Jaco Pastorius - Weather Report

Weather Report

Around the time of his solo album, he ran into keyboardist Josef Zawinul in Miami, where Zawinul's band, Weather Report, was playing. According to Zawinul, Pastorius walked up to him after a concert one night and talked about the performance and said that it was all right but that he had expected more. He then went on to introduce himself to Zawinul, adding that he was the greatest bass player in the world. An unamused Zawinul told him to "get the fuck outta here." According to Milkowski's book, on that same evening, Pastorius persisted and, according to Zawinul, reminded Zawinul of himself when he was a "brash young man" in Cannonball Adderley's band, which made Zawinul admire the young bassist. Zawinul asked for a demo tape from Pastorius, and thus began a correspondence between the two.

Pastorius joined Weather Report during the recording sessions for Black Market, and he became a vital part of the band by virtue of the unique qualities of his bass playing, his skills as a composer and his exuberant showmanship on stage.