Jaco Pastorius: The Greatest Jazz-Fusion Bass Player

Exact transcriptions with tab of this jazz-fusion legend's incredible work on 14 tracks: Barbary Coast * Birdland * Black Market * Cannonball * Harlequin * Havona * Palladium * Port of Entry * Punk Jazz * A Remark You Made * River People * Slang * Speechless * Teen Town. With bass tablature, standard notation, chord names and bass notation legend. Jazz Fusion and Jazz. 9x12 inches.

Jaco Pastorius
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (December 1, 1951¨CSeptember 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his skills as an electric bass player, as well as his command of varied musical styles including jazz, jazz fusion, funk, and jazz-funk. He is also regarded as one of the most skilled and influential bass players of all time.

His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register. His innovations also included the use of harmonics and the "singing" quality of his melodies on fretless bass. In 2006, Pastorius was voted "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived" by reader submissions in Bass Guitar magazine. He was inducted into Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (the others being Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton, and Ray Brown), and the only electric bassist to receive this distinction. In his 30s, Pastorius suffered from mental illness and substance abuse, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1985. He died in 1987 from a physical beating sustained from a doorman while trying to gain entry into the Midnight Club in Fort Lauderdale at age 35.

His Death
After sneaking onstage at a Carlos Santana concert September 11, 1987, he was ejected from the premises, and he made his way to the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida. After reportedly kicking in a glass door after being refused entrance to the club, he was engaged in a violent confrontation with the club bouncer, Luc Havan. Pastorius was hospitalized for multiple facial fractures and damage to his right eye and right arm, and had sustained irreversible brain damage. He fell into a coma and was put on life support.

There were initially encouraging signs that he would come out of his coma and recover, but a massive brain hemorrhage a few days later pointed to brain death. His family decided on a majority vote to remove him from life support, even though his second wife Ingrid was against the decision. Pastorius died on September 21, 1987, aged 35, at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. His heart continued to beat for three hours after the life support machine was disconnected.

In the wake of Pastorius' death, Havan, a karate expert, was charged with second degree murder, but later pled guilty to manslaughter, for which he served four months. Pastorius was buried at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.



Awards
Apart from his career in the jazz fusion band Weather Report, Jaco had two Grammy Award nominations for his self-titled debut album. He was inducted into Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (the others being Charles Mingus, Milt Hinton, and Ray Brown), and the only electric bassist to receive this distinction.

Playing style - Technique
The "Jaco growl" is obtained by using the bridge pickup exclusively, and plucking the strings right above the bridge pickup. Pastorius used natural and false harmonics to extend the range of the bass (exemplified in the bass solo masterpiece Portrait of Tracy from his eponymous album) and could achieve a horn-like tone through his playing technique. His playing techniques earned him accolades both from the critics and his audiences. He used finger-style playing exclusively, and was not fond of the slap bass style of many funk and R&B bassists of the time. His playing has been described by those who know him to be fast and showy, but always in time with the "groove."