Jaco Pastorius, Essay Example

Jaco Pastorius and the Word of Mouth Big Band: Live and OutrageousMontreal Jazz Festival 1982

Jaco Pastorius was a bass player who played jazz and jazz fusion. Pastorius passed away in 1987, after suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues. In his prime he was a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report, and after leaving that group he formed his own bands and played original compositions and covers of other songs (Kelman, 2007). This concert was filmed at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 1982, and features Peter Erskine and Othello Molineaux on drums, Randy Brecker on trumpet, and Don Alias on percussion.

After viewing several different concerts on YouTube I chose this one because I liked the beats and rhythms. As I listened and watched the performance, I considered how different it was from watching and listening to a classical music concert. In the performance by Pastorius and his band, the melody lines are more prominent, such as when the saxophonist or the piano player is playing a solo, while the other performers play parts that support the soloist and let him shine. In the classical performances I have heard, there are often melodies and harmonies being played at the same time, and the music has many layers to it. The music from Pastorius and his band seems more open and loose, and I could easily hear what every player was doing.

Pastorius played an electric bass guitar, and was featured prominently throughout the performance. The music was mostly upbeat and had grooves that would be appropriate for dancing. This was almost the reverse of classical music, where the focus is on the instruments and the drums and percussion are mostly used to accent the rhythms. While some jazz music is improvised, it sounded to me as if most of this performance was structured, and the only improvising was when one of the performers played a solo while the rest of the band held down the groove. Most of the concert was instrumental, but Pastorius sang on the song “Fanny Mae,” and he had surprisingly deep, soulful voice. There were many parts where the saxophonist and trumpeter played parts together, and it was clear that they had rehearsed and knew those parts very well. None of the players had sheet music, so I imagine it must take a fair amount of time to learn all the songs. Watching this gave me a new appreciation for the variety of styles and sounds that falls into the category of “jazz.”

Works cited

Kelman, John. ‘Jaco Pastorius: Live And Outrageous’. All About Jazz. N. p., 2007. Web. 27 Jul. 2014.

YouTube,. ‘Jaco Pastorius – Live At Montreal Jazz Festival (1982) [FULL CONCERT]’. N. p., 2014. Web. 28 Jul. 2014.