| "Portrait of Tracy" | |
|---|---|
) Jaco Pastorius in 1980 | |
| Song by Jaco Pastorius | |
| from the album Jaco Pastorius | |
| Released | August 1976 |
| Recorded | Camp Colomby Studios and Columbia Recording Studios C&B, New York City, New York. |
| Genre | Post-bop |
| Length | 2:23 |
| Label | Epic/Legacy (Sony Music) |
| Songwriter(s) | Jaco Pastorius |
| Producer(s) | Bobby Colomby |
is a composition by bassist Jaco Pastorius. It was named after his wife, Tracy Sexton.[1]
It appears on his landmark 1976 self-titled debut album, and has been covered by bassists such as Joe Ferry, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, John Myung, and Brian Bromberg. It is considered by many a bass guitar standard.
The song is played almost exclusively with natural harmonics, giving it a dreamy, unfamiliar tone for the bass, which is common in Pastorius's style.
"Portrait of Tracy" has been sampled in several songs, including SWV's "Rain", Rick Ross's "Bel Air (Black Dollar)", Cannibal Ox's "Pigeon", Amon Tobin's "Daytrip", Master P "Ghetto Love", Chingy and Tyrese's "Pullin' Me Back", Wagon Christ's "Mr. Mukatsuku", and Steve Spacek's "Hey There". While it was not sampled in Childish Gambino’s Redbone, its melody has been said to pay homage to Pastorius's original bass line. In 2015, Kadhja Bonet recorded an arrangement of the song featuring vocals, lyrics and a string group accompaniment.
References
- ^ Currin, Grayson (August 6, 2003). "Continuum. Jaco Pastorius is remembered by the music and muses he left behind". Independent Weekly. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2012-05-29.