JACO PASTORIUS — Jaco Pastorius (review)

JACO PASTORIUS — Jaco Pastorius album cover

Album · 1976 · Fusion

5/5 · 2025-04-27
FunkFreak75

The first solo studio album produced of the legendary bass innovator's performances of his own compositions. When one takes into consideration the young master's "tender" age of 25 on this record, one can begin to contemplate what the world was being exposed to.

1. "Donna Lee" (2:26) Jaco takes on this Charlie Parker song with solo bass and Don Alias' congas acting as his lone support instrument! The man was a genius! What imagination! What even flow! (4.625/5)

2. "Come On, Come Over" (3:50) full R&B funk: complete with vocals (from no less than Sam & Dave!), active multi-part horn section, and bouncy rhythm guitar-sounding clavinets and other electronic keybaords from no less than the one and only Herbie Hancock. A great tune! I'm very surprised I'd never heard this one before. (9.25/10)

3. "Continuum" (4:31) using Stevie Wonder's melody lines from his 1972 hit "Superwoman" as well as similar Fender Rhodes support from Alex Darqui, Jaco expresses himself quite eloquently, even romantically. Lenny White's drums are suspiciously muted/compressed on the high end--maybe to let the harmonics of Jaco's play stand out or to let Herbie Hancock's electric piano sound shine. (9/10)

4. "Kuru / Speak Like A Child" (7:38) strings open this announcing a dynamic adventure into James-Bond-like cinematic music. Herbie Hancock's piano play is given the first solo while Jaco, Don Alias, and Bobby Economou hold down the rhythm track. Strings only make appearances in the first two minutes as minor accents or breaks between solos, but then in the third minute they're given a rather central place for over a minute with Herbie performing the role of providing accents. At the very end of the fourth minute there is an exciting sped up bridge with Jaco and Herbie momentarily displaying something extra, but then this moves into a more lounge-jazz-like section in which Herbie's piano performs At 5:20 the music speeds up again as the strings re-enter and take over the lead again: slowing and smoothing things out until the next sped up section (which starts at 6:10 and lasts for over a minute). Weird to hear Jaco serving only as a rhythmatist and Herbie and the strings occupying 100% of the solo/front time! (13.5/15)

5. "Portrait Of Tracy" (2:20) gorgeous and mind-blowing solo electric bass. The man was a mind-blowing genius! How can a bass create such a lovely melody by using only harmonics? (4.75/5)

6. "Opus Pocus" (5:25) two steel drums players performing with Jaco, Don Alias and Lenny White holding down a spacious low end while Wayne Shorter takes on the lead with his soprano saxophone. In the third minute Lenny and the steel drummers finally regulate themselves with a forward moving albeit still rather slow groove as Jaco, Wayne, Herbie Hancock's Fender Rhodes, and the steel drums take off each in their own directions. I love how well they five play off of each other while still remaining loyal to the foundational groove and melody line. (9/10)

7. "Okonkole'y Trompa" (4:21) A song co-composed with percussionist Don Alias, the two take off on a hypnotic journey into African rhythmic minimalism (with Jaco only using bass harmonics for his contribution to the weave)--all the while French horn player Peter Gordon provides a kind of distant future-MARK ISHAM-like dirge. Brilliant! Maybe I've been giving too much credit to KING CRIMSON for their "ground-breaking" polyrhythmic song "Discipline"--which won't reach the public's ears until 1981! (9.75/10)

8. "Used To Be A Cha-cha" (8:52) this Latin groove comes across as something light and upbeat--like a Chick Corea song--as the acoustic jazz instrumentalists contribute more traditional-sounding (albeit, Latin-infused) jazz structure and solos to the top. Hubert Laws' piccolo flute, Herbie Hancock's impeccable piano play, Lenny White's masterful drum play, and Don Alias' fearless percussion play all serve immeasurably to help Jaco express this one: a song for the ages. I'm sure this one has been studied and copied and practiced with by anyone who wants to be anything. Just, Wow! They're all working so hard, I hope they were having fun, too! (19/20)

9. "Forgotten Love" (2:12) just Herbie's piano chord play with support of full strings and Jaco's simple support on bass. Very surprising to see that Jaco is the sole author of this composition. A beautiful study in odd chord progressions. (4.75/5)

Total time 41:35

I remember picking this album up while I was in college (late 1970s) and having great trouble connecting with anything in it. (My young and inexperienced ears and brain were not yet able to comprehend what I was hearing.) Now I finally am able to appreciate--with gratitude--(some) of the genius being put on display for the world to see/hear with this album. It's a humbling yet inspiring. We are so fortunate to have had this man and his talents on the planet--and to have some of his performances and compositions preserved for posterity!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of stunning performances rendered of ground-breaking compositions and ideation. Highly recommended: but only when you're ready to receive ideas and performances well out of the basket of comfort and "normalcy."