Jaco Pastorius

Bright Size Life

Pat Metheny · 1976

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

Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius · 1976

September 1978, WDR's Rockpalast. The complete Weather Report concert during Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastorius · 1976's tenure, including his solo feature — one of the most important fusion concert films.

— Weather Report — Rockpalast Offenbach 1978, 1978

Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius · 1976

Jaco PastoriusJaco PastoriusJaco Pastorius · 1976 transformed the electric bass when he joined Weather Report in 1976. His singing fretless tone and his approach to bass as a lead melodic voice redefined what the instrument could be.

— Jaco Pastorius - Biography, Britannica, 2024

Hejira

Joni Mitchell · 1976

Just before joining Weather Report in 1976, Jaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス appeared on Joni 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

"I am the greatest bass player in the world."

Jaco repeated this line to bandstands and industry figures. A provocation or self-assertion — both at once.

'When I played with Jaco, the bass became something completely different'

On the recording of Bright Size Life (1976), his debut album featuring Jaco.

Guitar World

Pat Metheny tells the story of how he met Jaco Pastorius

2024-11-11

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Heavy Weather

Weather Report · 1977

Weather Report (1971–86), co-founded by Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター, released over fifteen albums. Heavy WeatherHeavy WeatherWeather Report · 1977 (1977), made after Jaco 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

Bright Size Life

Pat Metheny · 1976

In 1976, the 21-year-old Pat MethenyPat Methenyパット・メセニー recorded his ECM debut Bright Size LifeBright Size LifePat Metheny · 1976 with then-unknown Jaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス on bass — a pivotal moment in both careers.

— Bright Size Life, Wikipedia, 2024

On his 1976 solo debut, Jaco 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

Heavy Weather

Weather Report · 1977

Heavy WeatherHeavy WeatherWeather Report · 1977 (1977) shifted Weather Report's center of gravity after Jaco PastoriusJaco Pastoriusジャコ・パストリアス joined. What anchors Joe ZawinulJoe Zawinulジョー・ザヴィヌル's Birdland is not a bass ostinato but a singing harmonic line.

— Heavy Weather (album), Wikipedia, 2024

'Bass is not the foundation. It is one voice in the conversation'

On his philosophy of what the bass should be in an ensemble.

The jazz club room. Ko is cradling his bass, listening to Donna Lee. A song where you can't figure out what the fingers are doing.