Jaco Pastorius
JACO PASTORIUS
I just recently watched a great documentary on Netflix about legendary bass player, Jaco Pastorious. Up until this point I knew very little about him other than his contributions to Joni Mitchell's Hejira and a few Weather Report tunes. I had heard Jaco's name come up in conversation from time to time. Speaking with such reverence as if about a god. Well, now I know why. To say the man was gifted is an understatement. His brain was wired differently and he could tap into the ether and channel his soul through his fingers. You could say he was touched. But the sad truth was he suffered from bi-polar disorder. If he had the right support to help him stay with the medication perhaps he'd be alive today. That being said, could he have played the same? Or was this just his fate? I welcome your thoughts on the subjects of artistic expression and neurological disorders and how they co-exist.
Nice he is one of the classic amazing bass players.
Yes, I agree. The first time I became aware of him was on Hejira. Are you familiar with that album? Incredible harmonics and melodic counterpoint to Joni's vocals.
I don't know the name of the albums I listened to. One of my roommates in College in the 90s was a pretty awesome bass player, and I play guitar. He used to listen to Jaco Pastorius a lot so I heard it a lot when I was hanging out with him.
Cool. Well if you get an opportunity, check out Joni Mitchell's 'Hejira'. It's her music which is beautiful but Jaco added the magic that made it really unique.
I didn't realize he played with Joni Mitchell. My mom used to listen to her quite a bit when I was a kid. :) I'm 45 now so that was awhile ago.
Sorry, I couldn't reply to your last response below for some reason. Your mom's got great taste! She would likely have Hejira as it's one of Joni's flagship albums. Well, the documentary I posted about is worth watching. Pretty sad ending but inspiring.
Jaco is a one of a kind influencer for many bass players. I have listened to him a lot, his music was introduced to me by my bass-teacher Danny Samar (check him out on internet). The combination of Jaco's fretless playing with the (sometimes) funky sound was what I admired ,together with his creative musicality. Tragic how things wen't wrong with him....Great musician.