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The Life of Jaco PastoriusDecember 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 comboband. 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 Jaco Pastorius, plays Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life and two cuts of Weather Report's Black Market. 1976: Joins Weather Report, plays and co-produces on Heavy Weather. Also appears on
Joni Mitchell's Hejira. 1980: Records 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. 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 center. 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, 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 excercise program and plays with guitarist Randy Bernsen. February 1987: Starts to self-destruct, drinking heavily and sleeping in parks. Crashes gigs and demands to sit in. Summer 1987: Bizarre behavior continues. Arrested for various charges, including drunk and disorderly, driving without a license, and shoplifting. After hearing of the deaths of two childhood friends, goes into deep depression and stops taking his medication. 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 Center, where he lies in a coma.
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