Famous Musicians Who Remember Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius was a highly technical, very talented, and greatly influential bassist whose legacy still lives on through his music to this day. As part of the 2014 documentary film entitled Jaco on his life and amazing musical career (a documentary film which was co-produced by bassist Robert Trujillo of Metallica), several noteworthy and famous musicians both from the jazz fusion genre and beyond remember Jaco Pastorius. Among these noteworthy musicians were Sting (the frontman of The Police), Al Di Meola (renowned American jazz fusion guitarist), Mike Stern (renowned American jazz guitarist), Flea (Australian and American actor as well as the bassist of Red Hot Chilli Peppers or RHCP for short), Jerry Jemmott (renowned American bass guitarist), Geddy Lee (the bassist of Canadian progressive rock band Rush), Lenny White (renowned American drummer, best known for being a member in Chick Corea’s band Return to Forever during the 1970s), Jonas Hellborg (Swedish bassist), Herbie Hancock (renowned keyboardist and band leader of The Headhunters), or Joni Mitchell (highly talented and technical guitarist and singer).

Jaco was an undeniable influence on many bassists from both the jazz fusion genre and well beyond. The 2014 documentary film Jaco pays homage on Jaco’s great influence in the history of 20th century music, partly through the memories of several famous musicians with whom Jaco himself interacted throughout the passage of time. Below you can take a closer look at how these musicians remembered Jaco Pastorius and what are their thoughts on him and his illustrious musical influence.

Here’s Robert Trujillo, the bassist of Metallica, talking about the influence Jaco Pastorius had on him and how he came up with the idea of making a documentary on his musical hero:

And here’s Flea of Red Hot Chilli Peppers (RHCP) talking about Jaco’s amazing musicianship:

According to legendary keyboardist and band leader Herbie Hancock, Jaco ‘was a perfectionist’ (technique doesn’t grow on trees, one needs to be very focused, very determined, very skilled, and very perseverent to be able to hone his musical skills and work relentlessly on it and that’s what Jaco did, obviously):

Jonas Hellborg on the importance of being a fan and on Jaco Pastorius:

Sting (ex-The Police) on Jaco Pastorius (Sting was a huge fan of him):

Bootsy Collins on emulating Jaco Pastorius:

Former bandmate Alejandro ‘Alex’ Neciosup Acuña (drummer and percussionist) on his times with Jaco Pastorius in the legendary jazz fusion band Weather Report:

Last but not least, here’s the trailer of this great documentary film on highly influential musical superhero Jaco Pastorius:

Documentation sources and external links:

• Jaco – the film on www.jacothefilm.com (where you can also buy the film)
• Jaco – the film YouTube channel on www.youtube.com