Jaco Pastorius Archives - Page 8

When Kevin sent me this video, I was stunned… such a rare gem and an excellent closeup of Jaco Pastorius performing solo in 1986. This was during one of his gigs with drummer Brian Melvin. I don’t recall many videos of Jaco performing “Chromatic Fantasy”, but this one has to be among the best of the best. (Here’s another, from...

When Felix Pastorius joined the Yellowjackets to fill in for Jimmy Haslip, the move was supposed to be temporary. When Haslip ultimately decided not to return, Pastorius stayed on and went into the studio for the group’s newest album, A Rise In The Road, which came out late last month. But the story is even bigger than that. Felix –...

In 1986, Jaco Pastorius toured Europe in a trio with guitarist Bireli Lagrene and different drummers. While there are recordings out there documenting some of these performances (including this one), videos from that period always seemed highly unlikely – thanks to it being the mid-80’s, when technology was pretty lousy compared with today’s standards. Thankfully someone dragged their video gear...

The Bass Centre is paying tribute to the late great Jaco Pastorius with their new Portrait Bass. Based on their Jive Bass, the latest addition to the Bass Collection range features a lined fretless rosewood fingerboard and Solar Flare finish. The Portrait Bass also comes without a pickguard, similar to how Jaco kept his instruments. The bass’s basswood body is...

Over the years, we’ve been treated to some videos of Weather Report’s 1978 performance in Reading and Washington, Pennsylvania. These videos, shared by Rick Suchow, were filmed by Dr. Fred Erskine, the father of drummer Peter Erskine. As Rick shared previously, “The sound came direct from the front-of-house mix board, engineered by Brian Risner, and my dad was using an...

Among the great tunes on Jaco Pastorius’ self-titled solo debut was “(Used to Be A) Cha-Cha”. His solo is a tricky one, at an upbeat tempo and with Jaco’s trademark melodic and syncopated lines. Here is Jukka Haavisto’s take on his wonderful solo on this track.

We don’t feature a ton of bass play-alongs here, but when Francis Allen shared this one, it was too darn funky to ignore. Here’s Fabienne Gilbert laying it down on Jaco Pastorius’ fun and funky tune, “Come On Come Over”.

When Jaco Pastorius joined Weather Report, they were close to finishing Black Market, which had been recorded up to that point by bassist Alphonso Johnson. Jaco played on two tracks on that album, which included one of his own compositions, “Barbary Coast”. Here’s a live performance early on in Jaco’s tenure with the band, performing that tune at the Montreux...

Thank goodness for the web and for Charles Hoernemann, who shared today’s video with us. Charles said, “The genius of Jaco Pastorius. A very rare footage of a concert around 1985 on Belgian TV. Jaco’s solo starts at 6:43. Enjoy!” Enjoy indeed.

Another gem emerges with a recording of Jaco Pastorius and his early years in Weather Report. As the story goes, Alex Acuña and Manolo Badrena had just finished a killer version of “Rumba Mama” when Jaco jumped in on bass. This all took place at The Roxy in Los Angeles. There’s only one problem with this clip: it is way...

There hasn’t been a single year that Jaco Pastorius hasn’t made the annual reader favorite list, speaking to the continued and long-term impact of the bass legend. In 2012, big news came out: a new Jaco documentary was in the works, financed by Robert Trujillo. 2012 also marked a sad event: the 25th anniversary of Jaco’s passing. We reflected on...

Pablo Elorza has published the second video in his “Deep Into Electric Bass Classics” series of bass lessons with an in-depth look at the popular Jaco Pastorius tune “Continuum.” After playing through the tune, Elorza explains the methods and techniques Pastorius used to create his melodies. The lesson is a great one for any music theory buff as well as...