Jaco Pastorius died twenty-three years ago today, as a result of a beating, and among ‘serious’ music circles he seems strangely un-missed. How could this be?
He has his fans, rabid fans, musicians and listeners at the nexus of jazz, fusion, rock, funk and pop. It’s a big enough group in a small enough nexus. Too small. He gets too little love among jazz musicians, and none at all that I can see from musicians and composers in
contemporary art music, who themselves are admirers of other jazz musicians and Radiohead and Björk. I think one of the problems is Jaco is just too much fun, too much of a joy. That bursting, pervasive joy in making music comes out in every note he plays, it can dominate a situation but is never egocentric. He may seem unserious, like he’s just screwing around (although at a level of virtuosity that would then be truly preternatural). Someone experiencing and producing that much sheerly musical physical and soulful pleasure cannot be making serious music. But what could possibly be more serious, more to the point, more important?
Much of his reputation was made in Weather Report, and that’s another problem. Joe Zawinul, in a memorable Musician magazine interview, stated that the group was “the greatest ******* band in the world, man.” And he was right. But again, they made music too much fun, they had too many of the ‘wrong’ type of fans (fusion mavens, rockers, smooth jazzers), they didn’t swing enough, too many synthesizers, the music was too cold. Wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong. **** it, really, if you can’t hear how great the music is, how human, natural, funky, soulful, then you can’t. If you can, and you have some preconceived notion that prevents you from admitting how much it moves you, then get professional help."
One more for Jaco: "Perhaps they are not stars in the sky, but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy." ~ Eskimo belief
Jaco is a shinning star that continues to be brighter and brighter with each day. He is the gate keeper of the path for all to follow. He opened the gate for all to find their true self's through self expression of Bass Playing. A unique & authentic person that one may only encounter once in a lifetime.
