Er litt wohl unter Depressionen und versuchte sich mit der falschen Therapie zu kurieren (Alkohol/Drogen).
Einige bekannte Bassisten über Jaco:
Victor Lemonte Wooten:
"It amazes me when someone comes along and so visibly and powerfully effects the world and everything that happens in it after his arrival. We all effect the world in some way but not many have done it in the way that Jaco has. The world of music is changed forever because of this great man. I don't believe that there is a bass player playing today that has not been influenced by Jaco, Whether he/she knows it or not.
To be a genius U must be "out of your mind" and there is a fine line one must walk between "being in" and "being out" of your mind. There is also the thin line between having and losing control. Jaco was known to lose control from time to time. We find these traits in most of our heroes. Einstein, Beethoven, Mingus, Monk, etc. I believe this to be a blessing in disguise because being able to walk on both sides and combine the energies from the two is what makes these people stand out. This is a necessary ingredient to being the genius that Jaco is.
Because Jaco lived life to the fullest, stretched the limits, erased boundaries, dove into unknown territories, succeeded, failed, always came out smiling and much more, he has given us a precious gift. The gift of his life. This is powerful. We can now use his life choices to determine our life choices. This expands way beyond music. I know that if Jaco had not lived life "exactly" as he did, I would not be the person and musician that I am today and will be tomorrow. Again, I say, This is powerful!
I was never blessed with the pleasure of meeting or seeing Jaco play live but because of his wonderful friends, family and music. I feel that I know him well.
John Francis Pastorius III, U are a part of all of us. I recognize, appreciate and thank U for all of your precious gifts. Bless Us All and Please.....Save me a seat! "
Victor Bailey:
"I sit precariously perched in a very unique position in the Jaco legacy. Having been one of his biggest fans, AND having followed him in Weather Report. He is reported to have started playing bass in 1967. I was six years old. Considering that historically there's bass before Jaco and bass after Jaco, that puts me very clearly in the "after Jaco" category. And yet having followed him in Weather Report (even though I was only nineteen at the time) makes me in a sense one of his contemporaries. So I have a view from both sides. The side I'd like to address is to fellow fans. In my travels over the last twenty years I've heard the best and the worst people have to say about the man. Well let me ask you all to PLEASE, just listen to the music! Forget all the speculation, conjecture and rumor that has circulated for so many years. I had the fortune to know Jaco a little before he went to that magical place in the sky where bass players go when they leave us, and I found him to be a funny, intelligent guy, much more normal than the mythology has made him out to be. He was just more than "normal" when he played the bass! Listen to any of the "official" recordings of him and that tells you all you need to know. Beware of bootleg CDs, t-shirts, and books purported to have been written or compiled by his close "friends and associates". Now you have a great site run by his children, and you can be certain that you can't get any more accurate than that!
Who loves ya!?"
Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers):
"I love Jaco. I love everything about him, I feel the depth of his joy and pain in every note I have ever heard him play. Obviously he changed the face of electric bass playing forever and a great poet would be needed to attempt to describe it, so I will just remain humbly awe stricken like everyone else."