Jaco Pastorius

[bearhart74]

like him or not he was a game changer.

if its 1976 and your bass player has missed rehearsal or a gig you know why.

Edited November 4, 2019 by bearhart74

[mikel]

1 minute ago, bearhart74 said:

like him or not he was a game changer.

You mean every bass player since really wanted to be a guitarist? Lol.

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, acidbass said:

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

This, what a band that was. 

[goingdownslow]

Not a Jaco fan but I did like his playing on Ian Hunters album of which this is the title track...

 

[4000]

8 hours 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. 

 

I bought this about 35 yrs ago on the same day I bought the brown Stanley Clarke album. I was so excited to hear it, far more so than I was the Stanley album, which my dad talked me into buying. Ironically when I listened to them I was utterly underwhelmed by Jaco’s album and blown away by Stanley’s. I’ve listened to the album many times since and it has never gelled with me, although I do really like Okonkole y Trompa. I prefer his work with Weather Report, but to be honest, I’ve never been a particularly huge fan of his playing, although I totally respect him as a player and musician. 

There’s nothing wrong with not liking something you expected to. After all, everyone has different tastes. Just don’t go down the route of thinking that because you don’t like it it has no value. 

EDIT: unlike most, I’m not a huge fan of the Joni Mitchell stuff either, but then I’m not a massive fan of JM or Pat Metheny. Again, just not really my taste (FWIW, I am a big jazz fan). 

Edited November 4, 2019 by 4000

[madshadows]

1 hour ago, goingdownslow said:

Not a Jaco fan but I did like his playing on Ian Hunters album of which this is the title track...

 

 

That's a brilliant record I'm a big fan of Ian Hunter's stuff), Jaco plays great on that and even plays lead guitar on a track !!

 

John

 

[Burns-bass]

3 hours ago, mikel said:

You mean every bass player since really wanted to be a guitarist? Lol.

Seriously, you can see his impact through pop music and beyond. Pino’s bass dominated the 80s airwaves and it was all inspired by Jaco.

The sound of Graceland was Kumalo, a man who revered Jaco but took fretless licks mainstream in an album loved by millions.

I could go on, but I’d get bored. 

Game changer? Yup.

[BrunoBass]

He doesn’t do a thing for me, but then again neither do any of the other bass virtuosos that people get excited about. 
 

I respect the talent and the dedication, but it just leaves me cold. I look at bass as a supporting instrument that serves the song. 

[CamdenRob]

Not really my bag but each to their own and all that...

I think I just don’t understand it. There are lots of things I don’t get musically that are widely admired. I always thought Miles Davis records sounded like someone dropping a trumpet down the stairs 😕

Don’t really get the point in being clever if it sounds s**t 😐

Edited November 4, 2019 by CamdenRob

[Muzz]

Nope, doesn't do a thing for me, like a lot of bass solo virtuosos. I also think his influence is overestimated (not difficult with some of the hyperbole given out) - yes, he influenced a lot of players that followed him (and strove to sound like him - that parpy back pickup stuff), but not many of the bigger players I like.

All IMHO, YMMV, etc, etc...

[thebassist]

Hearing that record prompted me to quit the band I was in and get lessons. It had a profound effect on me. For me, there is electric bass pre-Jaco and electric bass post-Jaco.

And I love Bright Size Life with Pat Methany too. Mental to think Methany was only 21 at the time that was recorded.

 

[YouMa]

I was like WTF is this ceefax music when I first heard Weather Report. But over the years I find a few of Jacos stuff just the essence of 70s weirdness which is what I love about him. River people sounds so cool and the stuff he did with Little Beaver is awesome. No one who doesnt play bass has heard of him though!

[miles'tone]

40 minutes ago, YouMa said:

I was like WTF is this ceefax music when I first heard Weather Report. 

Brilliant 😄

[White Cloud]

8 hours ago, Hellzero said:

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...

I totally get this: I was blown away by Jaco's chops when he broke through, and reverred his technical nous. 'Heavy Weather' is in my top 5 albums of all time however, for me, it was always Percy Jones. A total pioneer of explorative, expansive - sometimes left-field - fretless bass... and that right hand technique!!! 

In fairness, unsolicited, Jaco came upon Percy by chance and heard him playing in the flesh... he had the utmost respect for Percy and his approach.

[ambient]

4 hours ago, BrunoBass said:

He doesn’t do a thing for me, but then again neither do any of the other bass virtuosos that people get excited about. 
 

I respect the talent and the dedication, but it just leaves me cold. I look at bass as a supporting instrument that serves the song. 

He grooves like anyone on this record. No disrespect at all, but it’s the bass as a function thing that I’ve never personally got, possibly why I don’t refer to myself as a bass player. Each to his own though, like I said earlier.

[ambient]

3 hours ago, YouMa said:

I was like WTF is this ceefax music when I first heard Weather Report. But over the years I find a few of Jacos stuff just the essence of 70s weirdness which is what I love about him. River people sounds so cool and the stuff he did with Little Beaver is awesome. No one who doesnt play bass has heard of him though!

Some of the synth sounds haven’t aged too well. If you get past that though, there’s some beautiful melodies, grooves and sublime playing. 

[ambient]

8 hours ago, mikel said:

You mean every bass player since really wanted to be a guitarist? Lol.

I don’t understand that comment tbh. Whilst undoubtedly he has amazing solo ability, he also has phenomenal groove. I really don’t understand the guitarist analogy.

[chris_b]

I bought all Joni Mitchell's albums up to Hejira. I know I'm in a minority here, but I thought it was a great album ruined by overplayed and unsympathetic bass playing.

[chris_b]

10 hours ago, bearhart74 said:

. . . . . . . .  he was a game changer.

I totally agree.

[Kiwi]

16 hours 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. 

 

 

Of course these days 13 year old girls are on Youtube ripping away on Donna Lee and JP is considered a bit passe...as is Hendrix.  But while they were both alive they were blowing everyone else out of the water in terms of both technique and creativity.  Context is everything.

[Bassfinger]

Great player, but leaves me cold.  Not my thing at all.

[jacko]

For a more accessible Jaco, try to find his collaborations with Brian Melvin - jazz street and Nightfood are great albums of listenable jazz. 

I get the bass virtuoso comments though. I have about 2 feet of CD shelving taken up with bassists'  'solo' albums - jaco, marcus, wooten, clarke, lawson, entwhistle, Berlin, feraud, strandberg, hellborg, bona, nitti and so on. Very few of them have had a second playing and sit gathering dust because, for the most part, they're a boring as sin.  However, stick any one of these players in a decent band and they invariably shine. 

[Hellzero]

5 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Of course these days 13 year old girls are on Youtube ripping away on Donna Lee and JP is considered a bit passe...as is Hendrix.  But while they were both alive they were blowing everyone else out of the water in terms of both technique and creativity.  Context is everything.

Ok, fine and what about Percy Jones and Jeff Beck... They both were there, with an impressive technique, at the same time and even before Jaco Pastorius and Jimi Hendrix.

Q : Why don't they get the recognition they diserve ?

A : They have no "tricks" to appeal people, they just make music !

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Jimi Hendrix, just like I do love Jaco Pastorius when he's playing bass and not demonstrating.

And yes there is an after Jimi Hendrix, Jaco Pastorius, Miles Davis or Esbjörn Svensson. They were milestones for sure.

[Frank Blank]

1 minute ago, Hellzero said:

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Jimi Hendrix, just like I do love Jaco Pastorius when he's playing bass and not demonstrating.

He did ‘present’ like a mandrill.

[Hellzero]

Sorry @Frank Blank, I don't get it.