Transcript:
0:00: This is Evan Mitchell from Bonus Tracks, and today I’m going to talk about Jaco Pastorius.
0:07: He is one of the most technically skilled and most grooving bassists of the middle period of jazz.
0:12: The king of jazz fusion bass, Jaco Pastorius, is certainly an interesting character.
0:22: Jaco Pastorius was originally a drummer until when he was 13, he hurt his wrist in the midst of a football game.
0:29: He took a long break from music until age 17 when he purchased an upright bass.
0:34: After a few years of playing, he wanted more volume, so he bought a 1963 Fender Jazz bass.
0:40: However, the feeling wasn’t the same, so he eventually grabbed a knife from the kitchen cabinet and ripped off the metal frets with his own two hands and filled them up with resin.
0:49: Thus creating the first ever popular fretless space.
0:57: For a short time he played with a band called Weather Report and had some standout songs on their second album Heavy Weather, he was certainly their biggest, starting with Birdland.
1:08: It’s a classic song with a catch you hook and killer use of artificial harmonics on the bass.
1:13: A surreal experience that sounds like it can just encapsulate you in a bubble of groove.
1:21: The instinctive jive and head bopping that can’t be taught by any other bassist at the time is signature Jaco.
1:29: The way that the group trades with Pastorius, it’s amazing.
1:33: It’s like Louis Armstrong crossed with synths.
1:36: The way that the base ebbs and flows into the limelight is just spectacular.
1:47: Teen Town It’s a basillicious masterpiece.
2:01: A song that’s almost completely a bass solo, but don’t think that it’s just only bass.
2:07: All of the instruments are interwoven with another and mingle in a way that feels magical.
2:12: Technical skill required to attempt to play it at all is astounding.
2:18: But that was only part of his career.
2:20: When he was recording his second solo album, he had a few standout songs that were very distinct, Donna Lee, Come On, Come Over, and Portrait of Tracy.
2:38: This is not an original piece of Jaco’s, however, this is an interpretation of a jazz classic standard by Charlie Parker or Miles Davis, depending on who you ask, but that’s a story for another day.
2:50: This is not a story about authorship.
2:51: This is about Jaco and the way he adapted it.
2:54: Instead of having a typical jazz layout of multiple people playing the melody, a pianist accompanying the melody and a drummer providing the backbone, Jaco kept it simple bass and bongos.
3:06: That’s all it was and all it needed to be.
3:08: Jaco broke the mold and played it in a way where he could use melodic and harmonic freedom to his advantage.
3:14: Throughout the tune you can hear him playing chords, using special techniques, and changing the key whenever he feels like it.
3:26: In stark contrast to this, we have Come on Come over, a big band rhythm and blues track featuring jazz piano icon Herbie Hancock.
3:32: This tune to me feels larger than life in a way.
3:35: The trading vocals and saxophones playing in the background, the keyboard rhythm and the iconic bass riff.
3:46: After that, the field switches to pure funky delight with the bass playing straight 8th notes in the horn backgrounds coming in.
3:53: This is art in its purest form.
4:09: Here’s a Portrait of Tracy, and only bass ballad, a haunting piece with these of heavy dissonance, repetition, and tension and release.
4:20: This song is everything you want in a slow, beautiful melodic song.
4:31: I’m Evan Mitchell, and this is Bonus Tracks.
4:36: To hear more, visit bonus tracks program page at KXCI.org.
Music credits:
Teen Town by the Weather Report 1977 from the album “Heavy Weather” Sony Music duration 0:34
4 AM by Herbie Hancock 1980 from the album “Mr. Hands” Sony Music duration 0:16
Birdland by the Weather Report 1977 from the album “Heavy Weather” Sony Music duration 0:45
Teen Town by the Weather Report 1977 from the album “Heavy Weather” Sony Music duration 0:27
Donna Lee by Jaco Pastorius 1976 from the album “Jaco Pastorius” Sony Music duration 0:56
Come On Come Over by Jaco Pastorius 1976 from the album “Jaco Pastorius” Sony Music duration 0:20
Come On Come Over by Jaco Pastorius 1976 from the album “Jaco Pastorius” Sony Music duration 0:14
Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius 1976 from the album “Jaco Pastorius” Sony Music duration 0:35
