Jaco Pastorius

You've heard Jaco before on Weather Report's jazz fusion heavy-hitter Heavy Weather and Joni Mitchell masterpiece Hejira, but you ought to hear Jaco on his own terms. Strikingly brilliant and sonically rich in so many ways, Jaco Pastorius reenvisions the electric bass as more than just a supporting rhythm instrument. I am often left in awe at each piece of this album, allowing other instrumentation to move in and out of the frame while the bass cycles from spotlight to support and then back to spotlight. Sometimes Jaco shares the spotlight with other incredible musicians, and other times it's just him. This is one of those albums that truly pushes the boundaries of jazz music in a way that fucks me up. Beautiful from top to bottom. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Too good not to add? Despite being so great on his own, his best-known work primarily resides in his supporting roles. To that end, I think Jaco's self-titled is better suited as a lesser-known gem to discover for those with the gusto to dive deeper. Either way, you've already heard how great he is! Just might not have known it the first time around.

Jaco Pastorius is the debut solo album of "one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time". Most of the songs are great jazz rock tracks with of course fantastic bass guitar licks. "Come On, Come Over" is the odd one out as a funky tracks with vocals.

Amazing bassist. Good stuff.

I absolutely love Jaco Pastorius' bass playing on Joni Mitchell's *Hejira*, and I can also appreciate his input on Weather Report's *Heavy Weather*, even if it's more an acquired taste for me. The sound he draws from his fretless bass is one-of-a-kind, and I most especially enjoy his taste for strumming harmonics out of his instrument. The more virtuosic parts of his artistry go over my head a bit, but I'm familiar with enough different stripes of jazz to follow the bulk of it nonetheless. So it was interesting finally discovering the man's solo output thanks to this eponymous album. The first striking aspect of this LP is probably how totally "non-cohesive" it is -- in the sense that the tones, textures and styles used in there have nothing to do with each other from one track to the next. Which brings its share of shortcomings for me. Second cut "Come On, Come Over", with Sam and Dave, is a somewhat meat-and-potatoes soul-funk song that's way too different from the rest, unfortunately. Same with the moody and meandering closer "Forgotten Love" -- mercifully short, and exclusively using a grand piano and a string orchestra -- on another musical extremity. The pivotal places those two underwhelming cuts occupy in the tracklist are detrimental to its flow and impact for me. Yet the rest is more to my taste. Most of the LP indeed follows two main threads: on the one hand, there are jazz-fusion jams displaying warm and even tropical tones (flutes, percussion, the uncanny steel drums used for the very nice "Opus Pocus", a more lively strings section on "Kuru / Speak Like a Child", co-written with Herbie Hancock...). And then there's 100% minimalistic stuff, subtle and soft-sounding, with Jacob playing alone at times, or with a very small number of other musicians. That strand is represented by the opener "Donna Lee" and album centerpiece "Continuum", by the very sweet harmonics within "Portrait of Tracy", and most especially by the cinematic "Okonkolé Y Trompa", which is a hypnotic delight thanks to its bass-congas-french-horn combination -- complex, simple and illuminating all at the same time. I can see myself returning to this album for this last strand of experimental, minimalistic jazz, because this is where Jaco's artistry feels both the most distinctive and the most straightforward for me. Yet maybe the lack of cohesion elsewhere will get on my nerves a little after a while, who knows? That said, "jazz virtuoso" albums don't necessarily have to follow the rules I ascribe to other music genres in that format. Pastorius was the sort of adventurous player that could probably redeem his weird, unruly stylistic choices through the sheer force of his musicianship. Some artists are way too extravagant AND way talented to be shoehorned in a little box anyway. And Jaco Pastorius was most certainly one of them. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes. ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 75 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 92 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 182 ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham

this is amazing 5

Didn't this guy kill his wife? Anyways this frog-looking feller is an absolute genius, this is pure heat from start to finish. Snapping my fingers and slapping my thigh to this currently. Bass sounds very good.

A bassheavy funk/jazz album? Wow! This warrants a couple more listens but I enjoyed this tremendously.

A stone cold classic. A diverse exhibition of Jaco’s artistey. And so much bass exellence

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Come on come over, Used to be a cha-cha

This was some nice 70s jazz with good variety to keep it interesting. The usual sax, steel drum song Opus Pocus… a lot to like here.

The bass GOAT. What a shame what could have been had he (and a security guard) not made a series of very poor choices one evening that led to his very early death. Robbed us of some amazing music that we'll never hear.

This is so cool. The skill and momentum and energy

I enjoyed this one a lot. Very easy to listen to.

I really enjoyed that.

He was really talented.

Ok this was real nice

Love a bit of jazz and a good bass line. This guy seems the master of both.

my jazzy dude can cook

I was unaware of this super-bassist and his interesting life. Cool jazz great bass

This is one that I've had for a long time on vinyl, but it's been several years since I revisited it. I feel the same that I ever did. The Sam and Dave song is a banger. Jaco is a true master of his instrument, and this album deserves recognition just for showing so many bassists from future generations what was possible. At the same time, it occasionally feels like endless guitar solos, but worse because it's a bass. Still, it's an important album, and I rate it thusly 4/5

Jaco was one of the first bassist I learned about from my bass teacher years ago. Really cool the different techniques he mastered with the bass, and helped change how the instrument is used in music today. Also everybody loves a good lead bass line

Pastorius played the bass like a fiend. It really makes you wonder if he would have been as influential and iconic if he had access to the treatments available today.

One for the bass players! Jaco remains an absolute legend and an inspiration for bassists everywhere, great to see his work make it onto the user list. This is overall a great collection of his work, and showcases the creative use of chords/harmonics + unbelievable compositional skills that defined his all too brief career. Gets a bit noodley and self-involved at points, but an exceptional listen at the end of the day. Many thanks for putting this one on people's radars, I'm sure this LP will get its fair share of hate from the less informed but I'm happy it's here. Someone should add some Weather Report on here next.

Jazz I would put up on the background

The ultimate toll exacted on so many young stars of Rock and Roll is legendary, but man - jazz gives it a run for its money. Sad tale on this guy. The music.. virtuoso to be sure, but a lot of it is a side of Jazz I find difficult. To me it just feels like frenetic noodling improv. Listening was kind of exhausting.

Enjoyable

A lot more adventurous, funky and experimental than i expected. Given how prominent the bass plays in the tracks, it is really a cool showcase of the instrument and what Jaco can do. I can appreciate it from an observer standpoint way more than trying to listen and enjoy, as it becomes a bit exhausting at times (especially Kuru).

Ah Jazz. Let me interpolate all the missing pieces. It's not too bad to listen to. The musicians are all clearly very good at their craft. Much better than a few albums from now.

This guy looks really annoying. I'm gonna guess this will be artsy jazz? Or maybe early electronica? Oh yeah straight away, hit right in the face with the jazz bat. Surely this isn't going to be the whole thing... bongos and bass guitar? Ok thankfully it wasn't the whole thing. It got pretty funky in places, but it was still mostly jazz bass. I dunno, I didn't like it but it doesn't deserve low marks. 3/5.

A bit heavy on the meandering bass solos, but overall a nice listen. Totally beside the point, but does his cover photo remind anyone else of Chris Kattan from Saturday Night Live? 3 stars.

It was only a matter of time before someone on the users' list shared an example of some virtuosity in an instrument (the bass in this case). I feel compelled to please it, as it’s quite different from my usual preferences, and it's one of the enjoyable aspects of being part of this list. However, I must admit that I didn't particularly like it.

Omg. Loving the Speak Like a Child. I’m adding this to my background music for reading. I have to read a bunch of technical manuals, which is horrible. But having background music chills me out some. Thanks for your submission

Bass showcase album. Some nice sunny day jazz, overall

Jazz fusion, post-bop, funk. Ni fu ni fa.

I respect this for what it is but I didn't really enjoy it. I don't think I'm smart enough for it.

Famously a "Musician's musician" so a big part of this is definitely flying past my head on account of not being a bass player, but it's still a funky and fun listen. Legendary backstory as well. Terrible shame it was cut so short. Also is it just me or does he look like that "Ever dream this Man?" face on the album cover.

Well thats some showy noodly nonsense. Fun though.

The gold standard for jazz bass guitar, but I like Weather Report better, those albums are more coherent and the compositions more interesting.

Boring Spanish bass jazz

What an awful start to a Monday.

I just can't do jazz. I find it such hard work.

Didn’t need this first thing Monday morning, especially my first day on a new job. But hey, we move.

Jaco Pastorius. Weird, whimsical, folksy jazz-adjacent, not my thing, 2/5.

Wtf. This album should be an example to all artists of how not to start an album. The 1st track was instantly aggravating and soured the rest of the album.