# Interview with Felix Pastorius: I’m going to try to continue it the best I can: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/12/13/felix-pastorius/
- Published: 2017-12-13T00:06:13+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Felix Pastorius would be joining the Yellowjackets, to fill the shoes of cofounder
Jimmy Haslip while he takes a hiatus. This came as a shock to many fans as the switch
would end the veteran bassist’s 30-year tenure with the group.**

The last name is no coincidence: Felix is the son of bass legend **Jaco Pastorius**,
though his father passed away when Felix was only five years old.

Bass wasn’t Felix’s original instrument, but he began building his own bass playing
career after joining his first band at age 15.

In 2002, he joined the experimental Jeff Coffin Mu’tet, where he has honed his chops
and musicianship. He has also worked with Cindy Blackman, in addition to running
his own band at a weekly gig in New York City.

We caught up with Pastorius to get the whole scoop on the Yellowjackets situation,
as well as his start on bass, practice techniques, gear and his father’s influence
on his career.

**Congratulations on the Yellowjackets gig. Had you met the guys from before, and
how did the opportunity come about?**

If I had met the Yellowjackets, it was one of the first concerts I ever went to,
when I was probably four or five. Yeah, it was a long time ago. Not too long after
the band was conceived, I guess. Probably if I had met them – I can’t remember if
I did or not – I kind of knew Jimmy [Haslip] and Russell [Ferrante] from that point
on, but hadn’t really kept in touch. I had seen them a few times since then, but
Bob [Mintzer] – I had actually seen a lot more and been in contact with [him]. Not
a whole lot, but more than those guys. Our relationship was brought together again
at this past [Jazz Education Network] Conference in 2011 in New Orleans. He sat 
in with the Jeff Coffin Mu’tet and I was in the band, so we got to play. I’m not
even sure that he knew I was playing music, but he was obviously aware of it at 
that point. It was great to see him and play together. You know, I’ve had the opportunity
to play with some of the musicians my father played with and that was the first 
with Mintzer, and it was great. It was a lot of fun.

So this past December, Jeff was contracted by the Yellowjackets manager to try to
get my contact info, because they were interested in auditioning me. I got a call
in December from the manager. A few days later I got a call from Mintzer, just telling
me what their plan was, what was going on with Jimmy, and that they wanted to fly
me out to L.A. to do an audition. So I said, “Awesome, that sounds great.”

**What’s it like to have to step into the shoes of Jimmy Haslip? I mean, he’s been
with the band since the beginning, and he’s a legend in his own right.**

Absolutely. Not only is he a legend in his own right, but he is a major sound of
the Yellowjackets, to put it mildly. I mean, he’s one of the cofounders, but the
way he writes, the way he thinks and his bass lines are a huge part of the group,
so it’s something I definitely have to put into consideration and honor through 
my playing. [I’ll] try to put my spin on things, but live up to what he’s made.

I’m going to try to continue it the best I can. It’ll be a challenge, but not a 
hard challenge, you know. It’s going to be an honor to try to continue this, at 
least for the time being because it’s only a hiatus. It’ll be a workout for me and
it will be fun, and it will be a great learning experience, so I’m looking forward
to it.

**So they’re not going to make you play upside down and lefty [like Haslip]?**

[Laughs] Everyone is joking with me about that, and no, they won’t, but I have put
in an order for a 6-string. I will go with a B-string relatively soon.

**So you’ll be with the band for about a year. What are the group’s plans?**

They are booking more dates as we speak. There are some dates already pending. As
of right now, there’s definitely a larger tour in May, and then there’s a run at
Birdland here in New York for about a week, and then there’s a music festival in
Shanghai. Those are for sure everything as far as I know, but they’re constantly
adding more gigs.

There’s a possibility to do a tour with Bobby McFerrin in Europe at some point; 
I think in August. They’re just waiting on the details, especially with Jimmy leaving
and everything, they just want to clear things up and make sure it’s all good with
the venues and the promoters. They’re being just as aggressive as ever in getting
gigs, so hopefully there will be more.

Hopefully I might get out to the West Coast this year, too. We’ll see what happens.

**Switching gears a little bit… you didn’t start on bass, right?**

Right, I didn’t start on bass, but it’s been my only instrument gigging-wise. I 
played violin when I was five and piano when I was seven. But as far as gigging 
and playing out, it’s always been bass.

I played a benefit for my father when I was 11. My twin brother [Julius] and I played
a bass duet on “Continuum.” It wasn’t a clear choice when I was 11, but being a 
bass player was just kind of a nice little ode to our father at this benefit concert/
birthday bash thing in New York.

I joined a group when I was 15 and started taking it a little more serious. It was
in South Florida, and it was me and one of the percussionists from Weather Report,
Bobby Thomas, Jr. He took me under his wing and kind of encouraged me to start playing.
He asked me to join the group, and I really hadn’t done anything other than fool
around in my living room on bass. It was fun and I enjoyed it.

From that point on, I started being more aggressive with it and spending time with
friends and other musicians. [I] never had a teacher or went to school, but [I] 
spent a lot of time hanging with friends and learning. Because of the benefit of
my father being who he was, I had the opportunity just to hang with a lot of great
musicians. And I made that an effort, too. Whether it was people coming into town
or gigs that I wanted to go see, I was trying to at least be around them and pick
up the way they played, the way they hung. It was my type of schooling for myself.

Eventually I started a band with my brother and some friends and played a lot more.
I started picking up gigs here and there. I actually started playing with Jeff Coffin
about 10 years ago, so it’s slowly just kept moving into a career path from just
playing a pentatonic scale in my living room. It just evolved on its own.

**You touched on it a little, but obviously the combo of you playing bass and having
the last name Pastorius instantly changes the game. Did you think about that a lot
when you were starting out and do you think that’s had a ton of impact on your career?**

You know, I know it’s had an impact on my career. I’m not totally positive what 
impact, if it was negative or positive. I know it’s changed over the years in my
opinion and the way that I see it. You know, I’ve had the ability to try to make
a name for myself only because of the musicians that choose to pick me up to play
for my ability. It wasn’t ever like I was being taken out there to take advantage
of my father’s last name. I’m going to have an audience because people are interested,
but it’s up to me to keep them interested in the music, you know?

I don’t want them to try to compare me and him, but it’s inevitable. I’m just trying
to have a good time and keep them interested in what’s going on on-stage and our
relationship with the audience and our band members.

I don’t know, it’s a difficult question. It’s changed over the years. It used to
be harder when I was younger to have this idea of people expecting something from
me, but I’m my own biggest critic. I’ve never based my musicianship on someone else’s
critique. It’s something where I’ll continue to push myself. I enjoy playing for
others and the band members I’m playing with. It’s a work in progress.

Again, I don’t know really how to answer it [since] it’s changed over the years 
for me. I’m grateful for the people that are coming out because of who my father
was. If they want to listen to me because they only know my father, I think that’s
awesome and I’m grateful for it. But I’m not trying to sound like him, and I’m not
trying to play like him. I’m not him, you know?

**It strikes me that a name only goes so far and you’ve obviously built a career
for yourself. On the subject of your father, you did transcription for the Hal Leonard
books featuring your dad’s work. What was it like to go through that?**

That was really just the family handing me an opportunity. I was probably 19 or 
20 then, and I was just basically really quickly going over more than anything the
tablature for the fingerings. A lot of the fingerings I picked up from over the 
years were just from being around different bass players playing my father’s tunes.
A lot of my learning was through playing my father’s music or the music that he 
played. Not even his, but like Weather Report and some Herbie [Hancock] stuff, too.

Because of his concept and his style of playing, a lot of his ability was based 
on his movement around the neck. It wasn’t as simple as just notes on a page; a 
lot of it is your hand positioning. To be able to play a run as fast as he did, 
you have to have the forethought to be able to make the jumps and see the notes 
on the neck. It’s a unique thing.

I was just lightly going over the tablature and seeing how the fingerings looked.
I didn’t do a hardcore combing of the entire thing. I was young and the family said,“
You should check it out.” My sister and my brothers said, “Yeah, just go over it
and see what you think.”

Again, I had to rehash a couple things but they’re great books. It’s awesome. I’m
happy that they got put out there. I’m sure a lot of kids and adults too got a kick
out it, so I’m happy.

**How did you get hooked up with Jeff Coffin?**

Well, Jeff called Victor Wooten for a bass player recommendation, and I had just
come from one of Victor’s bass camps. It might have been his first, maybe his second.
Victor had invited my brother and I and we brought a friend, too. It was as partial
students. We were there to interact with kids…

Victor has always been a great mentor and leader and a great friend in person towards
me and my family. It was really great, he was just like, “Show up and do whatever
you want to do. You can go between classes and hang with anybody.”

I’ve known Victor since I was 14. I met him at a Larry Graham concert in New York.
I was there with my mother and a bunch of family and friends. I turned around and
saw Victor standing there with his girlfriend and soon to be wife, Holly. I had 
just learned about Victor. I saw him and turned to my mom and said, “I think that’s
Victor Wooten,” and because of me getting more interested in bass, my mom was like,“
Well, you should go talk to him.”

That was my first introduction to meeting him and we kept in touch, but he never
heard me play. So when I was about 18 or 19 we went to his first or second camp 
he heard me play. Soon after that Jeff Coffin called him, who I had met briefly 
at a concert but we didn’t really know each other. He called Victor and Victor recommended
me for the gig. Jeff hired me without ever hearing me play, just on Victor’s recommendation.

I was scared shitless, to say the least. I hadn’t really done a whole lot, and this
was a musician that was directly connected to one of my favorite bass players, you
know? It was an interesting step in my music career, but it was one that had to 
be done and I knew I couldn’t turn it down. You know, if Victor recommended me, 
there was no way I could say no. I said yes without ever hearing any of the music
we would be playing and Jeff said yes without ever hearing me play.

It’s been a great learning experience for me, and Jeff is a really dear friend of
mine now. We obviously spend a lot of time in a lot of vans and on the road in cars
and planes, sharing hotel rooms. It’s been a really great gig and we’ve built a 
really strong relationship. We’ve done some writing, too, and it’s been really important
for the last 10 years of my career to have something like that to hone my skills
around friends. It’s basically a family, too. We’ve been doing it for so long.

**Are you able to work with him still this year?**

We’re going to try to work through with both of our schedules. Obviously mine with
the Yellowjackets this year and his with Dave Matthews. He was recording… I don’t
know if he’s still recording a new album. He’s going to have some time off before
they go on tour this year so it’s very possible we’re going to do some Mu’tet stuff,
maybe as soon as next month, even. So we’ll see.

There’s also an album that we recorded at the end of 2010 that he’s been mixing 
and doing some work on it. I’m not sure what he wants to do with that album but 
it is a great album that we recorded going on almost a year and a half ago. So that
will be coming out hopefully soon. I don’t plan on ending that [relationship] in
the near future at all. We’ll continue to do as much as we can, but obviously with
his schedule, too… I mean, Dave Matthews can be quite busy.

**Can you give us a rundown of your gear setup?**

Right now I’m using the Aguilar ToneHammer 500 and then two of their 112 cabs. They’re
the individual 1×12 cabs. [They’re] super lightweight and it’s ideal for the working
musician in a city that doesn’t have a car and takes cabs and the subway and stuff.
They’re huge in sound, but easy to maneuver.

That’s my local stuff, but when I go out with the Yellowjackets I’m going to be 
using their DB751 head their 212 cab. I really enjoy 12’s. They have the reminiscences
of the 10 punch but with just a little more meat behind it.

As far as the bass, I’ve been borrowing a bass for the last year and three months.
I left my bass in the back of a cab in November of 2010 and never got it back.

**What a bummer!**

Yeah. It wasn’t a very expensive bass, and it was given to me, too. I loved it though,
and I spent a lot of time on it. I’m under the impression that your instrument is
something that you grow with. For me, I could spend five years on a Squier and if
it feels comfortable and it sounds right and I make it sing, that’s all that matters
to me. It was a hard thing to have to give up. There was really no tracking it down.

At that point, my dear friend Mike Bendy, who is another great bass player, lent
me his Fodera. So I’ve been playing his Fodera, which is his design. It’s a really,
really beautiful bass. It’s a 5-string, [strung] E to C. Ash body, ash neck, rosewood
fretboard, 33-inch scale. It’s really a standout bass. I spent just over a year 
on it. I’m going to have to give it up eventually, but I’ve been very lucky to borrow
such an amazing instrument.

**So how about the new 6-string you’re getting – is it a special design?**

It’s kind of my own model. It’s going to be a medium-scale at 33-inches, but it’s
a 6-string with 27-frets. The body is going to be slimmed down a little bit. It’s
going to be an Emperor II style but slimmed down with more of a cutaway on the bottom
horn to get down to that 27th fret, and I’m going to have a Hipshot on the B-string
so all in all it’ll have a four and a half octave range, from a low A to a high 
Eb.

**Nice! That’s sounds pretty wicked.**

Yeah, it should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.

**You mentioned that you’re self taught. What is your practice routine like, and
how do you practice?**

I’ll give you a quick walk through. Originally when I started playing the bass I
learned the pentatonic scale, which I’m pretty sure everybody learns at some point
early on. I played that a lot, then through continued learning of theory I associated
the pentatonic scale, which originally always saw as minor, to other minor scales.
Eventually it became the practicing of lots of scales, but now I’m at the point 
where I’m actually going backwards. I’m starting from the beginning with the least
amount of notes possible and adding to that.

I practice a lot of inversions. Basically like a lot of keyboard players or horn
players would do, I’ll take the simple triad, be it major, minor, diminished or 
augmented, and I’ll learn it as many different ways as I can possibly think of in
every key. Then when I’m bored enough with that after a month, I’ll go to four notes.
It takes a while.

I’m one of those guys… other than learning all of the Yellowjackets music, when 
I’m practicing I like to kind of beat things into the ground. Something as simple
as a major triad to me could take months to practice, just because there are so 
many different options. I mean, it’s the benefit but also the curse of playing a
stringed instrument tuned in fourths. There are so many variables and options and
different ways of playing things.

For me it’s always going to be about working out my hands and putting them in uncomfortable,
unusual positions so they don’t become uncomfortable and unusual if I ever find 
myself in that position. It’s a work in progress.

I spent a lot of time this past year with the guitar player that Jeff picked up 
when Kofi Burbridge couldn’t make some of the gigs with the Mu’tet. Jeff picked 
up this really great guitarist out of Knoxville, Tennessee named Mike Seal. We spent
a lot of time in Jeff’s van just going back and forth working on ideas. He kind 
of put a bug in me to get some kind of writing out there. Some kind of book that
explains some of the stuff I do. I don’t know exactly how I would do it, but it 
could be something eventually.

**Awesome, let us know when you do! What else do you have on the horizon? A solo
album maybe?**

The solo album is something that I could definitely do, but that’s kind of… for 
me that kind of goes into the land of my father. It’s kind of hard to think of because
as soon as I think of a solo album, or any bass solo album, there’s really only 
one for me, and that’s my father’s. So that’s kind of a touchy subject. I mean, 
there are others; Victor Wooten’s _A Show of Hands_ is a classic too, or something
like Stanley [Clarke]’s _School Days_ is one of the greatest also.

But for me, it’s really just my father’s with his face on the cover. To do a solo
bass album, it’s something I want to do but it’s just a touchy subject.

I’ve done some writing with Jeff. With the Yellowjackets, if it gets to the point
where they would want me to write with them, if there’s at all a point this year
and I’m not sure there is, I would love to be a part of that.

But I’ve done some writing, and I have a band here in New York. We play every Monday
at the Zinc Bar. We’ve got originals, and we definitely want to get out and play
some more stuff and do some writing together as a group. That could be the closest
thing to a solo album because it’s a little closer to the heart as far as my style
and the way I grew up.

I’m playing with the Yellowjackets now, but I grew up listening to the Chili Peppers
and Primus, you know? We have a little bit more of a hard edge thing, kind of New
York thing going on. That might happen soon.

![Image result for Felix Pastorius](https://i0.wp.com/assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/
1.1624024%21img/httpImage/yellowjackets-web-jpg.jpg?w=640)

### _Related_