Chronology of Jaco Pastorius

December,1 1951: John Francis III born in Norristown, PA, to Jack and Stephanie Pastorius.

September 1959: family moves to Fort Lauderdale, FL.

September 1963: begins playing drums with "the Sonics", a local combo.

Summer 1966: joins "Las Olas Brass" as a drummer.

Summer 1967: switches to bass guitar.

January 1972: joins "Wayne Cochran & the C. C. Riders".

Spring 1973: begins teaching part-time at the University of Miami.Students include Mark Egan, Frank Gravas and Hiram Bullock.

Summer 1974: records a blues album, Party Down, with Little Beaver, and a jazz album with pianist Paul Bley, guitarist Pat Metheny and drummer Bruce Ditimas.

1975: records his first solo-album Jaco Pastorius, plays Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life and two cuts of Weather Report's Black market.

1976: at January joins Weather Report after Alphonso Johnson.

1977: plays and co-produces on Heavy Weather. Also appears on Joni Mitchell' s Hejira.

1978 : plays on Mr Gone - Weather Report.

1980: records his second solo-album Word of Mouth in Fort Lauderdale.

1982: leaves Weather Report and tours with his Word of Mouth big band.

1983: Warner Bros. releases Invitation, a selection of live tracks from 82' concerts in Japan. Tours with a sextet that includes guitarist Mike Stern.In this time the first problems with alchool and drugs.

1984 : forms trio with guitarist Hiram Bullock and drummer Kenwood Dennard.

September 1985: arrested in Philadelphia for trying to break into his father's house.Voluntarily enters rehabilitation centre.

March 1986: tours with guitarist Bireli Lagrene. Live album Stuttgart Aria, is released on a German label, "Jazzpoint".

July 1986: commited to psychiatric ward at New York's Bellevue Hospital,N.Y. where he is diagnosed as manic depressive and placed on medication.

October 1986: leaves Bellevue and flies to San Francisco, where he stays with drummer Brian Melvin and records several tracks.

December 1986: returns to Florida.Begins an exercise program and plays with guitarist Randy Bernsen.

February 1987: re-start to self-destruct, drinking and drugging heavily and sleeping in parks. Crashes gigs and demands to sit in e dorme nei parchi. In the locals ring he is knowed as "persona-non-grata".

Summer 1987: bizzarre behavior continues. Arrester for various charges, including drunk and disorderly, driving without a license and shoplifting.

September, 11 1987: jumps onstage during a Santana concert in Fort Lauderdale and is ushered off by stagehands that don't recognize him.

September, 12 1987: early in the morning, he tries to crash an after-hours club and is beaten senseless.Rushed to Broward County Medical.

September, 21 1987: at 9 pm "The world's greatest bass player" goes out.

by Bill Milkowski *