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I already have written some posts (or part of posts) about Jaco Pastorius but I still feel like I have to honour him some more because not many people (besides the most of musicians) know Jaco and what he meant to the music in the way it is still played. A lot of modern bass players are greatly influenced by the great master of Bass "Jaco Pastorius".

Who is Jaco?

Jaco was a bassplayer from the United States of America, from Fort Lauderdale to be precise.
He was one of the first bassplayers who started using the bass not only as rhythm instrument for the band but also as a solo instrument. That was totally new and no one had ever done that before, at least not in the way Jaco played it. He played the most of his career on the Fretless Fender Jazzbass, a bass model which is still one of the leading models.

Some people thought he was weird, but I just think "Jaco was a musician, an artist" and artist are often excentric and open minded.... And jaco was......

His music

Jaco has played a lot of different music during his career, although it mostly had Jazzy influences or if was freestyle jazz kind a music. His specific fretless sound is recognizable from a million sounds. As a example I will show some clips from youtube to see the diversity of this man.

A Portrait of Tracy
He wrote this piece in favour of his first wife Tracey. The music itself would not speak for a broad audience I guess, you really have to be open to it... But the way he masters his bass and scales... It is just awesome.

The Chicken
This piece shows all about Jaco's groove.... The feel and timing in this song is just great. He carries the song... Just like a real groovy engine....

Sophisticated Lady
Two legends, Toots Thielemans and Jaco playing a piece together. Both men are so gifted to master an instrument like that... goosebumbs...

His legacy

As I already mentioned Jaco has been an influence for almost every bassplayer in the whole world (including me). Every bassplayer has some bassline or sound or song influenced by him. Including a lot of famous Bassplayers. For instance Robert Trujillo (Metallica), he has made a documentary about Jaco because he wanted to keep the legacy alive, and he succeeded...

Robert Trujillo

Flea (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

The sadness

Jaco suffered manic depression and that is what eventually killed him. He was without work (how is that possible) and without a roof above his head when he wanted to enter a club in Forida. He got in to a fight with the bouncer who hit him. This hitting and Jaco falling on the ground was eventually what got him killed....This was in September 1987... So sad that a virtuose musician like Jaco has to come to his end in such a sad surrounding caused by such a tragic incident. I think the bouncer didn't knew he killed bass history......

Have a great day

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