood vessel burst in his brain, terminating the life
of a brilliant, but ultimately doomed, self distructive talent. It was on end hastened by drugs, alcohol and fast living that had echoes
of other tragic jazz heroes like Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday - not to mention rock heroes like Jimi Hendrix whom Pastorius
admired so much. Nine days earlier, at 4am on 12 September, Pastorius had been into a comatose state following an altercation
outside the Midnight Bottle Club in Fort Lauderdale. He was just thirty-five years old. Yet the Eighties had begun so full of
promise for him. His membership as a featured sideman of the Weather Report launched him to international celebrity,
prompting Warner Bros. to make him an exciting offer. Even though his debut album "Jaco Pastorius" (1976) had been for
Columbia, Warner Bros. succeeded in pinching him from right under their rival's noses, "There was a buzz about him", said
Ricky Schultz of Warners. "He was special, he was creative, he was innovative, he was making news. He definitely seemed
to be the element that had pushed Weather Report to a new level of public awareness, their record sales had doubled after Jaco
joined the group so the expectation was that Jaco was going to create some great contemporary Jazz."
"Word of Mouth", Pastorius' first album for Warner Bros. was released in the summer of 1981 and was conceived as a contemporary
big band album. On 1 December 1981, Pastorius took the big band concept a stage further by taking it out of the studio
and on to the concert stage. Taking time off from Weather Report duties he threw a monster birthday party for himself at
Mr. Pip's, a nightclub near Deerfield Beach Florida, to present a big band assembled of favoured friends from various
period's of his musical life. The occasion was the de facto debut of the World of Mouth Big Band, which would be assembled
from time to time for tours, including one to Japan, which produced the albums "Twins I" and "Twins II" for Japanese release,
and subsequently edited down to the single album "Invitation". About the album "The Birthday Concert", it duplicates much material
on "Twins I" and "Twins II", but here it is at an earlier stage of the band's genesis, for exemple "Invitation" is performed by a
quintet on "The Birthday Concert" since there had been no time for a big band arrangement to be made.
Consequently, the music that evening was row, energetic and explosive with the added bonus of the frisson between
tenor saxophonist Mike Brecker and Bob Mintzer, keen to score points over each other. Pastorius was in top form.
And while the charts were rough and ready - some had even been put together by Pastorius singing what he
wanted played to the sections - they were performed with an energy that was often electric. Two charts are used that has
previously appeared on "Word of Mouth", "Three Views of a Secret" and "Liberty City", the former an expanded orchestration
of Pastorius' most enduring original that had previously appeared on Weather Report's "Night Passage". "I took the title
from a chart written 10 years ago by Charlie Brent, who was musical director of Wayne Cochran's Band when I was bassist",
said Pastorius in 1981. The venue of the concert was not far from Pastorius lived at the time with his wife Ingrid, three
parrots, several cats, a pair of squirrel monkeys and his children John and Mary (whose laughing can be heard on "Word of Mouth").
Also in the house was a baby grand, on upright bass, and a set of drums which he used to let of steam. To understand something
of his superb rhythmical sense it's useful to know he was originally a drummer (he performs on drums on the Weather Report album 8:30
on one track) and that he changed to bass during his time with the Las Olas Brass because of the stress playing the drums
caused to his left hand after breaking it in a football rumble. And when you listen to the beautiful sustained tones he managed on electric bass,
bear in mind his first musical influence was Frank Sinatra. At the time, he was living a relatively settled life. He had been considered
a top student at school and had earned extra pocket money with a daily paper round. Married at 18, he soon had two children.
In many ways he grew up too fast, yet in other ways he never grew up. There was a dark side in his personality, what writer Conrad
Silvert noted when he met him in 1981 as, "The sometimes nasty and rowdy motorcycle maniac who would do almost anything when properly
challenged". As Jaco said of his youth, "We were wild, we'd do anything to be crazy. We didn't need to go to parties because we were
the party". Somehow, he could never part company with his idealized youth, and despite his great talent his great paradox lurked within
him that would gradually unravel and became his undoing. It left his musical legacy all the more pregnant, moments when the future
seemed to hold so much promise, when anything seemed possible. |
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References:
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Stuart Nicholson "jazz Rock: A Histoy", Cannongate, 1998 |
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Official Site:
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Jaco Pastorius Official Site;
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Main collaborations:
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Peter Erskine; Herbie Hancock; Pat Metheny |
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