Jaco with the bandana…deep v neck…brilliant smile…oozing coolness.
#49
Artist: Jaco Pastorius
Album: Self titled
Released: 1976
Genre: Jazz fusion / post-bop / funk
Featured Players: Herbie Hancock, Sam & Dave, David Sanborn, Don Alias…many many others.
Listen: Jaco Pastorius Self Titled
So let’s cut to the chase…this album is EXACTLY why I’m doing this project.
Before this week I had never heard of Jaco Pastorius. I took one look at this album cover and assumed he was either a mime or a spoken word poet. Turns out, neither. I was half disappointed and half relieved. Instead, it turns out he’s widely regarding as one of the best electric bass players of all time (think Flea, Paul McCartney, Les Claypool, John Entwistle, maybe even Paul Rudd). Some of you with a keen interest in music appreciation probably already knew this…but I don’t, and I didn’t. Let me also admit that I didn’t really consider the electric bass guitar a jazz instrument, but Jaco took me there!
This album had it all. Jazz, funk, jazzy funk, and even some funky jazz. He even threw in some steel drums to give you that Caribbean vibe. By the time I had blended my Pina colada, Jaco switched gears and ended the album with a beautiful, cinematic closer of violins, cellos, and violas (yes I looked up the instruments), where Jaco, who composed the song, actually takes a back seat to all the other instruments. It’s Gorgeous. Somber. Reflective. I sat in the stillness with my eyes closed…nearly meditative…and drank my Pina colada.
No matter where the music goes, Jaco is there in full force with his bass. After the first listen, I immediately went back for a second and third serving. By the end of this week I have officially become a fan. Along the way I started digging deeper to find out more about this fella, and what I discovered was the only part more unbelievable than his talent, was his downfall…
As the story goes, Jaco was a self destructive and angry drunk, to the point where he would provoke people into physical confrontations. His final act was provoking a bouncer at the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida. He was left bloody and battered in an alleyway outside the club, slipped into a coma, and died nine days later at the age of 35. Way too soon for someone of his immense talent (Please note, the author actually thinks it’s way too soon for anyone to die that young, even people who aren’t talented, correct others grammar, quote movies while watching them, or repeatedly say “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”). Anyway, Here’s a much better written version of his story.
Tragic ending aside, I absolutely loved this music. If this is jazz, I’m in! If it’s not jazz, I’m still in! Of the first three albums I’ve listened to, this was the first one to resonate as “cool”. Jaco was a badass. A savant. And maybe a bit unhinged. Seemingly the perfect recipe.
My gif rating for this album…
Yours truly,
Peggy’s badass strut
Appendix of links you ignored:
1. Slappin’ da bass!
2. Who Killed Jaco Pastorius?
Finding Cool 