Here’s both the soundtrack and the documentary of famed but ill-fated bassist Jaco Pastorius. While I titled this review as Jaco being the Beethoven of the bass, the documentary begs to differ, calling Pastorius “The Hendrix” of the electric bass, since he inspired a myriad of bassists, such as Metallica’s RObert Trujillo who put together the two disc dvd.
The first disc is the full length film which chronicles Pastorius’ life,containing reflections and historic points from band members Peter Erskine and Wayne Shorter to thoughts and reflections from Sting, Geddy Lee, Carlos Santana and Herbie Hancock. The musicianship is as inspiring as the sad end of the tale is harrowing. Most notable and telling is the segment when the bedraggled artists is being told, bass in hand, what his thoughts are knowing that he is the master of his field. His only answer is, “Can you get me a gig?”
The second disc features extra interviews and outtakes with Joni Mitchell, Mike Stern, Flea and all the rest who all discuss Pastorius’ contribution to the evolution of the bass as well as material from the 2015 Hollywood Bowl tribute to Jaco Pastorius.
The music covers just about every part and facet of his career, with his sessions ranging from his paradigm shifting solo album to rock and roll with glamour rocker Ian Hunter.
The music on this album is simply inspiring. The major problem with it is that it is difficult to appreciate today how revelatory Pastorius’ approach to the electric bass was back 40 years ago. You might hear a piece like “Teen Town” from his days with Weather Report or “Continuum” from his first solo album and be impressed, but you might think, “I’ve heard things like this before.”
But that’s the point. When Jaco was doing it, NO ONE had done it before. We may say “ho hum” to Beethoven’s 9th with 200 years of music having passed by, but in its day it shook the shingles. Same with the material here; no one knew what to do with his bass solo on “Portrait of Tracy” or what he could do with a funk line during “Barbary Coast.”
There are also pieces with him with Joni Mitchell, as well as tributes from artists ranging from Rodrigo y Gabriela to TechN9ne, with son David Pastorius handling the bass work on the latter. The music, like the artist himself, is sui generis and inspiring.
MVD Visual
www.legacyrecordings.com
Sony Music