At the humble age of 18, Pat Metheny had already developed a reputation as a wunderkind, with a musical talent far beyond his years. After being offered a place at the University of Miami, the young jazz guitarist dove headfirst into the city's jazz club scene – a network that would lead him to one of the most influential bassists of all time.
“It was the happiest day of my parents’ lives because I hadn’t taken a book home since I was 14, so they had resigned themselves to me never getting into college,” he tells UK outlet The Guardian in a new interview.
“The second night after I arrived in Miami, I went to a jazz club. This guy played bass for one tune and it was like he had dropped out of a spaceship. That was the first time I met Jaco Pastorius.”
Bonded by their mutual musical obsession, the two would embark “on a series of dumb gigs with D-list celebrities in Miami Beach”. Within a year, the University’s Dean, Bill Lee, offered Metheny a professor position since the school had just introduced an electric guitar course. When Metheny turned 19, Berklee College of Music had summoned him to teach there.
“It was a crazy time, since neither me nor Jaco had any notoriety, we were just playing,” he recalls.
Metheny also appeared on the unofficially titled Jaco – the 1974 album released on Paul Bley's Improvising Artists Label, which is notably the first-ever recording featuring the talents of the bass and guitar greats.
Their collaboration continued on Metheny's debut, 1975’s Bright Size Life, which, while moderately successful at the time, didn't receive the recognition it deserved until a decade later.
“Not long afterwards, Jaco joined [pioneering fusion group] Weather Report, released his debut album and I put out my debut. That all happened within a few months,” Metheny recalls.
Relentless touring followed, triggering Pastorius’ drug addiction and worsening his mental health. In 1979, when Metheny and Pastorius had the opportunity to join Joni Mitchell on her Shadows and Light tour, Metheny notes, “Jaco was a different Jaco at that point and I thought by doing that tour I might be able to help him.”
Eight years later, Pastorius was involved in a physical altercation with a nightclub employee. He suffered multiple facial fractures, injuries, and a brain hemorrhage. On September 21, he died at the age of 35.
Metheny released Watercolors in 1977 and formed the illustrious Pat Metheny Group in 1978, with Danny Gottlieb on drums, Lyle Mays on piano, autoharp, and synthesizer, and Mark Egan on bass.
Their 1979 release, American Garage, clinched the number-one spot on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart – the start of a truly illustrious career.
