Marcus Miller Composition, “Mr. Pastorius”: Pick’s Transcription Workshop

Meet Lucas Pickford –

For this installment of PTW I’ve chosen the beautiful Marcus Miller homage to the late, great, Jaco Pastorius. I’ve heard that when Jaco left Weather Report that Joe Zawinul offered the bass spot to a young Marcus Miller. By that time though Marcus’ abilities had already be noticed by none other than Miles Davis and so MM had to turn the Weather Report Gig down. Ironically, the gig with Miles Davis is the one gig that Jaco wanted more than any other but it never happened. Life is strange like that sometimes. Jaco died way too soon in 1987 and Marcus penned this composition as a dedication to the fallen genius for a Miles Davis album entitled “Amandla” in 1989.

The version that is transcribed here however is from Marcus’ CD “The Sun Don’t Lie” a classic CD itself. Marcus plays the tune as a solo bass piece. There is a fair amount of two handed passages so I’ve chosen to write it almost like a piano part in a Grand Staff where the top, treble clef part is what the Right Hand plays, and the lower bass clef part is what the Left Hand plays. It looks a little scary at first but remember it’s a slow tune and if you listen to the CD as you learn it, you’ll be OK. This is a great solo bass piece to have in your repertoire and you only need a 4-string bass to play it. This should keep you busy until next time. Enjoy.

Please click on the 4 links below to download the transcription of Marcus Miller Composition, “Mr. Pastorius.”

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