I had an upright - it took me years and years to get enough bread to get it. I'm from Florida, so one morning I woke up, go in the corner, and the bass is in a hundred pieces 'cause the humidity is so bad. I mean, the upright just blew up. I said, 'Forget it, man. I can't afford this anymore.'

Jaco Pastorius

Categorized in : Man Me Forget Morning

Music is the only thing keeping the planet together

Jaco Pastorius

planets music-is together

Music is in the air; it's my job to pull it out.

Jaco Pastorius

music-is air jobs

I'm not a star. I'll never be a Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley or a Ray Charles. I'm just an imitator, man. I'm doing a very bad imitation on the bass of Jerry Jemmott, Bernard Odum, Jimmy Fielder, Jimmy Blanton, Igor Stravinsky, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, James Brown, Charlie Parker... the cats, man. I'm just backing up the cats.

Jaco Pastorius

cat stars men

A chimpanzee could learn what I do physically, but it goes way beyond that. When you play, you play life.

Jaco Pastorius

music play way

All you've got to do is keep your ears open.

Jaco Pastorius

ears

It's really easy to play harmonics, anyone can do it. It's another thing to be able to swing, to make to make a band swing, to create a groove. Harmonics ain't everything. Being able to play harmonics certainly does not make you a good bass player. Cleverness is no substitute for true awareness.

Jaco Pastorius

swings player doe

The secret to the sound is to drop the bass on the floor!

Jaco Pastorius

bass secret sound

I'm not a star. I'm just backing up the cats.

Jaco Pastorius

cat music stars

Women and rhythm-section first!?

Jaco Pastorius

bass-players music firsts

I took the frets out of my bass after I was getting into jazz a lot and I wanted to have that upright sound.

Jaco Pastorius

bass jazz sound

Trumpets! Can you bring your... uh... extracurricular tubing necessities next rehearsal?

Jaco Pastorius

tubing rehearsal next

Joseph Zawinul does overkill, and his technological overkill sucks, but there's no friction between us; I just say, 'Look,' and that's it. Do you have any idea how much music I learned from him?

Jaco Pastorius

say look you music

My concept is not bigger than Weather Report. I am Weather Report. It comes through me; I do not create nothing. It comes from being a child and listening to the radio every day of my life.

Jaco Pastorius

i-am day me life

Joseph Zawinul and Toots Thielmans, in my opinion, are the only Europeans who can play rhythm-and-blues.

Jaco Pastorius

only who opinion play

Sometimes I have a very bad point of being too obnoxious. I am not too obnoxious. I mean, I just try to make things more peaceful. Me being obnoxious makes a lot of things more peaceful.

Jaco Pastorius

i-am bad me sometimes

I learned everything from my friends and just constant gigging in night clubs, eight sets a night!

Jaco Pastorius

everything just friends night

I've been playing the bass guitar for almost twelve years and fretless for about nine, so I've got quite a bit of mileage in my hands already.

Jaco Pastorius

playing guitar hands years

I play in tune like a cello player and use legitimate vibrato. There are no tricks; it's just all in the hands!

Jaco Pastorius

just like play hands

In the studio, I don't use an amp, I just go direct into the desk. It's virtually acoustic, what I'm doing.

Jaco Pastorius

desk doing just go

I was playing legit snare with a traditional grip, not a matched grip. After I broke my left wrist, I couldn't hit a snare drum anymore. From the age of 13 to 17, I couldn't really get a pop on the snare drum. I would hit it, and my wrist would almost shatter.

Jaco Pastorius

playing get left age