No real love for Jaco

[Sibob]

41 minutes ago, visog said:

Stupid thread... the jazz (and rock) music worlds are shrinking so quickly and this is what we're discussing?

Who says they're shrinking?

Si

[spectoremg]

Ah, idle hands make Jaco bashing. See similar posts ad nauseum...

[uk_lefty]

I would never say any bass player must love or even like Jaco. Personally I do, I like the music and the personality but I totally understand why other people would not like it. For example, I find some of the weather report stuff to sound quite dated now with the synth sounds, etc. Though the musicianship is incredible. With Jaco I never thought it was technical wizardry just for the sake of doing something complex, I always hear a groove there, and I love finding bits of his work with other people or his versions of songs like "I shot the sheriff". He had a distinctive voice, and if that's not your thing, that's ok by me.

[Al Krow]

Interesting to consider what our views of Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Amy Winehouse would have been if they had lived beyond an all too young 27, when they were at or had already passed their creative peak, and equally our thoughts on Jaco if he hadn't?

I may not like everything he did musically but, hey, I do know that Jaco was a hundred times (and the rest!) the bass player I could ever hope to be.

[fleabag]

14 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

Well. Another Jaco thread. Yawn!

And yet here you are

[Geek99]

i too admire his skill and fluency with the instrument. However his usage of it leave me uninspired; its not what I think bass playing is.  If you listen to african music where they successfully marry a recurring and prominent bass groove with some lyrical or melodic flourishes, that what I think it should  be. Not polite and hidden, not overbearing and pointlessly flashy. 

 

 

[Rich]

13 hours ago, visog said:

Stupid thread... the jazz (and rock) music worlds are shrinking so quickly and this is what we're discussing?

No, we're discussing it. You're complaining that we're discussing it.  

Funny though, I was under the impression that jazz is thriving. Lots of new young artists coming through, etc. Certainly the jazz scene in Bristol is as lively as it's ever been.

Edited November 22, 2017 by Rich

[TrevorR]

I admire his skill and think his playing with Joni Mitchell was exquisite. I do love Weather Report though  for me the draw is Zawinul not Jaco. And I probably enjoy Alphonso Johnson’s playing more.

Jaco’s solo  work tends to leave me a bit cold though and always feels a bit self indulgent to me. However impressive it is. Perhaps for me he’s just a player I prefer when working within constraints rather than free to go where he wanted...

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by TrevorR

[Kevin Dean]

I went to see him doing a one man thing , may have been the Bass Centre in Whapping ?...any way He was completely out of His tree ,&  just played a load of nonsense , I was a huge fan , but as they say "never meet your Heroes"

[Guest]

2 hours ago, fleabag said:

And yet here you are

It’s a forum. People give their opinion. There is also a search function.

[RockfordStone]

i appreciate he was talented, but i find most of it unlistenable. but that applies to most jazz for me. it's just not my thing.

i also can't get on board with mark king either.

[fretmeister]

He's not my bag either. I recognise that his fame caused the bass to become more popular, and that in turn leads to more players and better gear etc but I view him as someone who may well have started something new but was quickly left behind by those who came after him.

 

It's like JJ Cale tapping before EVH made it famous. The idea was the same, but the technique needed a composition before it made more people appreciate it - and that's what Eruption was.

Venom really started the thrash thing, but they were quickly surpassed.

 

So I'm glad Jaco did his thing and I'm glad it caused a bit of a revolution. But I won't be buying any CDs of his any time soon. 

[Bilbo]

2 hours ago, Geek99 said:

i too admire his skill and fluency with the instrument. However his usage of it leave me uninspired; its not what I think bass playing is.  If you listen to african music where they successfully marry a recurring and prominent bass groove with some lyrical or melodic flourishes, that what I think it should  be. Not polite and hidden, not overbearing and pointlessly flashy. 

 

 

 

[wateroftyne]

Loads of admiration for the guy. I've read his biog, watched clips of him play with my mouth agape, wandered how marvelous it must have been to be in his presence, acknowledged his influence, and understood that he changed the world of bass playing....

...but I don't really like any of his tunes.

Also, Dry Cleaner from Des Moines would have been better through Jamerson's taste filter.

IMO, obviously.

[Geek99]

18 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

 

can you explain your riposte/approval or disavowal of my point a little better ? I really don't get your meaning.  

[thepurpleblob]

I don't listen to Jaco, Wooten, and so on and so on. These pushing-the-limits-virtuoso-bass-players do nothing for me. Music I like to listen to doesn't have that stuff in it. 

But... to be fair... I know I'll never get anywhere near any of them. So respect as it were. 

[Bluewine]

17 hours ago, Sibob said:

Who says they're shrinking?

Si

Depends, in my area places for rock bands to play are rapidly becoming far and few in between.

You've never heard this;

'Oh, that place, they don't book bands anymore"

Blue

[jazzmanb]

Agree with OP ,impressive but there's lots of great players out there so i'm not sure why he gets the extra star or two

[Frank Blank]

I don't really understand virtuoso players like Jaco, it's like watching someone type incredibly quickly but what they write is incomprehensible, to me anyway. I always think the playing should serve the song and the song not be a platform for virtuosity but then I'm an old punk so solos and such leave me cold. JJ Burnel is about as fancy as I want and he managed to play beautiful impressive bass lines that always served the song. Jah Wobble is my ideal he found peculiar grooves and once in them he barely moves, restraint and subservience to the groove is where it's at in my book. 

[wateroftyne]

16 minutes ago, jazzmanb said:

Agree with OP ,impressive but there's lots of great players out there so i'm not sure why he gets the extra star or two

Because he started something new, maybe?

[BassTractor]

Jaco was a great player in every meaning of the word, and also released some stinky poo.

Gentle Giant were a great band who also released some stinky poo.

Zappa was a great musician who also released some stinky poo.

Etc. etc. I think you get my drift.

I believe the story that Jaco changed the bass world, and at any rate he turned me towards jazzrock and jazz. Thanks, Jaco! 

Edited November 22, 2017 by BassTractor

[mart3442]

Couple of things, with regards to Jaco being a "soloing bassist" and not playing for the song.... He was actually one of the most supportive players out there, especially with Joni.....                                 And James Jamersons lines being written for him...? Thats not actually true, a chord or lead sheet yes, but that was it. The lines for Reach out, and many many more, are on record (no pun intended) as being improvised. Theres plenty of documented evidence and first hand accounts to support this. "No love for Jaco".

Each to their own, now I think I'll go start a thread about a player I'm not fussed on..... ???

[jazzmanb]

31 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Because he started something new, maybe?

Yeah,possibly.

Regards "new" i think Mick Karn was unique and well under appreciated and i've never heard anything like him before or since.

Would he have been without Jaco ? who knows.

[Sibob]

46 minutes ago, mart3442 said:

Couple of things, with regards to Jaco being a "soloing bassist" and not playing for the song.... He was actually one of the most supportive players out there, especially with Joni.....                                 And James Jamersons lines being written for him...? Thats not actually true, a chord or lead sheet yes, but that was it. The lines for Reach out, and many many more, are on record (no pun intended) as being improvised. Theres plenty of documented evidence and first hand accounts to support this. "No love for Jaco".

Each to their own, now I think I'll go start a thread about a player I'm not fussed on..... ???

I never asserted that Jamesons lines were written for him, of course they weren't, but he was expected to play to a chart and support the song. Yes he was given some freedom because he had great feel, time and taste, but he wasn't writing tunes is my point, the Funk Brothers were a machine, they simply cranked out (usually amazing) songs for singers, from charts.

 

1 hour ago, jazzmanb said:

Agree with OP ,impressive but there's lots of great players out there so i'm not sure why he gets the extra star or two

I know right?! It's like Stairway To Heaven.....Jimmy Page was about 26 when he wrote that, I could play it when I was 16!!!! 

 

 

Si

[fleabag]

4 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

It’s a forum. People give their opinion. There is also a search function.

Opinion, yes. Sort of means a reason for or against. Where was your opinion ?  You just posted a big yawn.

If you see a thread title that has no interest for you,  move along. No one forced you here