Bass icon Jaco Pastorius died in 1987, suffering a brain haemorrhage after an altercation with a nightclub bouncer. In 2014, while still a member of Chicago, bassist-vocalist Jason Scheff told Prog why Pastorius and Weather Report remained his musical heroes.
“I’ve always had a gritty, funky side to my music, which comes from a love of anything with a good groove. I was into things like Earth, Wind & Fire, or as prog goes, Genesis.
They always had a groove kind of thing going on – which I guess was down to Phil Collins – whereas bands like Yes or Emerson, Lake & Palmer were more straight rock and a little bit more stiff.
But the band that really did it for me was Weather Report; and within that, it has to be Jaco Pastorius. I was about 15 when I first got into them. And again, it was both the overall sound of the band and the groove that Jaco got with his bass playing.
I was always into that jazz-fusion thing, but there was something about Weather Report that seemed to set them apart from bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return To Forever.
To be honest, I couldn’t actually play the whole of Teen Town back then, just the opening bars
It was probably down to the fact that they pushed the bass playing more to the fore – but then, with someone like Jaco in the band, why wouldn’t you?
I used to travel down to my local Guitar Center where there were always budding young musicians trying to show off. I was just the same – a young kid eager to show my chops – so I’d get in there and play Teen Town from Heavy Weather. To be honest, I couldn’t actually play the whole thing back then, just the opening bars! But it was good enough for me.
Teen Town is probably my favourite Weather Report piece with Jaco (who left Weather Report in 1982), although I do like Birdland, of course – which everyone does. The whole of the Mr Gone album is really good too, and another big favourite of mine.
It was a tragedy what happened to Pastorius. That kind of thing so often seems to go hand in hand with great artists – it really is very sad. It’s why I always say I’m glad I only have a modicum of talent.
It leaves me free to enjoy life with my kids and friends, and spend some time playing golf.”