BLJune17.ToWeb

Brevard Live
SPOTLIGHT ON
DAVID
PASTORIUS
By Matthew Bretz
This month I want to Spotlight
someone we all know very
well. He grew up in this area with
a very famous last name, and paid
his dues to earn his own reputation
apart from his family ties. He
is well sought after in the musical
community, he’s been across
the world with his music, and now
tours nationally with some pretty
heavy hitters. Everyone knows this
cat, but now I want to tell about him
from my perspective. This month’s
Spotlight is the one and only Mr.
David Pastorius.
Dave and I went to high school together,
but we weren’t in the same grade or
classes so I only knew him as an acquaintance.
Back then I didn’t know
about the legendary Jaco Pastorius, or
that he was Dave’s uncle. It wasn’t until
some years after graduation, when I
started getting into the music scene, that
I became aware of the Pastorius legacy
and Dave’s talent. For anyone trying to
work in the same field as a famous family
member there are pros and cons to
the name, and a lot of people are out
there riding the coat tails of someone
that came before them…but not Dave.
I want to make this very clear so there
is no confusion. Jaco was an amazing,
pioneering bass player, and that’s
a fact. But, what is also a fact is that
never learned from him, never copied
him, and to my knowledge never even
met him (could be wrong about that last
bit). Dave Pastorius did the work on his
own, cultivated his talent and skill on
his own, and became one of the finest
bass players out there on his own. He
has earned the respect of our community
as well as giants in the industry—
David Patorius (left) and Matt Bretz (right) meet up with Victor Wooten at a
bass clinic in Orlando.
on his own. That being said…I want
to tell you a couple stories about Dave
and just how well he is received…everywhere.
A couple of years back I took my annual
pilgrimage to Bonnaroo. I may actually
be there now while you are reading
this. Anyway—I was covering a
press conference one afternoon and on
the panel was none other than Robert
Trujillo. You may remember Trujillo as
the bassist from Suicidal Tendencies,
or Infectious Grooves…but you probably
know him better as the low end
in Metallica. Trujillo was at the festival
premiering a documentary he made
about Jaco Pastorius, and after the conference
I was able to interview him and
talk for a while. I told him I lived in
Jaco’s hometown and that I knew his
nephew. Trujillo’s face lit up and he
said “Dave? Oh man what a great player
I love Dave”. I was surprised but not
completely shocked to realize I was
talking with the bassist from Metallica
about someone I knew back home…
that he knew too. I immediately called
Dave and he casually said, “Oh yeah
Robert’s a really nice guy” like it was
nothing. I knew Dave had been touring
with national rapper Tech9 but it hadn’t
hit me until just then he was really out
there. One of us had really made it to
the show.
Some years back, after Dave’s jazz fusion
band Local 518 had been picked
up by a label in Japan, he was walking
through a Guitar Center in NYC with
Larry Hartke of Hartke Bass Amps
when he heard his own bass line coming
from another section of the store.
He followed his music to the source
and found a young teenage girl playing
it. After introducing himself he showed
his fan some tips and talked with her
a bit. Needless it made her year…and
Dave walked away someone’s hero.
Dave is a very humble guy and he
blows stories like that off as one offs,
but that was proof that he is making a
bigger impact with his music than he
even realizes. Every time, for the rest
of her life, when that young lady puts
Local 518 on for her friends to hear she
will have an amazing story to tell about
meeting Dave Pastoruis while playing
34 - Brevard Live June 2017