Jaco Pastorius

[Guest gazzatriumph]

I had not knowingly heard any of Jaco's work so bought his LP.  I really didn't think much of it at all, technically good but did nothing for me whatsoever, anyone else feel the same or is it just me or did I but the wrong album. 

 

[ezbass]

You have to like the style and musical genre. JP was incredibly adept, as is, for instance, Jeff Berlin. However, neither float my boat particularly. I imagine that there are guitarists that aren’t keen on Hendrix, but that doesn’t lessen his ability or influence. It’s OK for folks not to like certain icons, in my mind, and those who say otherwise don’t understand art.

Edited November 4, 2019 by ezbass

[dave_bass5]

Is this the bloke that everyone says  didn't need 5/6/7 strings 🙂

[jacko]

4 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Is this the bloke that everyone says  didn't need 5/6/7 strings 🙂

there's photos on the web of him playing his 5 string so if he'd lived I believe he'd have embraced all the bassy things we take for granted.

to the OP. if you don't like that kind of music you won't like Jaco's album. I won't hold that against you.

[dave_bass5]

3 minutes ago, jacko said:

there's photos on the web of him playing his 5 string so if he'd lived I believe he'd have embraced all the bassy things we take for granted.

 

Pretty much how i feel about most of the legends. They used what was available at the time, but given the choice who knows what they wouldst have ended up playing.

Anyway, not a fan of Jaco's music at all.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I've never really got into the self-titled Jaco CD, but I do like his playing on Joni Mitchell's albums

[ambient]

He turned bass playing on its head, but each to their own. I dislike any number of bassists, songs and bands that, as a bassist or musician I’m supposed to like.

[lowdown]

1976 and I was 19 when it was released. At the time I thought it was pretty amazing, to a degree, I still do I suppose.

It was certainly different and pretty fresh sounding at the time, and made me dive straight into Fretless playing (I never looked back).

I was at college at the time and a few of us started transcribing the Bass lines - All the harmonics and chord stuff were a real revelation.

Plus, he certainly grooved on 'Come on, Come Over'. I really liked the phrasing on the Bass solo on '(Used to Be A) Cha Cha'.

His arranging chops were pretty decent as well, with some top, top players of the time performing on the album.

 

 He didn't play on the 'Forgotten Love' track, the Piano was played by the great Herbie Hancock, but his composing skills shine though.

I liked him as a Musician.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BassBus]

1 hour ago, gazzatriumph said:

I had not knowingly heard any of Jaco's work so bought his LP.  I really didn't think much of it at all, technically good but did nothing for me whatsoever, anyone else feel the same or is it just me or did I but the wrong album. 

You might not like Jaco's music directly but you will listen to and love some bass players who have been influenced by him. He has that broad an influence.

[Burns-bass]

This is like going on a guitar forum and criticising Hendrix.

[Low End Bee]

Marmite.

I looked him up on youtube a few years ago and thought I'd stumbled across one of those shred videos that had started doing the rounds.

There's no denying that a lot of better players than me admire him and have been influenced by him so I will doff my cap to the fella.

[dave_bass5]

32 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

This is like going on a guitar forum and criticising Hendrix.

But he wasnt very good, he just made a lot of noise and impressed everyone. A bit like Slapping lol.

[Sibob]

I love Jaco for what he did for the instrument, but I always tend towards his big-band stuff. If you're not a fan of the solo bass stuff or 'fusion' stuff, try the Word Of Mouth album.

Si

[lemmywinks]

This:

1 hour ago, lowdown said:

Plus, he certainly grooved on 'Come on, Come Over'.

And this:

1 hour ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I've never really got into the self-titled Jaco CD, but I do like his playing on Joni Mitchell's albums

But also this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDrYgT_RzI8

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boNCY0Ai44M

 

Some of his playing is over indulgent and repetitive, some just not to my taste but there's no doubt he was capable of some of the most jaw dropping grooves and exquisite phrasing, especially considering he was essentially treading new ground. Bass playing would be massively different today without his influence.

[Soledad]

He's in my all-time top 5, maybe top 3. But I'd be first to say some of his stuff is hard to listen to or downright enjoy.
So why do I rate him so highly? Some, even a lot of what he played is a real joy to me and I agree with Jean-Luc  that his work with Joni M stands out and is an easy listen compared to some of the his other music.

I'd highly recommend Weather Report, and Heavy Weather in particular. At least take a few minutes to listen to 'A Remark You Made' (and check one or 2 of the live recordings of that track as well). That is one of my lifetunes, I mean an everlasting fine thing.

He definitely pushed the envelope, very hard. I'm not sure he always played for the audience, or at least didn't make it easy for them. I think there are easier ways in than his solo album you got - his whole punk jazz thing is generally bloody hard to get inside. Then he has moments of amazing beauty. In my own little bass world he's right there with Jamerson, and Bach.

6 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

Bass playing would be massively different today without his influence.

👍

[lemmywinks]

This is also one of my favourites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjaThQCu58k

[WHUFC BASS]

I can't stand jazz. It sounds like a fire in a pet shop to me.

BUT I can appreciate decent bass playing, and that first album of his was a sublime effort. The techniques and use of notes was just amazing.

[Hellzero]

The only thing that bothers me with Jaco Pastorius is that it's his eccentricity that has always been rewarded and also the fact that he was a great soloist. Some musicians tend to forget that the more discreet Percy Jones did also a terrific job on the fretless bass the way a fretless bass can be used with a different approach, and he also was a very early pioneer, a few years before Jaco Pastorius in fact. Like already said I like Jaco when he's playing with Joni Mitchell because he's playing bass and not trying to over demonstrate what he was able to do.

I started fretless bass thanks to Percy Jones and Mick Karn, not Jaco Pastorius...

[Barking Spiders]

A good while back I also bought this album thinking I oughta if I was to improve as a player. At the same time I also bought  a Show of Hands by Victor Wootten and Thonk by Michael Manring. After 2  or 3 listens to each, which required some serious perseverance, I put them up on Amazon though it took a good half year for each one to sell. I appreciate the dextrous skill shown by each player but man alive, ditch-water has a shiny rainbow-like lustre in comparison. It was at this point I stopped listening to virtuosos for inspiration, opting instead for decent tunes.

[acidbass]

It was his work with Joni Mitchell that convinced me how good he was - never got on with his solo stuff.

[Guest]

Well, it’d be a dull world if we all liked the same music. About the only thing you can say with such threads. 

[Leonard Smalls]

While he always played like a demon, I feel that what he did for other people (eg with Weather Report) far outshone anything (or at least most of the stuff) he did on his own, where I think he leaned rather too much toward the cheesey elevator end of things....

However, as far as cheesey elevator stuff goes it was quality cheesey elevator stuff 😎

[Guest gazzatriumph]

Cheers for the replies, I wasn't crititising him, just didn't enjoy that album and wondered if I'd just picked the wrong album which it looks like I did. 

[Guest gazzatriumph]

3 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

This is like going on a guitar forum and criticising Hendrix.

I didn't criticise him

[mikel]

1 hour ago, Barking Spiders said:

A good while back I also bought this album thinking I oughta if I was to improve as a player. At the same time I also bought  a Show of Hands by Victor Wootten and Thonk by Michael Manring. After 2  or 3 listens to each, which required some serious perseverance, I put them up on Amazon though it took a good half year for each one to sell. I appreciate the dextrous skill shown by each player but man alive, ditch-water has a shiny rainbow-like lustre in comparison. It was at this point I stopped listening to virtuosos for inspiration, opting instead for decent tunes.

This. The tune always, always comes first. I dont care how much of a virtuoso someone is, if the song is not to my liking then its relegated to elevator music.