Real Jaco vs. Imitation

[paintandsk8]

I just bought Word of Mouth Revisited and first i just gotta say this cd is freakin awesome! But here is my question. I don't have any of Jaco/weather report/Word of Mouth albums, and i wondered how the real versions of these songs with jaco playing them compare to these other bassists versions?

[Wrong Robot]

Apart from being a lot more clean cut and produced, the bassists on word of mouth revisited copy jaco's sound to the T.

I was really amazed.

It's really tough to say, ultimately jaco will always be superior because he WROTE those lines, but I never could have imagined them being played by anyone else and retaining a very similar sound.

however, the whole album lacks that raw energy that made jaco's music so great, I think it's just the difference in recording techniques, as well as technology, it's hard to say, but when I listen to the original Word of mouth album, or his debut solo album, It just has that sound.

Victor Wooten and Marcus miller are the two bassists on that album that don't copy jaco's sound, and I dig that, Vic's version of teen town is very creative.

I think my favorite track on revisited is "opus pocus" they rearranged the song somewhat, but it still is just as groovy as ever, and david pastorius sounds GOOD.

[Peter Parker]

I think this album clearly shows what Jaco had and what is severely lacking by most musicians today: emotion. When you listen to Jaco's versions you hear so much more passion and that special something that's set him apart. Jaco had "it". For the most part the Rivisited album left me very empty. I can't listen to it. Most of the bass players sounded like they were just practicing and going through the motions. This CD confirms my suspicions that Victor Bailey is not a very good soloist. He grooves well which is most important anyway, but can't solo. Gerald Veasley wanked too much. Wooten sounded like Wooten which isn't a bad thing. The rest was so bad I can't even remember it.

[Stephen Soto]

Originally posted by Peter Parker
I think this album clearly shows what Jaco had and what is severely lacking by most musicians today: emotion. When you listen to Jaco's versions you hear so much more passion and that special something that's set him apart. Jaco had "it". For the most part the Rivisited album left me very empty. I can't listen to it. Most of the bass players sounded like they were just practicing and going through the motions. This CD confirms my suspicions that Victor Bailey is not a very good soloist. He grooves well which is most important anyway, but can't solo. Gerald Veasley wanked too much. Wooten sounded like Wooten which isn't a bad thing. The rest was so bad I can't even remember it.

I don't have the CD, but i've heard a few tracks... I don't feel it the same as Jaco, because it's not Jaco... I've seen a couple of Jaco videos and interviews, and he seems to have truly loved music and put his emotion into every single note...
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Treena Foster]

The edge is not there because Jaco played by the seat of his pants, he played what he felt at the time. Jaco didn't write out those parts they cam from inside him, raw energy with talent beyond his years!

I can cover Jaco parts but they will sound just like that.....covered!


Treena

[Stephen Soto]

Originally posted by Treena Foster
The edge is not there because Jaco played by the seat of his pants, he played what he felt at the time. Jaco didn't write out those parts they cam from inside him, raw energy with talent beyond his years!

I can cover Jaco parts but they will sound just like that.....covered!


Treena

Yeah, what is amazing to me about Jaco... Is that today, people are not as good as him, but in that higher league... But they (Victor Wooten, ect...) had the ability to challenge themselves with learning his songs, and others that wanted to be as good as Jaco...
But Jaco was the ONLY person in his time that was in his league. And he made all this crazy sh*t up, on his own, because he couldn't borrow or copy from anyone else...

[Wrong Robot]

Originally posted by Stephen Soto

because he couldn't borrow or copy from anyone else...

That's not true at all, he had his influences just like everyone else.

he of all people defnitely did not come from a vacuum.

granted a lot of his playing was truly unique and original, "I know where I stole every note"* still applies.



*quote from jaco

[JFN]

Here is what I found most telling about this disc. I was listening to it and thinking, these guys are great bass players and everything, but they didn't really make the tunes have that "something special".

Then I heard a track that was an 8-bar blues format, and the bass player was really "happenin". When I pulled into work and parked, I thought to myself, man I gotta get the CD booklet out and see who that was, it was great. Turns out, it is the one track that Jaco himself plays on. That kind of said it all for me.

John

[Stephen Soto]

Originally posted by Wrong Robot



That's not true at all, he had his influences just like everyone else.

he of all people defnitely did not come from a vacuum.

granted a lot of his playing was truly unique and original, "I know where I stole every note"* still applies.



*quote from jaco

I'm not talking about band influences, or other bassists... I'm talking about pure skill, there was nobody around then that could even matcn up to Jaco, and that he was the first to do so without there being anyone close to as good as he was...

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by Wrong Robot



That's not true at all, he had his influences just like everyone else.

he of all people defnitely did not come from a vacuum.

granted a lot of his playing was truly unique and original, "I know where I stole every note"* still applies.



*quote from jaco

EDIT:

Jaco had an edge that wasn't influenced though.

The man just had raw talent!




Treena

[CrazyTwoKnobs]

Originally posted by Peter Parker
I think this album clearly shows what Jaco had and what is severely lacking by most musicians today: emotion. When you listen to Jaco's versions you hear so much more passion and that special something that's set him apart. Jaco had "it". For the most part the Rivisited album left me very empty. I can't listen to it. Most of the bass players sounded like they were just practicing and going through the motions. This CD confirms my suspicions that Victor Bailey is not a very good soloist. He grooves well which is most important anyway, but can't solo. Gerald Veasley wanked too much. Wooten sounded like Wooten which isn't a bad thing. The rest was so bad I can't even remember it.

watch it dude, some of those guys you think are so bad are probably on TB.

[metron]

Everything Jaco listened to influenced his playing and all those influences combined together with his raw talent and impeccable feeling created the great player we all love.

I love the WOM revisited disk.

[Treena Foster]

Originally posted by metron
Everything Jaco listened to influenced his playing and all those influences combined together with his raw talent and impeccable feeling created the great player we all love.

I love the WOM revisited disk.

Treena

[metron]

The difference between many bass players and players like Jaco and Victor is that they take all their influences and make them their own. I can play Jaco licks too and maybe someday Wooten licks but Im just copping someones licks or sound. To make that part of your own playing style and to grow beyond it is what makes a great player. Jaco had influences and took off with them, expanded on them. In his video with Jerry Jemott he plays a bass line from one of Jerrys sessions with BB King. Jerry reaction was: "Yup... he plays it better than I do!" He also plays the bass line from Funky Braodway and interjects possible more feeling that Tommy Cogbill on the original. Of course Jaco was truly a great writer as well. As for his style of dress that can be blamed on the fasion tragedy that was the 70s! Thats REAL Jaco!

[Peter Parker]

Originally posted by CrazyTwoKnobs



watch it dude, some of those guys you think are so bad are probably on TB.

So, I'm just stating my opinion. They're big boys and I'm sure they've heard it before judging by their playing

[jerry]

Here we go again......Jaco never studied with Carol Kaye.......he never even mentioned her as a influence!!!!

[narud]

Originally posted by jerry
Here we go again......Jaco never studied with Carol Kaye.......he never even mentioned her as a influence!!!!

actually i think jaco and jamerson were both her students at the same time

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by jerry
Here we go again......Jaco never studied with Carol Kaye.......he never even mentioned her as a influence!!!!

Well I've read everything in print there is about Jaco and it is never mentioned that he even knew Carol Kaye and I don't see how he could have been "influenced".

So Carol plays fretted basses with a pick in a very different style and does none of the things that Jaco was famous for - fast 16th note funk with ghost notes, harmonics natural and false, singing fretless melodic lines with double stops, full palm slap etc etc.

If he did have a lesson (and I very much doubt it) - he certainly wasn't listening!!

Unless it was about "dress sense" rather than music!!

[Basso Gruvitas]

Originally posted by Wrong Robot
Apart from being a lot more clean cut and produced, the bassists on word of mouth revisited copy jaco's sound to the T.

I was really amazed.

It's really tough to say, ultimately jaco will always be superior because he WROTE those lines, but I never could have imagined them being played by anyone else and retaining a very similar sound.

however, the whole album lacks that raw energy that made jaco's music so great, I think it's just the difference in recording techniques, as well as technology, it's hard to say, but when I listen to the original Word of mouth album, or his debut solo album, It just has that sound.

Victor Wooten and Marcus miller are the two bassists on that album that don't copy jaco's sound, and I dig that, Vic's version of teen town is very creative.

I think my favorite track on revisited is "opus pocus" they rearranged the song somewhat, but it still is just as groovy as ever, and david pastorius sounds GOOD.

Good thoughts Robot. Part of this CD's lack of energy also came from the control room. If you listen to the The first track with Jimmy Haslip (Paladium?), there's almost no reverb, no EQ, no track sweetening to phatten up the track. Jaco and Zawinul are GREAT producers as well - they were always able to bring a track to life in POST too.

I liked Marcus' rendition of TeenTown better (off "The Sun Don't Lie" CD). It sounded fresher, and better thought out. Wooten's version on the Jaco CD just sounds like it was "a take" -- like he was just going through the motions.

I DO like Gerald on Elegant People. Good energy there. Also, I admire the producers for mixing in an old Jaco track (the Herbie Hancock tune) with the current band. That's a real good example of what Treena was saying -- you hear Jaco "going for it" left and right and that track is so full of life.

The Word of Mouth CD has some bright spots, and some tracks that should have stayed in the studio.

[IAMERICCOCHRANE]

There is nothing, zip, zilch, nadda that sounds remotely close to Jaco except Jaco himself. Other bassist may play the same notes he did, but they will never sound or have the feel that Jaco had.