Jazz Articles about Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius: Portrait of Jaco - The Early Years 1968-1978

by John Kelman
December 17, 2009

Jaco Pastorius Portrait of Jaco: The Early Years 1968-1978 Holiday Park Records 2009

If only every jazz artist had an advocate like label owner/project producer Bob Bobbing. Bass wunderkind Jaco Pastorius seemingly leapt into the jazz scene in 1976 with the quadruple punch of his remarkably mature debut, Jaco Pastorius (Epic), a trio date with guitar-god-in-the-making Pat Metheny on Bright Size Life (ECM), a stunning reinvention of the singer/songwriter space with Joni ...

Jaco Pastorius: Woodchuck and the Upper Hand (1969-1972)

by Bill Milkowski
December 22, 2008

This article appears in Chapter 3 of Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius by Bill Milkwoski (Backbeat Books, 2005). By the fall 1969, Jaco would find out what it was like to run his own band after forming his first group as a leader, an R&B organ trio called Woodchuck. With his good friend Bob Herzog on drums and vocals and local sensation Billy Burke on Hammond B-3 organ, Jaco had put together a ...

Jaco: The Essential & Trio of Doom

by Karen Hogg
December 8, 2007

Jaco Pastorius The Essential Legacy 2007 Trio of Doom Trio of Doom Legacy 2007

Released in September to mark the 20th anniversary of Jaco Pastorius' passing and reminding us that he would have turned a still-young 56 years old this month, The Essential Jaco Pastorius provides an overview of the legendary ...

Jaco Pastorius: Live and Outrageous

by John Kelman
April 16, 2007

Jaco Pastorius Live and Outrageous Shanachie 2007

The reputation of the late Jaco Pastorius is legendary, based as much on his mercurial personality as his groundbreaking bass playing and small but significant repertoire of original music. His declining mental health became increasingly evident following his departure from fusion super group Weather Report, ultimately leading to his tragic demise in 1987. Still, while the bassist was already beginning to show some ...

Jaco Pastorius Big Band: The Word Is Out

by Martin Gladu
August 16, 2006

Tribute albums are a tricky vehicle of expression. Their success depends on the tributary's artistic vision, the quality of the performances, and the value-added content. The Word Is Out, a tribute to the late Jaco Pastorius, is a sequel to the warmly received Word Of Mouth Revisited (Heads Up, 2003), a brilliant record which got support from the jazz community. While Word Is Out somewhat lacks its predecessor's freshness, it does have a few perks.

Directed by Peter Graves, the ...

Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius: Deluxe Edition

by John Kelman
May 5, 2006

Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius: Deluxe Edition Bill Milkwoski Backbeat Books ISBN 0-87930-859-1 2005 In the 1982 film Blade Runner, Tyrel, the man responsible for designing the synthetic humans who are the focus of the story tells one of his aberrant replicants, Roy Batty, “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long—and you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy." The same could be said for the ...

Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius

by Ty Cumbie
January 16, 2006

Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius (10th Anniversary Edition)Bill Milkowski Backbeat Books 2005 Very rarely an exceptional artist emerges, dramatically altering the possibilitites in music. Jaco Pastorius was one of these, as Bill Milkowski's book (updated from the 1995 first edition) on the electric bass phenomenon reveals. Milkowski carefully stiches together documentary fact and oral history (Jaco's twangy voice, plus lots more, can be heard on the companion ...