[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1346754527' post='1792622']
I think, during that time, JP backed it up. Others have passed him since which is as it should be but he made it happen in the same way that others did on their instruments.
[/quote]
I'm sure this is not what you meant and I am probably reading it wrongly and all that, so don't take this personally Bilbo, but this sentence speaks of the "Music as a contact sport" which we all (including me, but less as I get [s]fatter[/s] older) subscribe to. What Jaco played (certainly with Joni, Metheney, WR and doubtless lots of others) was right for the music. He sat in the weave of what was going on. What always strikes me (and I have been returning to this stuff for 33+ years by now) is that what he gave a piece was what was needed. Would someone with "better" technique bring anything better to the table? No. We get caught up in the chops so easily, but [i]really[/i] it is about the moment and the interplay. Of course there are all sorts of examples of Jaco's stuff that is not what he would have chosen to leave as a legacy if he had had that luxury, but when the circumstances were right (and the good recordings only happen when the circumstances are right), Jaco brought an inherent musicality which was served by his technique, but not subservient to it. If I had his chops then I would be shredding for days on end, just because I could and I would not have the self control not to. His natural bounce/groove/timing is always what does it for me. His note placement was exquisite and really let everyone around him breathe, or be carried along by the momentum of his playing. His ensemble playing was immaculate. He would have been a great on whatever instrument he played because it is about what he was expressing, not the means of how he expressed it. Have others passed him since? Others have bought beautiful stuff as well, but would a pear pass an orange? Ultimately for me it comes down to "does that music move me?" not "wow, stellar technique!". There will always be someone with more technique round the corner, but is Mozart better than Bach? Jaco said what he had to say and I am still hearing it, not at the expense of anyone else but alongside others saying what they have to say.
Obv, tonight I am full of it!