Sting believes Jaco Pastorius changed bass forever: “Nobody had thought of that before”
Bassists rarely get the kind of credit routinely afforded to their six-stringed counterparts within the realm of rock and roll, despite the utterly essential rhythms they have provided to the scene since its very beginning.
Even Sting, who established himself among rock’s most prominent bassists back in the 1980s, was far more indebted to jazz than anything that could be considered rock and roll.
It was in the wake of the punk rock explosion that The Police first emerged onto the airwaves, but they never seemed to share much in common with the abrasive, spikey-haired revolutionaries who populated that particular scene. Whereas the groups taking to the stage at The Roxy Club favoured buzzsaw guitars, a DIY ethos, and wearing a lack of musical ability as a badge of honour, The Police boasted three undeniably skilled musicians and an immediately expansive sound.
Jazz was always at the forefront of that sound, albeit often blended with Sting’s pop-reggae sensibilities. Those infectious, experimental influences largely came down to the performer’s own musical training, as he recalled to Bass Guitar back in 2016: “I was playing with jazz musicians, and I was playing Stanley Clarke lines from Return To Forever songs.”
Although the realm of jazz fusion is much maligned, both by self-professed jazz aficionados and rock fans alike, there was one figure within that world that surely nobody could deny. Not only was Weather Report’s Jaco Pastorius one of the most talented, influential musicians to ever pick up a bass guitar, he also formed an utterly inescapable influence over Sting during those early years.
“When Jaco came, about that time, he totally recalibrated what it was to be a bass player,” Sting rather boldly declared, recalling the sheer breadth of his talents. “He could play Charlie Parker chromatic lines on the bass guitar: nobody had thought of that before,” the songwriter added.
In addition to completely redefining the realm of the bass guitar, Pastorius has also provided Sting with the requisite exercises to keep his bass-playing skills sharp over the years. “I have these exercises I do every so often. I’ll find a part and learn it,” Sting shared.
“A couple of months ago I got ‘Teen Town’,” he continued, citing a 1977 Weather Report classic and arguably the bassist’s defining moment with that cult outfit. “Which is an amazing piece of bass playing. It really is. So I’m playing that at the moment,” the bassist explained.
“In soundchecks, I’ll just sit and play ‘Teen Town’, because it’s fun. I knew Jaco. He used to come and see the Police when we played in Miami.”
Tragically, that infallible bass talent was snuffed out in 1987, at the age of only 35, but his influence has only seemed to grow in the decades since his jazz fusion heyday. Although he is undoubtedly among Patorius’ most ardent devotees, Sting is certainly not the only bassist out there who still holds those Weather Report riffs incredibly close to his heart.
Without Pastorius, The Police might never have emerged, and they certainly would not have struck upon the same enduring sound that has kept Sting in the public consciousness for over 40 years.
