Jazz bands rarely had occasion to tour like rock stars, but Weather Report hit the road with a light show, lasers and film projections, between 1978-81 as part of what was arguably the jazz-fusion ...

When Jaco Pastorius first met Joe Zawinul, the keyboardist and composer behind Weather Report, he had his introduction ready. “My name is John Francis Pastorius III,” he said, as Zawinul later ...

Flames that burn brightly also burn for the shortest time. The genius of so many jazz innovators from Charlie Parker to Thomas Chapin were silenced at too young an age. The same is true for legendary ...

The influential reach of Jaco Pastorius is immeasurable, spanning generations of bassists in all corners of the globe, in a multitude of musical styles. Just a few weeks after seeing Jaco perform with ...

When Jaco was good, he was very, very good. The best, in fact. Of course, when he was bad he could be horrid, as innumerable lousy bootleg CDs from his waning years testify. But when he was peaking, ...