Jaco... Is he really all that?

[40hz]

Jaco does nothing for me, sorry! A genius yes and outrageously talented but game changer? Nah. Jamerson for me, did that on bass.

[Painy]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1449503163' post='2924132']


Felix is a hell of a player! I recently did an email with him if of interest:

http://simonpoulton.tumblr.com

And yes, Jaco was really all that, his facility was incredible, his composition and ear was amazing too. Do I like his entire output, no of course not.
There's a few videos of him playing Piano too, beautiful playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBhoDaS5SKQ

Si
[/quote]

Thanks for that, nice to read an interview that poses relevant questions across a range of topics rather than just focusing on the promotion of an artist's latest venture which seems so prevalent in magazine and tv interviews.

[colgraff]

I acknowledge his genius, but his music and others' music with him on it generally does nothing for me and I'd be bored after a few minutes. I'm happy to admit that the failure is on my part.

[JamesBass]

[quote name='40hz' timestamp='1449506540' post='2924162']
Jaco does nothing for me, sorry! A genius yes and outrageously talented but game changer? Nah. Jamerson for me, did that on bass.
[/quote]
Jamerson set the bar, Jaco raised it once again. Both are equally fantastic, and provide an equal number of must know lines.

My old bass tutor once told "Go learn all of Jamerson's lines, all of Macca's lines, and all of Jaco's lines - They are the only 3 bass players you need to know about to cover all genres."

[deepbass5]

Wow emperors new clothes and all that - thought it was just me but didn't want to say - I have his back catalog because i thought i was missing out. Listened to it once

[spongebob]

Love it all. Pushed the bass to the front, but could also groove like a mutha when required.

Often wonder what he would be playing now, given that his last release was a few years before he died.....wonder where he'd be at, musically, given the changes in the landscape between then and now?

Either way, genius in my book. Can never have enough Jaco in your life.

[jazzyvee]

Personally I would say yes he is.
Even though I like the stuff of his I've heard and I appreciate his contribution to and his influence on the development of bass playing I can't say I'm a Jaco fan.

[JTUK]

This record never came off my deck.....
Listen to Gadd and Jaco go at it around the 4 min mark...and give it 60 seconds or so

To this day, this influenced me so much... without me really realising it.

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzMYsLkuxI"]http://www.youtube....h?v=pFzMYsLkuxI[/url]

To me, that is why it makes perfect sense to say Jaco re-wrote the book
for bass players......... and I never considered myself a fan..!!

Never owned a fretless.. but did I cop a lot of those licks from this one album..

Edited December 7, 2015 by JTUK

[White Cloud]

[quote name='AinsleyWalker' timestamp='1449496563' post='2923995']
Of course all music is totally subjective but what I've heard of Jaco Pastorius has been a total let down
[/quote]
Dear oh deary me. That is all.

[Bilbo]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1449508460' post='2924185'] I have his back catalog because i thought i was missing out. Listened to it once
[/quote]

If you have only listened to it once, you are missing a lot. I have been listening to Jaco on and off for 30 years. His touch and phrasing, his ideas, his tone, his concepts - all of it literally set the hares running. He had some lows (his stuff with Brian Melvin, Jon Davis and Birelli Lagrene was all a bit poor) but so much of his stuff 1976 - 1985 was sublime. I remember playing Donna Lee to a sax player and he said 'he's the real deal'. He is not copping licks, he is properly blowing. Word of Mouth, Joni, Weather Report etc etc. Just a massive, massive presence. Anyone who cannot hear the strength of his playing is making choices that are based on a different aesthetic. He was an absolutely unique voice who stands repeated listening decades after the fact.

I don't listen to Jaco as a fan boy; I don't like everything he played on by any means. Nevertheless, I just hear him every now and again, shake my head and smile.

He was the real thing.

[spectoremg]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1449498386' post='2924043']
Don't listen to Jaco in isolation, but in context. Here's a few; there's much, much more...

Jaco Pastorius – bass on "Coyote", "Hejira", "Black Crow", and "Refuge of the Roads" (... [i]but the other tracks are ace, too..![/i])

1. 0:00 - Coyote
2. 05:01 - Amelia
3. 11:02 - Furry Sings The Blues
4. 16:09 - A Strange Boy
5. 20:28 - Hejira
6. 27:09 - Song For Sharon
7. 35:47 - Black Crow
8. 40:10 - Blue Motel Room
9. 45:14 - Refuge Of The Roads

[media]http://youtu.be/6If65D_DXS4[/media]

Don't listen to the bass; listen to the music.
[/quote]You just stole my thunder! Jaco's best bass parts were on Joni's stuff; Hejira, Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, Mingus and especially the live Shadow's and Light - particularly the achingly beautiful reworked run out to Hejira.

[spectoremg]

.... he could however be a hopeless twiddler when left to his own devices.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1449515122' post='2924264']
You just stole my thunder! ...
[/quote]

Apologies. Although I still play this one myself (well, try to..! ) on my sixer. Fabulous...

http://youtu.be/0RKsaRt3PCw

[madshadows]

I'm a big fan of Ian Hunter and Jaco played on his 'All American Alien Boy' record, on the title track he plays at nice little bass solo, about 1.25 in on the link below

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXiYkOEBv8U"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXiYkOEBv8U[/url]

John

[Thunderbird]

Not sure of this one I had never really listened to any Jaco stuff until I joined basschat in fact I had not even heard of him anyway I checked out some of his stuff on Youtube and it was that long winded and depressing I gave up

[Rumple]

Love him as a side man. Hejira being a top 10 LP for me.

I also love this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yReDe5-rTIU

[Luulox]

I would say yes, he expanded the role of bass playing and obviously has a massive influence on some of today's bass players. To be honest I was quite happy with bass where it was before him and I am not overly keen on his stuff. I don't doubt he was a genius but just not my cup of tea.

[chardbass]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1449514699' post='2924255']
....Anyone who cannot hear the strength of his playing is making choices that are based on a different aesthetic. He was an absolutely unique voice who stands repeated listening decades after the fact.

I don't listen to Jaco as a fan boy; I don't like everything he played on by any means. Nevertheless, I just hear him every now and again, shake my head and smile.
[/quote]

This x100.
I was a bit of a fan boy though in the late 80s- listened to him so much in those days and, I might say, my playing probably suffered as a result. I was all back pickup and staccato notes!
I rarely hear him now but I heard this the other day and it moved me so deeply. Simply stunning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpaFTPmp2Pw&feature=youtu.be

[deepbass5]

I guess one shouldn't exaggerate, there are several tracks i like, I did learn the Chicken and Birdland, So I guess more than one spin but not a fan. I do believe he helped make electric bass more acceptable to the wider jazz community, and if he were still alive maybe it would have been as acceptable by now as the dog house. His contribution and influence is without question.

[thodrik]

I like him, but he isn't somebody I listen to frequently. I generally don't listen to 'listen to how great [insert individual player of a certain instrument]' type bands.

Jaco was a great player and influenced many, including many of the 'noodling away on the back pick up of a jazz bass while wearing a hat' bass players that I love so dearly...

[visog]

Real deal for me too. four sides to Jaco for me:

Solo - highlights: Eponymous and 'Word of Mouth'
Weather Report - highlights: 'Heavy Weather', couple of track from 'Black Market' and I've always enjoyed their 2nd eponymous too
Joni - highlights: 'Heijra' - sublime and the others too, live album 'Shadows and Light' is great
Sideman - highlights: Pat Metheny's 'Bright Size Life'

But the last category along with his unofficial solo output deteriorated rapidly as he succumbed to substance abuse and bi-polar so don't let this sad end overshadow his earlier tour-de-force output....

[JamesBass]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1449514166' post='2924241']
This record never came off my deck.....
Listen to Gadd and Jaco go at it around the 4 min mark...and give it 60 seconds or so

To this day, this influenced me so much... without me really realising it.

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzMYsLkuxI"]http://www.youtube....h?v=pFzMYsLkuxI[/url]

To me, that is why it makes perfect sense to say Jaco re-wrote the book
for bass players......... and I never considered myself a fan..!!

Never owned a fretless.. but did I cop a lot of those licks from this one album..
[/quote]
12 seconds I lasted past the 4 min mark! That interplay was ASTOUNDING! Talk about great rhythm sections.

[Bilbo]

[quote name='chardbass' timestamp='1449518618' post='2924315']
This x100.
I was a bit of a fan boy though in the late 80s- listened to him so much in those days and, I might say, my playing probably suffered as a result. I was all back pickup and staccato notes!
I rarely hear him now but I heard this the other day and it moved me so deeply. Simply stunning.

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpaFTPmp2Pw&feature=youtu.be"]http://www.youtube....eature=youtu.be[/url]
[/quote]

That was beautifully arranged

[steve-soar]

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW7jJUhz1vM"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW7jJUhz1vM[/url]

[Bassjon]

I listened to a Jaco live solo once. I didn't understand it. There was no time signature, it was just random runs with a couple of harmonics on the end. Then waiting for a few seconds then doing it again ..... and again. I put my humble opinion on what I thought next to the video - didn't slag it off, just said I don't get it and it's not for me and how I like to hear a cohesive catchy melody in a song format. Well the shitstorm of hatred I got was unbelievable! 'You're not a 'proper' musician' etc! So for me Jaco has been spoiled by all the fanboy jazz purists. I do like playing Come On, Come Over' though. Start there, its easy to listen to!