Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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PASTORIUS, Jaco

(b John Francis, 1 Nov. '51, Morristown PA; d 22 Sep. '87, Fort Lauderdale FL) Bassist, composer. Father was drummer, singer; wanted to play drums but injured his arm at 13 and did not get it sorted out until 17, when he took up bass; had also played piano, sax, guitar. Family had moved to Fort Lauderdale where he played various music in clubs with stars such as the Supremes, Temptations, Nancy Wilson; also played country music, worked on cruise ships in the Caribbean: he acquired an unself-conscious eclecticism which stood him in good stead. Probably infl. by Gary Peacock, and Eberhard Weber in Europe, he helped to redefine the bass in contemporary music, bringing to it the qualities of amplified acoustic instruments, using harmonics and perfect articulation to create a new solo voice, in his case with a Caribbean influence along with R&B and jazz. As a leader he was perhaps too much of a showman, the electric bass as a lead instrument often overpowering and his technique sometimes getting away with him. Played with Blood Sweat and Tears '75; their drummer Bobby Colomby helped arrange for first LP Jaco Pastorius '75 on Epic. Others incl. Word Of Mouth '81 and Invitation '83 on WB; the Word Of Mouth big band was an interesting experiment, but Live With The Word Of Mouth Big Band '82 on Jazzdoor displays some of his best and worst tendencies; Holiday For Pans was rejected by WB, released '97 on Sound Hills and still sounded unfinished (as did the short duo Golden Road on the same label, with keyboardist/percussionist Benjamin Germain). He also recorded with Ira Sullivan, Paul Bley, Joni Mitchell, Pat Metheny (Bright Size Life '76 on ECM). As a member of Weather Report he played on their best albums. He suffered from manic depression and refused to take lithium to control it; he was destitute in later years and died of injuries ten days after trying to enter a club from which he'd been banned; the club manager was arrested for assault. Painful biography Jaco '96 by Bill Milkowski.