Jaco Pastorius
Double Bass / Electric Bass / Cello

Jaco Pastorius

(1951–1987)

United States

Jaco Pastorius (1951–1987) — Double Bass, Electric Bass. Led Jaco Pastorius, Word of Mouth. Worked with Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Don Alias.

He pulled the frets from his electric bass and produced sounds no one had heard before. The bass could sing — that realization changed everything. His work with Weather Report and Portrait of Tracy on his debut album are his signatures. Brilliant, aggressive, and simultaneously fragile. He died following an assault at 35.

Jaco Pastorius's albums

Bright Size Life
Bright Size Life
Pat Metheny · 1976

Bright Size LifeBright Size LifeBright Size LifePat Metheny · 1976 (1976) was MethenyPat MethenyPat Methenyパット・メセニー's debut on ECM, recorded at 21. He chose JacoJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス, then still unknown. This encounter became the starting point for both their careers.

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Jaco Pastorius's albums

Jaco Pastorius's albums

Hejira
Hejira
Joni Mitchell · 1976

Just before joining Weather Report in 1976, Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス appeared on Joni MitchellJoni MitchellJoni Mitchellジョニ・ミッチェル's Hejira. His fretless bass harmonics brought a jazz harmonic sensibility into the folk/pop singer-songwriter's music. The encounter set Mitchell on a path toward collaborations with Charles Mingus and Wayne Shorter, becoming the turning point toward her jazz period.

— Jaco Pastorius and Joni Mitchell — Bass Player Magazine

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Jaco Pastorius's albums

Weather Report album featuring Jaco Pastorius

Heavy Weather
Heavy Weather
Weather Report · 1977

Weather Report (1971–86), co-founded by Wayne ShorterWayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター, released over fifteen albums. Heavy WeatherHeavy WeatherHeavy WeatherWeather Report · 1977 (1977), made after Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス joined, became their commercial pinnacle — its "Birdland" gave jazz-fusion mainstream traction.

— Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, Michelle Mercer, 2004

Jaco Pastorius's albums

On his 1976 solo debut, Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス rewrote the vocabulary of the fretless bass overnight. His solo reading of Donna Lee — full of harmonics and syncopation — declared the bass a melodic instrument.

— Jaco Pastorius (album), Wikipedia, 2024

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Weather Report album featuring Jaco Pastorius

Black Market
Black Market
Weather Report · 1976

Black MarketBlack MarketBlack MarketWeather Report · 1976 was Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス's first studio recording with Weather Report. He appeared on only two tracks — one his own composition "Barbary Coast." But even in this limited debut, his presence signaled the beginning of the band's next era. Heavy Weather would follow.

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Jaco Pastorius's albums

Pat MethenyPat MethenyPat Methenyパット・メセニー chose Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス for his debut album Bright Size Life (1976). "When I played with Jaco, the bass became something completely different." Both were still in their twenties when they recorded it.

— Statement stmt-0010

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"When I played with Jaco, the bass became something completely different" — Metheny on recording Bright Size Life (1976), his debut featuring JacoJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス.

— Statement stmt-0010

"I am the greatest bass player in the world." — A line JacoJaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス repeated to anyone who would listen. Provocation and self-belief at once.

— Statement stmt-jaco-greatest