Jaco Pastorius - "Jaco Pastorius" (1976) [2000] @320

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his skills on the bass guitar, as well as his command of varied musical styles. 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 unique innovations also included the use of harmonics and the "singing" quality of his melodies. In 2006, Pastorius was voted "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived" by reader submissions in Bass Guitar Magazine.

Debut album:

In 1976, the first 10 minutes of this eponymous disc took the listener on a jazz world cruise directed by the instrumentalist-composer Jaco Pastorius, who thus gave notice that there was a new sheriff in town and that narrow definitions of jazz would simply not do. More so even than his groundbreaking work as a member of Weather Report, Jaco's music on this, his debut album as a leader (and in a trio setting with his soulmate Pat Metheny on the guitarist's maiden voyage, Bright Size Life), defines his greatness, his outreach, and his ambition. Boppish changes à la Miles Davis come through with Jaco's incredible touch, tone phrasing, and rhythmic locomotion--as does the musical leap of faith from bebop to funky-butt R&B delivered with lyrical majesty on Jaco's aptly titled "Continuum."

This reissue greatly enhances the fidelity of Jaco Pastorius, particularly in the bassist's famous, elusive tone, from lightly chorused, vocal-tenorlike glissandos on "Continuum" and the bell-like harmonics of "Portrait of Tracy" to his percussive, hand-drumlike rhythmic cycles underneath Peter Gordon's august French horn on "Oknokole Y Trompa." Even more stunning are the manner in which Jaco deploys a steel drum choir underneath Wayne Shorter on "Opus Pocus" and the ferocious Latin-inflected groove Jaco, Lenny White, and Don Alias conjure under Herbie Hancock on two takes--one unissued until now--of "(Used to Be a) Cha-Cha." Pat Metheny contributes an extraordinary set of liner notes to this set, putting Jaco's contributions to jazz and the bass in sharp perspective. Still, a spirit of innovation and discovery suffuses every note on Jaco Pastorius, and it is startling how modern and engaging this music remains. By Chip Stern.



At long last, the stunning debut album by Jaco Pastorius gets the royal treatment by the folks at Sony Legacy. Recorded in 1976 prior to joining Weather Report, it's clear from the first bar that this man is serious business!!! From the opening track, a cover of the Charlie Parker classic "Donna Lee"(written by Miles Davis) featuring Jaco only accompanied by a conga player to the final cut "Forgotten Love",it's very apparent that we're hearing something we've never heard before. Pastorius took the bass from being a support instrument, to front and center, without being tedious or overdone. Other highlights of this album include "Portrait of Tracy", and "Continuum". "Jaco Pastorius" features excellent support from the likes of Herbie Hancock, Hubert Laws, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker and Lenny White. This reissue also features two unreleased tracks that were not part of the original LP. The booklet features rare photos from the recording sessions and has great liner notes written by Pat Metheny. The 24-bit remaster is a tremendous sonic improvement over the original CD issue and the disc label even has the original orange Epic logo on the disc. A first class reissue of a fusion jazz classic. By Jeffrey Harris.

Weather Report

Around the time of his solo album, he ran into keyboardist Josef Zawinul in Miami, Florida, where his band, Weather Report, were playing. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night and talked about the performance and how it was "alright" but he had "expected more". He then went on to tell Zawinul that he was "The Greatest Bass Player in the World". An unamused Zawinul told him to "get the fuck outta [his] sight." According to Milkowsky's book on that same evening, Jaco persisted and, according to Zawinul, reminded Zawinul of himself when he was a "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band, which made Zawinul admire the young bassist. Zawinul asked for a demo from Pastorius, and thus began a series of correspondence between the two.

Pastorius entered Weather Report during the recording sessions for Black Market, and he immediately became a vital part of the band both by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer and his exuberant showmanship on stage. His stage act and melodic, propulsive solos brought Weather Report a large new black audience; before his arrival they had mostly pulled in white college fans.

Zawinul and Pastorius struck up a close friendship almost immediately, as both men were outgoing and energetic, full of life. But Zawinul was tempered with age; he was in his 40s, with a sense of life's limits, while Jaco was still in his early 20s. One night before a gig, Zawinul offered Jaco a drink to loosen up. Jaco had never drunk before due to his father's own struggles with alcohol, but after two drinks, Zawinul said he got "strange. He started throwing things. I knew right away I had made a mistake." Pastorius's drinking grew more out of control in the ensuing years, with Zawinul so furious during a Japanese tour in 1980 he was ready to fire Jaco. He called bassist Tony Levin, but he wasn't available, possibly due to Levin being busy touring with King Crimson at the time. Before a replacement was found, Jaco showed up at Zawinul's door apologizing profusely, and Joe once again forgave him.

JACO

Track listing:

1. "Donna Lee" - originally credited Charlie Parker, actually Miles Davis – 2:27
2. "Come On, Come Over" - Jaco Pastorius & Bob Herzog – 3:54
3. "Continuum" - Jaco Pastorius – 4:33
4. "Kuru/Speak Like A Child" - Jaco Pastorius & Herbie Hancock – 7:43
5. "Portrait Of Tracy" - Jaco Pastorius – 2:22
6. "Opus Pocus" - Jaco Pastorius – 5:30
7. "Okonkole Y Trompa" - Jaco Pastorius & Don Alias – 4:25
8. "(Used to Be A) Cha-Cha" - Jaco Pastorius – 8:57
9. "Forgotten Love" - Jaco Pastorius – 2:14
10. "(Used to Be a) Cha-Cha" (Alternate Take - Previously Unreleased) - Jaco Pastorius - 8:49
11. "6/4 Jam" (Alternate Take - Previously Unreleased) - Jaco Pastorius - 7:45

Personnel includes:

Don Alias, Randy Brecker, Ron Tooley, Peter Graves, David Sanborn, Michael Brecker, Howard Johnson, Herbie Hancock, Narada Michael Walden, Sam & Dave, Alex Darqui, Lenny White, Bobby Economou, Michael Gibbs, David Nadien, Harry Lookofsky, Paul Gershman, Joe Malin, Harry Cykman, Harold Kohon, Selward Clarke, Manny Vardi, Julian Barber, Charles McCracken, Kermit Moore, Beverly Lauridsen, Wayne Shorter, Othello Molineaux, Leroy Williams, Peter Gordon, Hubert Laws...and many more!

*Includes full cover and booklet scan*

Enjoy!
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