From an essay by Andy Rasmussen, student at City College, NY.
"I heard about this guy named Jaco Pastorius who was supposed to be some hot shot bassist. I figured I’d listen to his stuff and pick up some licks, but hot shot bassists generally disappoint me. I don’t like bassists who just play real hard stuff and say, ‘Oh look at what I can do, and on a bass’. The little bassist that could mentality really doesn’t leave much room for making music.
So when I first heard Jaco play, my jaw hit the floor. Here was a guy doing things technically I couldn’t even comprehend and musically I couldn’t imagine. He wasn’t a bassist who could play hard things…he was a force of nature, a virtuoso, a musical genius the like of which comes along only every few centuries. I, honestly, consider him to be in the same musical league of the Mozart, Haydn, Wagner, Charlie Parker and all the others often considered musical geniuses. He had this incredibly rare, unfortunately rare, gift of making every single note he played personable and relatable. He had this incredibly warm personality, every quote you read about him talks about him as this very excitable and energetic kid, and it shows in every note. His playing is brimming with warmth, joy, love, and spirituality. Even on tunes such as “Crisis” where he’s losing control…you can feel for him and relate to him in an intensely personal manner. Listening to his debut album makes you feel like you’ve met your new best friend, listening to his follow up album, Word of Mouth, makes you feel like you’re re-meeting your old high school buddy. Listening to both of those albums, plus every album he ever guested on and hundreds of bootlegged concerts, makes you feel like he’s your brother you’ll never get to meet…and like he’s the one person who really knows you and who you can be completely honest with."
Andy's whole piece will be listed in RELICS under "essays".
