Artist Profile,
5 Essential Jaco Pastorius recordings
Jaco Pastorius made quite the lasting impression during his relatively short music career; active from 1966 until his passing in 1987, he became known for his distinctive tone arising from his DIY de-fretted bass guitar and bright, melodic style of playing that incorporated extended techniques like harmonics, as well as a heavy funk influence. His now-iconic ‘Bass of Doom’ is one of the most recognisable electric instruments among bassists, even prompting Fender to remake a tribute model right down to sealing the fretboard in epoxy resin.
Prior to the recording of his debut album, while attending a Weather Report show he reportedly introduced himself to the band’s frontman Joe Zawinul as “John Francis Pastorius III, the greatest bass player in the world”, a bold approach that impressed Zawinul enough into asking for a demo tape and ultimately hiring him for bass duties in Weather Report. In between playing and recording for Weather Report, Jaco also found time to record a small handful of solo records, though to relatively poor commercial success despite the amount of critical praise he received.
His life was fraught with difficulties arising from his drug addictions and what was later diagnosed as bipolar disorder, and as a result he lived homeless for much of the final years of his life, finding it hard to hold down a job. Despite this, right up until his death in 1987 at the age of 35, Jaco was (and still is) praised as one of the most consistently skilful electric bassists and remains a go-to inspiration for many aspiring jazz and funk players alike.
While not the first album to bear Jaco’s name – that goes to the unofficially-titled Jaco in 1974 which also featured Pat Metheny – 1976’s Jaco Pastorius is the first official record to bear the bassist’s name, with the aforementioned record being more of a rebranded Paul Bley live record. Jaco Pastorius’ compositions show the full breadth of Jaco’s musical ambitions, with everything from funk band tunes like ‘Come On, Come Over’ to string section-accompanied ‘Kuru / Speak Like a Child’, to a minimal arrangement of Charlie Parker’s ‘Donna Lee’, plus a favourite of fellow jazz bassists – the solo electric bass piece ‘Portrait of Tracy’ dedicated to his wife Tracy Sexton.
Available Format: CD
The second and final solo studio album released by Jaco, Word of Mouth saw him focussing less on his own bass playing and more on his large-ensemble arrangements. Apart from the chaotic opener ‘Crisis’ and his blistering interpretation of J.S. Bach’s ‘Chromatic Fantasy’, much of Word of Mouth is much more muted, and Jaco doesn’t play so much like a frontman rather slotting in with the rest of the ensemble as just another part of the arrangement. It just goes to show, even if he didn’t have his bass chops, Jaco was still a brilliant composer and arranger.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Jaco recorded five albums during his six-year tenure in Weather Report, the most successful of which was 1977’s Heavy Weather. Partially responsible for rejuvenating the jazz fusion sound at a time when it was beginning to fall out of public favour, Heavy Weather embraced sounds of popular music like on the lead single ‘Birdland’, and a fan favourite Jaco composition ‘Teen Town’ also makes an appearance.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Jaco can be heard on the first album by a 22-year-old Pat Metheny back in 1976, and while his playing style is sometimes said to be a little too idiosyncratic for Metheny’s comparatively muted guitar tones, the pair end up with an interesting dynamic that really end up complementing each other. That being said, this is still one of Jaco's more understated performances, naturally Metheny’s the one you’re listening out for on Bright Size Life, but Jaco more than makes his presence known.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
This short-lived trio was known for its explosive performances as much as its explosive personalities; featuring Jaco in a trio with drummer Tony Williams of Miles Davis' Second Great Quintet and John McLaughlin of Mahavishnu Orchestra. McLaughlin’s fingerprints are all over these compositions with lightning-fast guitar leads, but you can hear Jaco perk up for some lead parts on tracks like ‘Continuum’. The band would ultimately dissolve during the recording process of this album after an altercation between Jaco and Williams; with this live-studio record being the only recording of this trio.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
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