"Jaco" was born John Francis Pastorius III, the first of three sons born to John Francis Pastorius II and Stephanie Katherine Haapala Pastorius. He had Finnish, German, Swedish, and Irish ancestry.

If only every jazz artist had an advocate like label owner/project producer Bob Bobbing. Bass wunderkind Jaco Pastorius seemingly leapt into the jazz scene in 1976 with the quadruple punch of his ...

A transcript of the first meeting between Joe Zawinul, keyboardist/leader of the jazz fusion group Weather Report, and a young player. Young Man: My name is John Francis Pastorius III, and I’m the ...

Many days this past summer, Jaco Pastorius stalked the grounds of Ft. Lauderdale`s Holiday Park like a desperate hunter. Basketball under one arm, a copy of his old group Weather Report`s ”8:30” album ...

Before he was recognized as a culture-changing, once-in-a-lifetime artist, before the comparisons to Picasso and Michael Jordan, before the world tours with Weather Report, before Miles Davis wrote a ...

It seems inevitable that no matter how brilliant an artist, the specter of an untimely death always hangs heavy over any and all accomplishments. Take Janis, Jimi, and Kurt, for example — each was an ...

On Friday night, the spirit of the late Jaco Pastorius will be conjured as if in a séance upon the very same stage where Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar 48 years ago. That’s significant because in the ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty Images If there’s one attribute shared by truly great artists ...