I recently saw the Paul Jackson/Mike Clark video from the early nineties. I was floored. Any one know any good albums he plays on, besides the headhunters disks? His playing is supurb on recent headhunters disk...as well as the clasic headhunters. He is one of the best "Groovers" I have heard. Definantly has pocket!

I'm a big Paul Jackson/Mike Clark fan...
THRUST is cool(Herbie Hancock); I just bought FLOOD(as an import)...it's a double-live album on ONE cd. It was recorded during the '70s, muy mal! I hope to buying more of those import releases from http://www.audiophileimports.com as the $$ allows.
I also have a PJ/MC album called THE FUNK STOPS HERE(w/ Kenny Garrett on sax).
The one Mike Clark solo disc I have(GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME)was a surprise; I was expecting some hard Funk...instead, the cd was some hard bop. Very swingin' date.

Anybody have The Headhunters' cds(the ones without Herbie)?

Hey,Paul is a realy bad cat!
I have only listened to the old Hancock records:he has great sense of the space(Chameleon bass part is amazing...),great funk lines,bad sound,.....he is a master in his style,of course!

Big fan of PJ here, too.

Originally posted by JimK

Anybody have The Headhunters' cds(the ones without Herbie)?

My brother has The Return of the Headhunters, and I have to say I don't like it as much as Headhunters. They have Herbie as a guest keyboardist, and there are some vocals on the album as well. But, Paul Jackson has a few good tunes on the album (I can't remember any right now), and his basslines are more complicated than the first Headhunters. (not necessarily "better") Anyway, I wouldn't buy the album, but it's worth a listen.

PS: I think Harvey Mason could drum circles around Max Clark any day.

Dave

Personally I think the return of the Head hunters is a great album, and I do agree with you on Harvey mason, But I like mike clark's use of linear grooves, and his feel. I guess Mike clark drums more my style.

I got that "new" Headhunters' cd; really, I thought it stink, stank, stunk.
I'm talking about the Headhunters' cds sans Herbie that were released in the late '70s/early '80s.

I'd have to go with Mike Clark over Harvey Mason. I dug Mason alright back in the '70s; lately,...whew, Fourplay? Nah!

As much as I liked Harvey's playing back then (pretty generic and safe now) I thought Mike was more adventurous and more fun to listen to with Paul Jackson and Percy Jones (Brand X). YMMV

I agree, Brad-
Clark has got the "Bay Area Funk" thing goin' on(Garibaldi is another one...must be something in the water out there).
Clark can also swing like a mad man; for the life of me, I can't seem to recall one straightahead-ish album of Mason's.
Are there any?

Garabaldi as a white guy is has mastered the afro-cuban style of playing. I am also a drummer, and watched some of his videos. Tower of Power is my favorite band...excelent musicianship. Does any one know what happened to Chester Tompson (the organ player from the seventies) I heard that he moved over with santana.

I have to admit that the only album with Max Clark that I've heard was the return of the headhunters, so I'm just basing my opinion on that.
Geeze, there are so many players that I DON'T know about; I have to check them out so I can partake in these discussions.

I'm going to listen to Hank Mobley and Christian McBride, then Charlie Mingus and Miles Davis... How's that list?

Dave

kick ass list man...dont forget the first Head Hunters album. For some slow grooves, dont miss the Meters!!

I don't think Jackson gets the credit he deserves. Vic can slap the hell out of his bass, but Paul Jackson's the king of funk in my book. Of course, playing with Clark and Herbie doesn't hurt ;-}...

I picked up two cds today-
1)Herbie's MAN-CHILD; it's from '75, I never had it 'til now. Some more cool Jackson/Clark grooves; Mason & Louis Johnson are also on the album.

Disc 2 is something called the MUSIC REVELATION ENSEMBLE(it was $9)...it's a Blood Ulmer project; it caught my eye 'cause three horn players that I dig are on it + an ELECTRIC bass is used. This combination intrigued me ;)
Anyway, GGGGEEEEEEEEEEZZZZ!!! The drummer on this cd is H-O-T! His name is Cornell W. Rochester; anybody got the scoop on this guy? ...Brad?

top- Right on with the Meters stuff. I have the Meters anthology. But, if you like the Meters, you'll love Galactic. Check them out for some New Orleans funk!

Dave

I'm also a great fan and one of my favourite moments in music is on Chameleon, where the synth bass stops and the "real" bass line starts under the piano solo.

I have an unofficial recording of the new Head Hunters playing live in London, which I copied of the BBC radio programme "Jazz on 3" , which has some awesome bass/drum grooves.

I would also like to buy some other albums on which he has played, but there don't seem to have been any apart from HH releases mentioned here - or have I missed something? I read through the thread several times !

The Headhunters released 2 albums WITHOUT Herbie-
1)"Survival Of The Fittest" from '75
2)"Straight From The Gate" from '77

Japanese imports...pricey($30 ea). Available at http://www.audiophileimports.com


Nobody knows Cornell Rochester, huh? I did find a solo cd of his at http://www.towerrecords.com & I ordered that mo'fo!

Not familiar with Mr Rochester but thanks for the tip, Jim:D
I love good (and great)drummers.

Jim - having re-read, I may have confused the issue even more myself. When I said HH, I meant does anyne know of any albums Paul Jackson has played on that aren't HeadHunters albums? Surely Headhunters wasn't his first album?

Originally posted by top028
Garabaldi as a white guy is has mastered the afro-cuban style of playing. I am also a drummer, and watched some of his videos. Tower of Power is my favorite band...excelent musicianship. Does any one know what happened to Chester Tompson (the organ player from the seventies) I heard that he moved over with santana.

You are correct, sir. CT has been with CS for a while.

I got the Cornell Rochester disc(I SAID YOUR MOTHER'S ON THE PIPE)the other day. The drumming is happenin', though the tunes are NOT(well, 2-3 of the 9 are "OK").
The synth sounds on this recording are kinda "cheesy", kinda in that late '80s R&B schmaltz vibe.
I got another Music Revelation Ensemble disc coming in this week w/ Rochester...keep ya posted.
***Now back to our regularly scheduled program***

Has anyone picked up the re-issue of Jackson's BLACK OCTOPUS? Mine's on order & hasn't arrived yet...(I'm pissed that I ordered it when the local flunky store actually got a copy in last week!).

Brad, Jerry...c'mon, I know you guys have this(or had it).

I did pick up Mike Clark's ACTUAL PROOF...

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread (over 9 months since last post!) but I thought my question might fit in here.

Could anyone help to break down the Paul Jackson "sound"? He gets such great tone - warm and thick, but still with real definition to notes - I think of it as "woody" (my own term!) which a tone that I seem to associate with maple fretboards.

I've dug out an interview in 'Bassist', and nowdays, he uses roundwound strings and active Neuser (sp?) basses. Back in the 70s, what would PJ have been using? There's a picture in the liner notes of 'Thrust' that shows him with a maple-board Fender. Would PJ have been using flatwound strings? I just can't seem to get that kind of "thud" out of roundwound strings. Listen to 'Palm Grease' or the first 30 seconds of 'Actual Proof' (both from 'Thrust') - that's the kind of tone I'm striving for at the moment.

Thanks,
David

Dave-
...I'm assuming it's a Fender P-bass.
Nowadaze, PJ is using an ESP bass; another cd I've recently picked up is Conjuction...PJ & Mike Clark & Dave Fiuczynski(I'm rather disappointed in this release, save for a couple of numbers).
Also, in the cd booklet to Black Octopus, there's a couple pictures of Jackson playing...I dunno, some kinda "Frankenstein"-style Fender; the all-maple neck looks like a Fender Telecaster bass neck. the body looks as though TWO soap bar pickups have been placed midways.
I'd bet Brad would know this...

http://www.ebs.bass.se/artists/Paul.htm

Jim, if I were a betting man I'd bet Paul played a P... but I'm not positive. People forget that a lot of early finger-funk and slap was done on P basses.

No doubts,it's a P-bass!
I love that sound.
I think that PJ 's main bass,was a early 50's telecaster style P-bass.I know he uses heavy strings(with a 0.50 G string!!!!).
Naowadays I am playing many headhunters covers
with my fusion group: I am happy about the sound I get with my Sadowsky in passive mode with only the neckl pick-up on.

In the video that I saw with PJ and MC paul was playing a custom Jazz bass. I can get his sound using my fretless jazz bass using the neck PU with just a tad bridge. But I do agree that from the original headhunters albums he is using a 50's tele P bass I am not sure I have a picture of him at home in a CD insert

when it comes to making it out there in the music business as a bassist, the most important thing that you need to know is how to groove, and Paul Jackson knew how to do it.

"Watermelon Man" is still one one the coolest basslines of all times! I love PJ Jr.!

paul jackson had a set of hi a's in that mongrel fender. when i caught the return of the headhunters show, he was using that bass and broke the e string on the first tune. the guy digs in harder than anyone ive ever seen. herbie's secrets album has a great representation of that fender. paul jackson has influenced my playing more than anyone ive ever heard.

mike clarke is also one of my favorite drummers. the way he mixes a straight ahead kind of thing in his funk drumming is amazing. his playing on the brand x album product smokes too.

actual proof is in my top 5 of all time favorite songs.

with as much credit as jaco gets for his 16th note funk, i think pj's 16th note style is waaaay funkier.

Updates-

The Headhunters sans Herbie discs mentioned above are now domestic re-issues...I'd rate Survival Of The Fittest as the 'better' of the two. Blackbird really impressed me...I would love to find a player around here that's into what McKnight's about.

I have also picked up an Azteca album w/ Jackson...I need to spend more time with it(Jackson is on some of the cuts)before commenting.

Today, I did pick up Herbie's Direct Step, an import disc originally issued in '79. Basically, it's a homerun...Jackson is smokin' as is Maupin.
The drummer is Alphonse Mouzon.
The band really stretches out on the album's THREE tunes.
...I mentioned this in a different thread-
Man, Jackson wears that bas LOW! ;)