Jaco Pastorius was a true bass playing virtuoso and a renewer. Some say hs was the Jimi Hendrix of the bass guitar. He is also yet another musiscian tragedy, like so many others.
He was part of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981, released several albums as a solo artists and a band leader; and cooperated with several other artists, Joni Mitchell and Path Metheny, to name a few. His technique was unique. One of his "innovations was in the use of harmonics" (Wikipedia), which can be heard in several of the examples given here, as well as the "Portrait of Tracy" in my latest Dream Theater post.
EDIT: It seems that what we hear in this video is different from what we see.
His life was turbulent, alchohol, drug use, bipolar disorder and increasingly erratic even antisocial behaviour. He spent much of his last year living on the street after being evicted from his apartment in NY.
On September ''87 he was involved in a fight with the bouncer of a Florida nightclub, after being refused entry. He was hospitalized with numerous facial fractures, fell into a coma and died 10 days later, after a major cerebral hemorrhage. He was 35 years old.
So, a belated RIP to Jaco Pastorius.
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