Jaco the Filum

[wishface]

Brought it yesterday, watched it today.

Very interesting, although most of it has been covered in the pages of Bass Player magazine over the years.

Here are some thoughts:

1. His was a very different time. If you recorded something like Onkonkole Y Trompa today, the engineer would be satisfied with you recording a couple of bars into Pro Tools and looping it for the track. Also musicianship back then demanded more learning than it seems today does, although perhaps that's just the genre Jaco largely played.
2. Clearly an awesome player, a fact repeatedly backed up by the many awesome musicians.

So this leaves me wondering: i've been playing as an amateur since '89. I've rarely been in bands, I don't even have an amp and can't really afford to travel around to join bands, although I'd like to. That's my problem of course. But the vibe from the film is of a community of musicians ready and skilled to jam/play. I just don't see this, at least not here (rural Somerset!). Compared to Jaco - who was of an age younger than the period i've been playing the same instrument - what am I? Where do I learn what he knew? Never mind being able to play his greatest hits (of which I have some small capacity), just his musical knowledge. I know scales, I know the neck, but what he played, his melodies (and those of the other instruments), it's a whole 'nother world.

I'm a guest in his house and, perhaps egotistically, I'd like to be more.

[TheGreek]

Though Jaco's playing may not be everybody's Cappuccino you've got to admire his commitment, hard work and technique. I'm currently reading his biography by Bill Milkowski - highly recommended BTW - which gives deeper insight into Jaco's mental health problems towards the end of his life.

As they say.."there was bass before Jaco and bass after Jaco"..

He could have written my signature(below) rather than Pele.

Edited February 14, 2016 by TheGreek

[wishface]

I do indeed admire him. I've read that book as well.

I do think, however, that film really contributes to his mystique rather than offer a more critical examination of his playing. It's very easy to say he's the alpha and omega of bass guitar. Well, where does that leave us then?

[Bilbo]

I think the OP makes an interesting point regarding the relationship between location and a scene and the ability of a musician to immerse themselves in music that will help him or her to progress. Jaco was playing percussion with Cubans before he was in his teens. If he had grown up in Boston, Lincs, he wouldn't have even HEARD of Cuba until he was 34

If you are living is a time or a location where you are surrounded by musicians who want to improve and play all day etc, and who play different musics at a high level you are going to get better quicker. If your experiences are less intense and less varied and the opportunities to play revolve around a small coterie of rock players who can't move past AC/DC licks, your rate of progress is going to reflect that. If you want to play Jazz at the highest possible level, you will need to be somewhere where that is encouraged and supported. The 'where' you can influence; the 'when' is in the hands of the Gods but Anthony Jackson particularly made the point that that era was a special time for players in parts of the US that is unlikely to be repeated. We have the unlimited resources of the internet available to us now but the consequence seems to be that the greatest of our musicians are scraping a living doing party tricks at music fairs.

We have our own time and must do with it what we can.

[AustinArto]

Didn't most of the old jazz greats relocate to join a scene though? Same with other art movements.

Suppose sometimes you just have to get on your bike.

[wishface]

I'm not even really interested in jazz, tbh. I own pretty much his entire output and I rarely listen to it, particularly the weather report stuff (I preferred Mahavishnu, if I must picka fusion band). His solo stuff is better.

Had he not taken up fretless playing, would he have been the icon he became? Would his sound have fit any other genre of music? The Ian Hunter track is really interesting, and I only heard that the other day for the first time. I can't imagine him fitting into a heavy metal band for instance! Did the genre he played afford him the opportunity to do waht he did? He plays very bluesy old school lines which wouldn't have fit a lot of other styles (like metal for instance).

It's very hard to know how to relate to it all, especially when he's surrounded by such a mystique. I found it rather telling listening to the outtakes and hearing Victor Wooten talk about Felix and how he's inherited his dad's mantle. Is that a good thing? I'm sure Felix is a great player and a nice guy, but that's a heck of a mantle!

Isn't the nature of bass playing that it's really shaped by the musical context? For my money, Chris Squire was the more prioneering player. I'm sure Jaco could run rings around him, but Squire was playing in a tighter context, he had to work with vocals as well as instrumentation. But then I listen to Yes more than Weather Report.

It must be great to live in a musical environment and to have the opportunity to soak up a ton of influences in a real-time environment.

[AustinArto]

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1455483261' post='2979541']
Had he not taken up fretless playing, would he have been the icon he became? Would his sound have fit any other genre of music? The Ian Hunter track is really interesting, and I only heard that the other day for the first time. I can't imagine him fitting into a heavy metal band for instance! Did the genre he played afford him the opportunity to do waht he did? He plays very bluesy old school lines which wouldn't have fit a lot of other styles (like metal for instance).
[/quote]

I don't really get this remark. Admittedly there's a lot of recorded Jaco that features repeated licks and it makes him sound a bit one-dimensional if that's all you've heard, but he was a very, very accomplished jazz musician.

I don't see the point of comparing him with, as in your example, someone famous for playing in a metal band. Jaco at his peak could run rings around anybody, sure technically he was amazing but judging him by his athleticism on the instrument is to disregard his mastery of the role of a Jazz bassist and indeed his mastery as a composer.

At first glance he comes across as a flashy player with some neat licks but he's a big deal because that's not the whole story.

[blue]

Time period and location is crucial.

I started playing bass guitar in 1966 with my first band. I grew up in a medium size town in New Jersey of about 35,000 and about 15 mins outside of New York City.

Everybody was in a band, and everyone wanted to get really good.So many kids were playing after they saw The Beatles in 1964, if you wanted to be in band you could find one very easily.

Blue

Edited February 15, 2016 by blue

[lowdown]

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1455483261' post='2979541']
but Squire was playing in a tighter context, he had to work with vocals as well as instrumentation.
[/quote]

Jaco working with Joni Mitchell, there is some delightful playing from him.

[keefbaker]

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1455401341' post='2978911']
But the vibe from the film is of a community of musicians ready and skilled to jam/play. I just don't see this, at least not here (rural Somerset!).
[/quote]

Other people will always make you better. There might be an open mic night at a pub, go down, talk to people, you might find people to jam with. Chances are if you're there itching to jam there are other people who want to too.

That said, I should do this myself. Drink my own damn kool aid.

[wishface]

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1455530029' post='2979801']
Jaco working with Joni Mitchell, there is some delightful playing from him.
[/quote]

Indeed, though much of that was jazz/ish.

[wishface]

[quote name='keefbaker' timestamp='1455530324' post='2979807']
Other people will always make you better. There might be an open mic night at a pub, go down, talk to people, you might find people to jam with. Chances are if you're there itching to jam there are other people who want to too.

That said, I should do this myself. Drink my own damn kool aid.
[/quote]

Would love to, but i'm out in the countryside and there's none o fthat locally.