John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, was a U.S. jazz musician, composer, and pianist. He was well-known for his ability to play the electric bass and his mastery of many musical styles, including jazz, jazz fusion and jazz-funk. His playing style was notable for its intricate solos in higher registers. His innovations included the use harmonics and the “singing” quality of his melodies on fretless basses. Inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame as a bassist in 1988, he was one of four (the other being Charles Mingus and Milt Hinton) and the only electric bassesist to have this honor. Jaco was the first child of John Francis Pastorius II (Norristown), Pennsylvania) and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius (Staffius). Pastorius was of Finnish and German ancestry. Pastorius, John Caputo, and Dean Noel formed the first band The Sonics. He attended Northeast High School in Oakland Park. He was an athlete who excelled in basketball, football and baseball. He also took up music early on. At his confirmation, he was given the name Anthony. He enjoyed basketball and would often watch it with his dad. Pastorius’ nickname was inspired by his love for sports and the umpire Jocko Konlan. After Alex Darqui, a pianist, sent him a note, Pastorius changed the spelling to “Jocko” and made it “Jaco”. Darqui, a Frenchman, assumed that the name was spelled Jaco; Pastorius liked it. Jaco also had a second nickname. This was given to him by Gregory, his younger brother: “Mowgli”, in honor of the wild young boy Rudyard Kipling wrote about in The Jungle Book. Gregory gave Jaco the nickname to refer to Jaco’s seemingly endless energy when he was a child. Jaco would eventually establish Mowgli Music, his music publishing company. He was an associate professor of music at University of Miami in 1973. Pastorius began his musical career as an amateur drummer, following in the footsteps his father Jack, who was a stand-up drummer. However, Pastorius broke his wrist playing football when he was 13. His wrist broke so badly that calcium built up and needed to be corrected. He was unable to properly hit the snare drum again after that. He was part of a nine-piece horn group called Las Olas Brass, which covered the popular music of the day by Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett. He was unable to play drums and decided to take over the position left by the deceased bass player. Pastorius began to become more interested in jazz and eventually became a keen player of the double bass. Pastorius spent a lot of money to buy a double basse, but the instrument was not able to withstand the Florida humidity. His double bass broke down in pieces one morning. He decided that replacing it would be too costly so he removed the frets from his Fender and filled the fret holes in with wood putty. Then he coated the fingerboard with marine varnish. He played music all through his childhood, drawing from the likes of Jerry Jemmott and James Jamerson as well as Harvey Brooks and Tommy Cogbill. He also continued to learn and improve his songwriting skills in bands such as Wayne Cochran or The C.C. Riders. He was also a member of various local rhythm andblues and jazz records, such as Little Beaver, Ira Sullivan’s Quintet and Woodchuck. He began playing jazz with Pat Metheny, his friend. They recorded together with Paul Bley, Bruce Ditmas, and Bob Moses, as leaders. Bright Size Life, a trio album by Metheny and Jaco was recorded on the ECM label. Pastorius met Bobby Colomby, the Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer, in 1975. He had been given permission by CBS records to “find new talent” for their jazz section. Jaco Pastorius (1976) was Pastorius’ debut album. It was produced by Colomby. This album is widely considered to be the best ever recorded on bass and was widely praised by jazz critics when it hit the jazz scene. It also featured a stellar backing band of jazz heavyweights at the time, which included Wayne Shorter and Wayne Sanborn, Lenny White, Don Alias, Lenny White, Don Alias and Michael Brecker. Even R.
