Acrpost: A Project of the Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres

Event Description

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius was a Finnish-American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged for his virtuosity of the fretless bass, as well as his command of varied music styles. He is considered by many people to be the greatest bass player of all time.

His playing style was noteworthy for containing intricate solos in the higher register. His unique innovations also included the use of harmonics and the "singing" quality of his melodies.

Pastorius was most identified by his use of two well-worn Fender Jazz Basses from the early 60's. Even though he played both the fretted and fretless basses frequently, he preferred the fretless, he felt the frets were a hindrance, once calling them "speed bumps".

In the early to mid 80's, Pastorius began to experience increasingly prevalent mental health problems, worsened by heavy drug and alcohol abuse this led to his death in Sept 1987.

Sean Drabitt bass
Josh Dixon drums
Brent Jarvis piano
Roy Styffe saxophone