survey on jaco pastorius' influence on today's bassists

[scatman]

Originally Posted by hanna

hey guys

i'm doing a research paper on the history of the bass guitar and jaco's influence on today's bass players.

so i'm doing a survey in which i'm asking a few questions on jaco and i'd be really really glad if plenty of you would fill it in.
please give reasons for your answers (if possible).

thanks in advance for taking part. hanna



so:

1. how old are you?
2. how long have you been playing the bass?
3. do you play other instruments and how long have you been playing them?
4. what music do you play? (style)


4. have you ever played any jaco-tunes?
5. if so which ones?

6. what is your favorite jaco tune?

7. jaco - the world's greatest bass player? (as he used to call himself)
or:
8. just another talented musician who let fame, alcohol and drugs get him down?

9. jaco - the jimi hendrix of bass (do not only consider music but also lifestyle.)

10. how strong is jaco's influence on you?
(10) very strong
(1) not strong at all (who did influence you then?)

11. do you feel like your bass lines sometimes sound like jaco's bass lines or were they influenced by jaco lines?)

12. what if jaco had lived longer? what music would he play and who would play with him?

1. 41

2. 14 years

3. No, other than lead vocals on one gig

4. No

6. Three Views of a secret

7. Combo of 7 and 8, like many, many other geniuses!

9. No. Jaco was known to a bit of the mass market, but NOT like Jimi!

10. (1) I'm strictly a pocket player, as opposed to a soloist. Not that Jaco couldn't play the pocket, but others have influenced my playing more than Jaco.

11. No, not at all, to be honest.

12. One thing about Jaco's genius was that he was open to all styles. Based on that, everyone would try to play with him.

Some comments. Many of us have made a life mimicking Jaco's lines. But I remember an interview with Doug Wimbush, where he said that it's one thing to be able to copy him, but another to come up with that stuff out of your own head!

Another interview was of Marcus Miller, where he originally dissed him because Jaco's solos were mostly composed before he played them on stage. But Marcus realized, just like Wimbush, the ability to compose those type of solos (even before you hit the stage!) that still set him apart from the rest!

[clockworkwar]

I don't really think he has influenced the way I play, to be honest (and you will probably kill me) he wasn't that special.

[T-MOST]

He hasn't influenced me directly. But many of the bassists that have say Jaco was an influence to them.

[ack]

1. how old are you? 47
2. how long have you been playing the bass? 3 Years
3. do you play other instruments and how long have you been playing them? No
4. what music do you play? (style) Rock, Blues, Punk, Rockabilly

4. have you ever played any jaco-tunes? No
5. if so which ones?

6. what is your favorite jaco tune? He played bass on Ian Hunter's "All American Alien Boy", and did a good job.

7. jaco - the world's greatest bass player? (as he used to call himself)
or:
8. just another talented musician who let fame, alcohol and drugs get him down?
Just another egomaniac drug addicted musician. His vote on who the greatest bass player is, is irrelevant....and wrong.
9. jaco - the jimi hendrix of bass (do not only consider music but also lifestyle.)
See #8
10. how strong is jaco's influence on you? 1. (Nugent, Ted - drug-free egomaniac musician)
(10) very strong
(1) not strong at all (who did influence you then?)

11. do you feel like your bass lines sometimes sound like jaco's bass lines or were they influenced by jaco lines?) Not even close. The guy was a helluva bass player, but I can't stand his music.

12. what if jaco had lived longer? what music would he play and who would play with him? He'd write TV commercial jingles and music for the Simpsons and tour with Mark Mothersbaugh.

[TL5]

1. how old are you? 46
2. how long have you been playing the bass? since 1978, so 31 years
3. do you play other instruments and how long have you been playing them? some guitar and keys bt not a lot. 20+ years
4. what music do you play? (style) pop/rock, country and P&W at church


4. have you ever played any jaco-tunes? nope.
5. if so which ones? N/A

6. what is your favorite jaco tune? Don't have one.

7. jaco - the world's greatest bass player? (as he used to call himself)
or:
8. just another talented musician who let fame, alcohol and drugs get him down?

9. jaco - the jimi hendrix of bass (do not only consider music but also lifestyle.)
carrots??



10. how strong is jaco's influence on you?
(10) very strong
(1) not strong at all (who did influence you then?)

2.5, any influence has been third party. My bass instructor referenced him some. I like Tony Franklin, who seems to be a Jaco fan.

11. do you feel like your bass lines sometimes sound like jaco's bass lines or were they influenced by jaco lines?)
I wouldn't know, and don't care.
12. what if jaco had lived longer? what music would he play and who would play with him? see previous answer.

[GrindYourMind]

so:

1. 20
2. 7 years
3. I can play other instruments, however, I'll say none for conciseness.
4. Solo, Jazz, Progressive


4. Yes
5. Teen Town, Birdland, Portrait of Tracy

6. Teen Town, Slang

7. jaco - the world's greatest bass player? (as he used to call himself)


9. jaco - His own man, his own musician, people are comparable to him not the other way around.

10. how strong is jaco's influence on you? 8. I used to try and cop his techniques and phrasing all over the place, it's grown less prevalent (now I just cop Wooten and Manring =P)

11. See above,

12. He was stubborn. He'd be playing similar music with a similar bass.

[Pj,Rj,Hj]

1. 24years old
2. 11 years
3. No other instuments
4. Pop, Rock, Funk, Soul and some Jazz fusion


4. Yes
5. Portrait of Tracy, Come On Come Over, Speechless

6. Teen Town and/or (Used to be A) Cha-Cha

7. NO

8. YES

9. More tragic that Hendrix.

10. Influence a 5. More influenced by Mick Karn and John Giblin.

11. Sometimes, just a lot more ******.

12. I imagine I'd like Jaco the same if he lived and respect him in the manner of the all the other elder statesmen of Electric Bass. I imagine he'd follow a similar path to the other fusion legends but release fewer, maybe play a support role for the likes of Joni Mitchell again.

[Mad Russian]

Never liked his stuff. If he really did call himslef the worlds greatest bass player, I hate him even more.

[hanna]

thx, for all your answers! i didn't expect that many.

i've just evaluated them (but only jazz players) and the result is not really surprising: almost has played some of jaco's stuff and many were influenced.
what did surprise me though is that so many consider jaco to be the greatest bass player.
i posted this survey in a german bass forum and none of them said he was influenced. thats pretty interesting.

[Hewes]

1. 18
2. 5 years
3. Piano, acoustic guitar 4 years
4. Jazz
4. Donna lee (if that counts), Teen Town, Portrait of Tracy, Three views of a secret and Liberty City on piano
6. Three views of a secret
7. jaco - the world's greatest bass player? Dunno - my favourite though
8. just another talented musician who let fame, alcohol and drugs get him down? definately not just another talented musician but he let himself down with fame and alcohol
9. they were both pretty unique but probably quite different
10. how strong is jaco's influence on you? 10
11. havnt composed anything of that complexity and quality yet
12. reformation with Joe Zawinul would be nice.

[Hewes]

Just realised my post is irrelevant. Sorry!!