Ingrid Pastorius, who was married to virtuoso electric bassist Jaco Pastorius between 1979 and 1985, died on Monday after reportedly suffering a stroke. She was 61.
A native of Indonesia, Ingrid also spend time in Holland and Puerto Rico before moving to South Florida at age 20. She then worked as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines, and reportedly was spotted by Jaco before they met on a flight between Fort Lauderdale and New York. Ingrid and Jaco began a relationship in 1977 prior to his work on the Shadows and Light tour with Joni Mitchell. They then married — Jaco’s second marriage — in July of 1979 in Guatemala, and bought a house in Deerfield Beach with money he made on tour with Mitchell. Their fraternal twin sons, Felix and Julius Pastorius, were born June 9, 1982.
A lengthy interview with Ingrid at JoniMitchell.com indicates how close she was with her husband’s work — notably he was also a member of Joe Zawinul’s Weather Report beginning in the ’70s.
She had this recollection of being by his side while he worked on Mitchell’s Mingus album: “We were staying at the Sunset Marquis and we were going to the studio and the horns parts were decided in the studio and then we went back to the hotel,” she says. “I think he stayed up until like five in the morning. He wasn’t using any drugs or alcohol. I have to mention that, too. (laughs) Great things did happen when he was sober. The next morning we went back into the studio and the horn parts were incredible.”
Her favorite composition of her husband’s was “Three Views of a Secret,”
according to an interview she gave to ZawinulFans.org: “Initially it bore my name, but I felt uncomfortable about the idea at the time. I do not regret making him change it, for I just simply love the name it is now.”
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/countygrind/2011/11/rip_ingrid_pastorius_jaco_pastorius_wife_1950_2011.php
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