Bill Milkowski, Jaco

Perhaps the most a book about a musician can affect you is to make you want to hear everything ever played by that individual. Well, it's about 3 weeks after putting the book down for the first time and here I am, I've got a stack of Jaco CDs right here by my side and Word of Mouth is spinning on 3 Views Of A Secret for about the tenth time in a row - sublime man! Other than his Weather Report involvement, I wasn't really interested in the Jaco story before reading this book, but Milkowski lets you into Jaco's life, from a privileged position of being on the periphery of Jaco's lifetime himself. However, this is not as privileged as it might seem. As another Bill, Laswell, pointed out in an interview included in another great Milkowski book "Rockers, Jazzbos & Visionaries: Interviews With 30 of Contemporary Music's Most Outstanding and Significant Figures" (including John McLaughlin c.One Truth Band see review), why didn't someone do something to help this tragic character? A huge responsibility that some did try to take on. The book explains why those efforts were essentially doomed to failure. The problems were too deep rooted. Not necessarily because of the armchair psychology reasons that Milkowski proposes, but that don't really matter. It was family, it was parents, it was parenthood. It was chemical, it was biological, it was illogical and it was biochemical. Hey that's life! Sad it happened to Jaco, 'cos, like Hendrix, it would have been a pleasure to have heard more from him.

Other than for his bass playing technique and genius basslines (which are enough after all), my own personal gratitude lies with his redefinition of big-band orchestration and persistent use of pans and the likes of Othello Molineaux. The much-berated posthumous Holiday For Pans is a unique masterpiece, and it's one hell of a leaving present. Then there's also the tours with Bireli Lagrene, a breathtaking power trio that was as exposive off stage as on. Milkowski's book covers the lot, in great detail and draws on all his connections in the trade to give first-hand accounts of what craziness really went on. Sometimes it's the dynamics behind the scenes that make the music really happen.

Jaco: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius - the Worlds Greatest Bass Player is a great tribute to a master musician, whatever his personal problems, and an invaluable source of background (session/gig) information for the jazz collector, plus a comprehensive discography to work through. Go get it!...