John Francis Anthony “Jaco” Pastorius III was a bassist, composer and producer. He was known for his work with Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Weather Report, and Joni Mitchell among others. I wrote John Francis shortly after his death when he was 35. We were devastated by his passing and the circumstances that led to

John Francis Anthony “Jaco” Pastorius III was a bassist, composer and producer. He was known for his work with Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Weather Report, and Joni Mitchell among others. I wrote John Francis shortly after his death when he was 35. We were devastated by his passing and the circumstances that led to it. It was one of those songs that flows out of you. I asked myself, did I create this, or was I a conduit? Reviving it recently and bringing his memory back is a token of our love for Jaco, for what he brought to us during his brief life.

Joy Brooks - Vocals

Fredrick Brooks - Acoustic Guitar

Chris Pezzarello - Drums

Charles James - Bass

Christine Bougie - Electric Guitars

Robbie Grunwald - Keyboards

Produced and Mixed by Robbie Grunwald

Written by Fredrick Brooks

Mastered by Justin Gray

Cover art - Mal Bray mixed media based on Chris Hakkens photo (no downloading, republication, retransmission, reproduction, and all other uses of the licensed image as a standalone file).

John Francis

There could be a chance

For you had the fire

From Des Moines to pork pie hat

The weather was fine

Trashed on the blues

Or manicked by life

I reach out

Only to cry

And where does the wind blow

The baddest of all

Silenced – empty

Divided by loss

For laughter is seldom

On this tired road

Hear me now

On you I’ll call

For laughter is seldom

On this tired road

Hear me now

Jaco’s called home

©Fredrick Brooks