Jaco Pastorius - JazzPoint Records Releases Collection (1998) 3 x 2CD Sets

Jaco Pastorius was a meteor who blazed on to the scene in the 1970s, only to flame out tragically in the 1980s. With a brilliantly fleet technique and fertile melodic imagination, Pastorius made his fretless electric bass leap out from the depths of the rhythm section into the front line with fluid machine-gun-like passages that demanded attention. He also sported a strutting, dancing, flamboyant performing style and posed a further triple-threat as a talented composer, arranger and producer. He and Stanley Clarke were the towering influences on their instrument in the 1970s.

Born in Pennsylvania, Pastorius grew up in Fort Lauderdale, where he played with visiting R&B and pop acts while still a teenager and built a reputation as a local legend. Everything started to come together for him quickly once he started playing with another rookie fusionmeister, Pat Metheny, around 1974. By 1976, he had been invited to join Weather Report, where he remained until 1981, gradually becoming a third lead voice along with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. Outside Weather Report, he found himself in constant demand as a sessionman and producer, playing on Joni Mitchell, Blood Sweat and Tears, Paul Bley, Bireli Lagrene and Ira Sullivan albums – and his first eponymous solo album for Epic in 1976 was hailed as a tour de force. From 1980 to 1984, he toured and recorded with his own band, the innovative Word of Mouth that fluctuated in size from a large combo to a big band.

Alas, Pastorius became overwhelmed by mental problems, exacerbated by drugs and alcohol in the mid-'80s, leading to several embarrassing public incidents (one was a violent crack-up on-stage at the Hollywood Bowl in mid-set at the 1984 Playboy Jazz Festival). Such episodes made him a pariah in the music business and toward the end of his life, he had become a street person, reportedly sighted in drug-infested inner-city hangouts. He died in 1987 from a physical beating sustained while trying to break into the Midnight Club in Fort Lauderdale. Almost totally forgotten at the time of his death, Pastorius was immediately canonized afterward (Marcus Miller wrote a tune "Mr. Pastorius" in his honor, as have many others over the years).

Richard S. Ginell, Allmusic.com

Jazzpoint released this two-disc set in 1999 as a way to, again, capitalize on the Jaco Pastorius name. Although never intended for release, the music on Broadway Blues & Teresa is, admittedly, exceptionally packaged and features fine sound quality and impressive turns by the trio of Pastorius, Bireli Lagrene, and Peter Lubke.

The recordings are taken from the Stuttgart Aria studio sessions (March 1986) and from Pastorius' four-track home recordings made during his stay in Germany (March-December 1986). Disc one, Broadway Blues (BB), consists of different renditions of compositions that appear on Stuttgart Aria and the live Heavy 'n Jazz. Stuttgart features keys and synth; BB does not, and it is their absence that makes BB such an appealing recording – it is firmly rooted in jazz fusion, whereas the electric synthetics of Stuttgart create a levity that nearly places the project in the pop-jazz category.

Bireli Lagrene, a superior, rapid-fire improviser, is impressive throughout. "Bluma," the opening cut on BB, finds Lagrene playing Eddie Van Halen-style better than Eddie himself. The piece is reminiscent of Lagrene's fiery "Improv No. 1" on Live in Italy. Pastorius yells, "That's the sh*t right there – Eddie Van Halen. Turn it up!" A nice touch, Jazzpoint made a good decision in not editing all of Pastorius' voice out of the mix. He talks throughout the recording process, in between many of the tracks, generating a subtle but pleasant intimacy with the listener.

Disc two, titled Teresa: Documentation of a Work Process, features three tracks representing an evolution of Pastorius' "Teresa" composition. Pastorius plays piano and bass, but "Teresa" is akin to a slow waltz, and the composition's evolution becomes rather tedious after awhile. Since the most refined rendition of "Teresa" appears on the first disc, the second CD seems more like a supplemental bonus that really doesn't strengthen the two-disc project. Broadway Blues & Teresa is presented in impressive digipak packaging, available only as a German import.

Review by David Ross Smith, Allmusic.com

Heavy 'n Jazz is the last live Jaco Pastorius performance currently available to the public, and is one of the most truly satisfying of his trio recordings. The album is heavy, as the title suggests, thanks to a powerful trio fronted by guitarist extraordinaire Bireli Lagrene displaying his fiercest rock chops. A fast-paced outing with more rock inflection than usual, the compact disc boasts very good sound quality. The performances contrast nicely with Pastorius' live jazz recordings with the Word of Mouth big band (Invitation, The Birthday Concert), particularly the cooker "Reza," which appears on all three CDs in vastly different presentations. Every cut on Heavy 'n Jazz is a gem. Of particular interest are Lagrene's solo piece, "Bluma," and his aggressive guitar work on the exciting, soaring "Medley," featuring "Teen Town." Pastorius' playing on "Star Spangled Banner" is at once terrifying and beautiful, while "Honestly" affords him a chance to play the hits – a collage of some of his oft-played riffs from well known Pastorius/Weather Report compositions. Heavy 'n Jazz is a must for Jaco-philes, however, jazz purists be warned.

Review by David Ross Smith, Allmusic.com

Recorded during a late tour of Europe, Live in Italy features a trio comprised of Pastorius, guitarist Bireli Lagrene, and drummer Tomas Böröcz. This was the last band that Pastorius played with regularly. In terms of the pure electricity of ideas and fluidity of movement from one phase of a tune to the next, from improvisation to arranged chart, this band was the equal of the trio the artist played in with Pat Metheny and Bob Moses. But this band has a way different vibe: this is a rock band that plays jazz. Lagrene is an improviser who is as versed in heavy metal and the blues as he is in the licks of Charlie Byrd and Wes Montgomery – as evidenced in the opening "Improvisation #1," which gives way seamlessly to "Teen Town." Lagrene moves from Steve Vai/Eddie Van Halen hammer-ons to riffing from Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" to playing augmented jazz riff chords worthy of both Montgomery and Jim Hall. The ensuing improvisation and "Teen Town," riff moves Pastorius and Lagrene in to counterpoint with each other and Böröcz playing in between Jaco's accents. The funk groove is deep and wide, and the flow of ideas is fast and furious. On the band's cover of "I Shot the Sheriff," Pastorius leads the melodic line while playing the bassline simultaneously to introduce the cut before Lagrene slips in behind Böröcz to vamp the lyric line extemporaneously and soulfully. Again, the funk simpatico between the Pastorius/Böröcz team is greasy and phat. The wide variety of styles these cats play – often in a single cut – is stunning. After the Marley jam comes a gorgeous improv by Pastorius, which leads into Buster Brown's "Fannie Mae," which has Lagrene voicing from Albert and Freddie King, as well as J.B. Lenior. The set ends with a killer, out-for-blood read of "Black Market" and an elegantly soulful, wistfully lyrical take on the Ellington/Mercer/Strayhorn classic "Satin Doll." Both soloists create a deeply moving emotional tapestry in a gentle swing and bluesy vamp in their respective breaks. Of the live postmortem sets out there by this artist, this is only one of two – the other is Heavy 'n Jazz, also on Jazzpoint – that has the recorded sound to match the performance.

Honesty is a compiled disc of Pastorius' solo performances while on tour with guitarist Bireli Lagrene and drummer Tomas Böröcz in Europe on his last run through the continent before dying in Florida the next year. This set, consisting entirely of Pastorius solos, sounds excessive – it is. There is no other recording remotely like it. But it's not for bass players only; in fact, as music, it stands up just fine, but, more importantly, it showcases just how restless, musical, and enigmatic a bassist Pastorius was. Each selection is numbered as a part, and each one showcases at least one or two of the artist's major styles of playing, in specific genres, and within them are three or four others whispering, shouting, or just presenting themselves to the listener. Utilizing melody, harmony (and the wildest use of natural and artificial harmonics anybody's ever employed), and rhythm simultaneously, Pastorius guides the listener on a journey through rock & roll ("Part 10"), the well oiled jazz player ("Parts 2 & 3"), the deep blues and R&B gut bucket funker in "Part 7," or the sad, lonely guy in "Part 7." Within these sections there are any number of songs, half remembered melodies, lyrical phrases, and themes and variations upon them, that reveals the deep influence of both pianists and saxophonists on his playing style. For example, while quoting from Weather Report's "Boogie Woogie Waltz" he moves off into Bach's "Chromatic Fantasy," "Surrey With the Fringe on Top," and even "Stardust" before slamming out the back door with "At Minton's." Elsewhere, long quotations from Jimi Hendrix give way to "Norwegian Wood," "The Thrill Is Gone," Dexter Gordon's "Go," and Freddie Redd's "The Connection"; there just isn't a dull moment. In all, it doesn't get much better. As revisionist history begins to settle in, and critics and fans alike try to re-evaluate Pastorius' live presence and ability, and he's either discredited or blown out of all proportion, it's nice to know there is an historical record of his worth as a solo instrumentalist and improviser. His was clearly the watermark to beat – musically, technically, and emotionally – and probably still is.

Review by Thom Jurek, Allmusic.com