Jaco Pastorius – Bass (and vocals)

The Jaco Pastorius Big Band album, ‘Twins’ recorded in 1982 is one of those recordings where every second of the performance is bass heaven. It is a must listen recording for bass players and a wonderful introduction the Francis John Pastorius III, ‘the greatest bass player in the world’. The whole album is a tour-de-force of electric bass playing from an era where this was really something new and exciting and, whilst there are players with infinitely more chops around today, Jaco was so much more than his chops. What I love about this track, more than anything. is, after all of the majesty that defined the recording to this point, he chose to end the gig on a 12-bar roadhouse Blues, Buster Brown’s ‘Fannie Mae’ (albeit with a contemporary (1982) PacMan twist). Just great fun. The ghost notes thing is a challenge (when do you put them in as notes and when as ghost notes?) but its a bit of fun (and a lot faster than the Brown version.