Jaco Pastorius - Portrait of Tracy
When I share an artist that is
super famous in their respective genre, I try to share songs that aren't their biggest hits, or most well-known songs, but in this case, the song is just too incredible and beautiful to not use. Jaco Pastorius was, of course, a bassist, who has become a legend in the genre in the last 3 or 4 decades. He began on an upright bass, playing jazz standards, but soon moved to electric bass, where he began developing his own style. Through his time teaching music, he met other artists who would become legends in their own right, like Pat Metheny. In the mid '70s, he joined the jazz fusion band 'Weather Report', and helped define that era of the group. Unfortunately, Pastorius would often get into fights and confrontations in bars, which eventually resulted in him suffering injuries and falling into a coma, and subsequently passing away at the age of 36.
Listen to Portrait of Tracy by Jaco Pastorius here.
This song was released in 1976,
and was written for Pastorius wife, Tracy Sexton. It has since became a bit of a bass standard, having been covered by countless musicians over the years, and being used as a sort of 'benchmark' for bassists honing their skills. The song is based around the use of harmonics, which have an absolutely beautiful sound, and really give the electric bass a very different timbre. Jaco learned about natural and artificial harmonics and immediately began incorporating them into his playing, and are now one of the main features of his unique style.
