For
jazz, the 1970s were the best of times and the worst of times. Fusion super
groups like Weather Report and Return to Forever were selling out stadiums, but
great swing and bop musicians found themselves professionally marginalized.
Jaco Pastorius was a big part of that story. For bass players, he was the
story. Regardless of what you thought of Weather Report’s style, there was no
denying his ferocious technique. Sadly, he met a premature end, just like too
many other jazz legends before him. Paul Marchand & Stephen Kijak survey
Pastorius’s life and legacy in the simply but aptly titled Jaco (trailer
here),
which releases today on DVD with a full second disk of additional, high quality
interviews.
Early
in Jaco, Juan Alderete of the Mars
Volta refers to Pastorius as bass players’ “Hendrix” and it is easy to see why.
Pastorius even did his own solo rendition of “America the Beautiful”—on the
Fender bass. He is one of the few jazz musicians who is often referred to
solely by his first name, like Miles or Duke. Granted, Jaco is a somewhat
distinctive alternative to Jack or John Francis Pastorius, as he born, but he
truly made a name for himself taking jazz to its funkiest limits.
Pastorius’s
formative years were spent in Florida, where he picked up all forms of music,
including the rhythms he heard on Cuban radio. One of the cool things about Jaco the documentary is the credit it
gives to the Florida music scene at the time, including diverse artists like Anglo
R&B road warrior Wayne Cochran and Algerian-born jazz pianist Alex Darqui.
Just about everyone hired Pastorius, because he was that good. However,
Pastorius returned the favor, bringing a number of his FL colleagues up to New
York to play spots on his debut record for Epic.
Despite
his widely hailed debut, Pastorius’s popularity really exploded during his
stint with Weather Report. It was already one of the biggest super group before
he joined, but he took them to an unheard of level for jazz. Alphonso Johnson, Pastorius’s
predecessor in the band, is quite a gracious good sport talking about the
moment when he realized Joe Zawinul (the unofficial, first-among-equals
bandleader) had eyes to replace him with Jaco. However, some of the most honest
and revealing reminiscences come from drummer Peter Erskine, who joined shortly
after Pastorius.
In
fact, the interview segments throughout Jaco
are unusually insightful and often deeply personal. It must have been a
difficult process choosing what to include for the documentary, because there
is not a lot of filler in the supplementary DVD. In one case, Joni Mitchell
tells an anecdote that is more about Wayne Shorter than Pastorius, but Weather
Report fans should find it equally interesting. It is also nice to hear Al Di
Meola fondly remember time spent with Zawinul when his band was on tour with
Weather Report, because the Austrian keyboardist comes across as somewhat
mean-spirited in the doc proper.
In
many ways, Pastorius’s story is the oldest one of jazz. He had enormous talent,
but also terrible demons to wrestle with. Yet, it was not the drugs and mental
health problems that killed Pastorius, but a club owner named Luc Havan, who
served four excruciatingly long months for beating to death one of the most
innovative bassists of all time, or as Pastorius’ widow Ingrid observed: “one
month for each child he left fatherless.” However, Marchand & Kijak (perhaps
wisely) prefer to celebrate his gifts rather than to stoke resentment over his
untimely end.
If
you watch Jaco the documentary and
the additional footage, you will understand just how much Pastorius
revolutionized music. Jazz fans that still don’t appreciate Joni Mitchell might
finally start to get her after hearing how she related to musicians like
Pastorius and Shorter. Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) will also surprise
viewers with his jazz hipness, earning extra style points for the Thelonius
Monk t-shirt. Likewise, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo is just as eloquent
speaking of Pastorius and also helped bring the film together by serving as
producer.