I saw Herbie Hancock and his quintet that he put together as a tribute for Miles Davis's and John Coltrane's 75th birthdays. They were down at Lehigh. Amazing Jazz show.

Anyway, his bassist John Pattitucci played the meanest, best upright I've ever seen in my 17 year life span. Anyone ever see this guy? He's incredible! I mean, not just his style, but how he gets so into the music!

Comments? Concerns? Nate's bugging you?


:p

SKUNKJELLO,

I've seen JP play several times, and he's been great every time I've seen him. Be careful starting threads about him down here, though....for reasons I can't quite figure out, he has quite a few detractors on the board.

Originally posted by Chris Fitzgerald
Be careful starting threads about him down here, though....for reasons I can't quite figure out, he has quite a few detractors on the board.

Really? Why is this so?

JP is one of the bassists that really got me interested in playing bass - I have most of his albums - he is not only brilliant with the acoustic bass (in my opinion) but he is also excellent on his 6-string signature Yamaha. He is (also in my opinion) a brilliant composer, and is one of the few true jazz innovators. He is brave enough to step out into different genres, and is a great session bassist as well - I have great respect for his music.

I would be interested in listening to some opposing views.

Here's an opposing view. I really admire Patitucci's soloing and doubling skills (not only is he a monster with pizz, but his arco skills are great, too), but I've been less impressed by his efforts as a composer. His writing has a somewhat "static" quality to it, IMO; he'll write a nice hook, but he'll just repeat it ad infinitum and the tune won't really go anywhere. (FWIW, I think Sting does the same thing, too, as he no longer has Andy Summers' harmonic inventiveness at his disposal. But I digress.)

I think JP is much better when he's playing other people's music; I really like him on Lee Ritenour's "Stolen Moments" and the Danilo Perez trio thing he did recently. In the past, his acoustic tone was a little strained-sounding, but that could just be his equipment. He sounds a *lot* better on his new recording than he used to. And I want his Yamaha bass.

That's cool. I don't really know much about him, so I don't reall take offense to people not liking him. Each person has their own opinion. Anyone suggest some good recordings? Even if they're not his own.


:)

"Communion", his latest frontman disc on Concord, probably has his best writing, a lot of which is Latin jazz. Also check out "The Roy Hanes Trio"; that's the one with Danilo Perez.

Pattitucci has huges chops, but his playing always seems kinda sterile, like I'm hearing the result of some sh*t he practiced, not some sh*t he's really saying. I know some cats that would suck his d*ck in a second, I'm not one 'em.

I'd be really careful about calling him, "one of the few true innovators." Whatever dope would state something like that is really being naive.

David (Special) K:
Don't pussy-foot; tell us what you really think.

Originally posted by David Kaczorowski
I'd be really careful about calling him, "one of the few true innovators." Whatever dope would state something like that is really being naive.

Ach - that dope was me. :)

I must be really naive. I like his music. But I agree that he does stay "within the square" when he plays, unlike some musicians who do venture "out there".

Originally posted by David Kaczorowski
Pattitucci has huges chops, but his playing always seems kinda sterile, like I'm hearing the result of some sh*t he practiced, not some sh*t he's really saying. I know some cats that would suck his d*ck in a second, I'm not one 'em.

I'd be really careful about calling him, "one of the few true innovators." Whatever dope would state something like that is really being naive.

Wow, David said that so much more "succinctly" than I would have! Actually, when I was a pianist / guitarist in high school and first heard the Akoustic Band, I thought he was unbelievable. This was my FIRST exposure to jazz. When I came to college, the lead trumpet laid some Mingus on me, and that was it. I bought a few things with Pattituci on them after that, but they always got tired out quickly. However, I will say that he is a sideman on a few Criss Cross releases where he does play much better stuff (Mostly when Tain is kicking his butt). Still can't stand his solo stuff.

Monte

Originally posted by Bass Guitar
I must be really naive. I like his music. But I agree that he does stay "within the square" when he plays, unlike some musicians who do venture "out there".

There's nothing wrong with you liking his music, but there is a huge difference between stating you like someone's music and stating that he's one of the "few true innovators of jazz." That's a phrase that should bring only a very, very select few figures to mind.

I think he has been a bit of a hero to those of us who want to play Jazz on electric bass - mainly because he's one of those people who has a distinctive style and doesn't sound anything like Jaco! :D

I always find his double bass playing a bit dull - but he gets the top gigs and only seems to play in the UK with stellar names and at the biggest venues. So I can see why he does it! ;)

I also think he gets a good name with the electric bass community as he is a recognised educator who takes electric seriously - but of course this won't cut any ice with the double bass players over here! ;)

I like his playing on electric, but probably only because I'm thinking about how I can apply this stuff - difficult to be objective now; but I've heard more interesting players locally on double bass.

But then what do I know if people like Chic Corea and Herbie Hancock amongst many others on the same level are seeking him out for big international gigs?

This is more a observation than a criticism. I just finished listening to quite a bit of JP with the CCEB, and just like when I've seen him live, on both EBG and Bass, his solo's are often times repeats of stuff he's already done i.e. it's pre-cooked, frozen and then quick thawed in the microwave and put on the table. This leaves me imagining about the flavor and texture had it been cooked right then and there. That's just my impression.

To all JP detractors: I hear you. BUT...I still say that when he plays with Lynne Arriale, he sounds killer, and his ensemble playing is right on the money with that group.

his solo's are often times repeats of stuff he's already done i.e. it's pre-cooked, frozen and then quick thawed in the microwave and put on the table. This leaves me imagining about the flavor and texture had it been cooked right then and there. That's just my impression.
I play both upright and electric bass, the other day I was playing this gig and the trumpeter asked why I didn't play all the chord stuff, I told him that I've done it before and I am always working on something new, and then he tells me that that particular audience never heard those chords and it would be new to them, as a good recipe is always a good recipe, I am not saying that we should all learn a bunch of licks, just something to think about, we are all trying to create the right balance.
Bijoux
Denver-CO

When I first started playing Electric Bass, John was one of the first solo bassists I heard.

At least to me, I can't put on one of his records and let it play all the way through. Maybe I'm not that open minded yet, but there are some tunes that I think are great on every album I have of his, Unfortunately, they are not on the same album.

I have parts of the Akoustic Band "Alive!" video and I like to watch it every change I get. I think some of the solos and lines he plays at that gig are pretty good. I always catch myself staring in amazement. Am I easily impressed; probably so. :)

The songs that always gets me coming back for more are the ones he does on solo bass. Like the "Bach Prelude in G Major" and "Mullugh" (sp?) off of his "Heart of the Bass" cd. My other favorite is "Peace Prayer" from "Another World." IMHO, they are some of most beautiful sounding solo bass music around.

Just wanted to contribute my opinion.

JazzRBass

Pattituci no doubt can play but after one listen I have head it and am done with it.

Now Mingus, Pettiford, Brown, Chambers, every time I listen to these guys it is like I had never heard them. Sparks my interest every listen.

Speaking of Pettiford, my sister just married one of his nephews about a month ago. For some odd reason my playing hasn’t gotten any better because of this.

Originally posted by Ed Fuqua
It's gonna be hard to pick the Best Film of All Time if you've only seen three movies...
Once again KUNG FUQUA hits the nail on the head and drives it home with one powerful swing of his analogical hammer.

101 Dalmations, right?

I love Blanton, Pettiford, Chambers, Crosby (yes! Live at the Alhambra!), LaFaro, Gomez, Holland, Clarke, Stafford James, Buster Williams, Michael Moore and others . . . I can't be any of them. My hat is off to anyone else who doesn't try to be them. I guess that includes JP.

Ed, you've got a point there. He's one of the only upright players I've seen. The reason i said that whole "meanest, best" bit is because he is the best I've seen. I'll definately agree that there are better players out there. I've just yet to see them... As for bassists I've heard. Mingus is the top.

As an update - Wayne Shorter played the London Jazz Festival a few days ago with an acoustic quintet that included JP and they got rave reviews from all the press I read. A lot of them mentioned JP's bass playing as being very sympathetic and the interplay between him and Shorter.

Most Jazz gigs don't even rate a mention in the UK press, but this one got detailed reviews in all the "quality" press and those I saw were very favourable - this must be one of the biggest international straight ahead Jazz gigs at the moment and JP jhas got it and is getting well-known - no matter what we may think, he is likely to become the DB player of choice for anything like this and surely we can't affiord to ignore him?

An update on the update!

Last night BBC Knowledge on Satellite Digital TV screened a 90 minute special on the London Jazz Festival - so I actually got to see JP with Wayne Shorter's acoustic quintet - I recorded it as well!

I did like JPs playing ad he seemd to be the dominant contributor behind Shorter - the pianist was Danilo Perez and it was quite funny to see hinm struggling with some really old dog-eared sheet music. Wayne didn't seem to be calling the tunes (it could have been edited out?) just launching into them and the camera was at such on angle on Perez that you could see his piano covered in bits of pieces of hand-written parts. Presumably he was expected to know what tune they had started; but often you saw him shuffling though charts.

JP had all his charts organised carefully, but really didn't seem to be referring to them - presumably he was happy with well-known pieces like JuJu. But the fact that he seemed to know the tunes and was happy with them seemed to give him more confidence about where to take the tunes and I saw one solo where he really seemed to be leading and inspiring the drummer and pianist. Anyway it was really nice to have lots of live Jazz on TV! :)

At first, I didn't "get" the fuss over Pattitucci. My only exposure to him was with Chick Corea's bands. I never liked those recordings because of what I heard as an emphasis of chops over music.

Around 10 years ago, he came to Houston to play some gigs with pianist Paul English. I got to spend a Saturday afternoon with JP, talking and cooking Italian food. Great person, and he had some interesting comments about his relationship with Chick -- ethnic affinity because they're both Italian, but major religious differences. Still skeptical, I went to the club date that night. The first part of the evening was a set concert of music from Paul's CD. Pattitucci executed his parts perfectly, of course. Later in the evening, the gig developed into more of a raw jazz jam with people sitting in. Oh, Mommy, did Pattitucci play his a** off! And, he had jazz feel up the ying-yang. He dug in perfectly on the straight-ahead stuff, and he responded brilliantly when challenged to a duet by one of the pianists.

Bruce Lindfield pretty much beat me to my closing comment: Wayne Shorter hired him for his first all-acoustic group. Scoreboard!

We shouldn't judge an artist by a few recordings, Patitucci has recorded dozens and dozens of albums since the early 80's, we just can't afford to ignore him, maybe 100 years from now after the guy is dead then people go like " oh! wow! so and so was a genius", and then they release somehow even more albums than the guy himself recorded when he was alive, so please tell me who makes all the money?!?
BTW Bruce anyway we can get a copy of tha video;) , thught I might wanna try anyway.:)

I'm sure the BBC will be selling the whole piece on to other networks - that's how they make a lot of their money! They have repeated the London Jazz Festival programme - about 3 hours of live Jazz - twice now on their digital channels. I would suggest looking out for this on cable channels that carry "Arts" - type programming.

I like Patitucci a lot. I'm not saying he's the best, but, if you even compare him to Hinton and Pettiford, that's a compliment right there. Also, John is still young, he'll probably take us to new places as the years progress. Now, the question is: Who do like/think is better, Patiticci or Christian McBride? I like them both, and think that they're two of a kind, just with different ideas.

(Plugging his own here) I started a thread on this topic in Bassists, over in Bass Guitar. Answer here, there, or in both! ;)

Thanks,
Mike J.

In my opinion, these two are as close as you can get in talent. And yes, I have both of their latest CDs.

How can anyone rag on John?Opinions and tastes aside...The man has played (and will) with some of the Icons of jazz.Their opions and tastes should count for something.....Wayne,Herbie,Chick,Roy and all the others must hear(know) something.How can you rag on the man ? He is truly a gift to the bass,acoustic and electric.

As someone who previously stated I just didn't particularly care for Patitucci's playing (though he's obviously great), I recently heard him on something with some pianist that I really dug. So tastes (and maybe players) change!

It is all about the love...I've had the pleasure of talkin' with him.John has a deep love for the tradition.The man is a class act and brings it to the bandstand every night.It's beautiful when you think about it... You can't be born a dog and die a cat...