Jaco Pastorius Quotes

Music is the only thing keeping the planet together

I'm not a star. I'll never be a Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley or a Ray Charles. I'm just an imitator, man. I'm doing a very bad imitation on the bass of Jerry Jemmott, Bernard Odum, Jimmy Fielder, Jimmy Blanton, Igor Stravinsky, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, James Brown, Charlie Parker... the cats, man. I'm just backing up the cats.

Music is in the air; it's my job to pull it out.

A chimpanzee could learn what I do physically, but it goes way beyond that. When you play, you play life.

The secret to the sound is to drop the bass on the floor!

All you've got to do is keep your ears open.

It's really easy to play harmonics, anyone can do it. It's another thing to be able to swing, to make to make a band swing, to create a groove. Harmonics ain't everything. Being able to play harmonics certainly does not make you a good bass player. Cleverness is no substitute for true awareness.

I'm not a star. I'm just backing up the cats.

Women and rhythm-section first!?

I took the frets out of my bass after I was getting into jazz a lot and I wanted to have that upright sound.

Trumpets! Can you bring your... uh... extracurricular tubing necessities next rehearsal?