Jaco Suggestions

[MotorVenom]

I can't think of a better group to ask this question to: I don't currently own any Jaco but would like to, I'd appreciate any suggestions on what Jaco recordings you think would be good to get as introduction to his playing, Thanks!!

[steve66]

Anything Jaco is worth listening to.

[superbassman2000]

my two suggestions would be:
jaco's self titled solo cd
weather report-heavy weather

[BassGod]

For what it's worth, I hear Punk Jazz reccomended a lot.

Graeme

[MotorVenom]

Thanks for the suggestions, on my way to the music store

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by superbassman2000

my two suggestions would be:
jaco's self titled solo cd
weather report-heavy weather

Same

The self titled album and Weather Reports, Heavy Weather are both my favourites

[JimK]

Originally Posted by steve66

Anything Jaco is worth listening to.

As people around here know...I'm a huge fan.
That said, I do disagree with the 'anything Jaco" = 'good'.
Those Live in NYC discs + some other Euro boots = 'not good' & have actually turned off a few people as those cds were the only Jaco they had heard.

Same goes for guys like Hendrix...there's some great material & then there's some real tripe.

More decent Jaco-
30th Birthday Concert...Jaco driving a Big Band.
Live & Unreleased-Weather Report...true, it's not 100% Jaco (WR's other bassists are represented on various tracks).
Jaco...I've seen this album under Paul Bley's name & even Bruce Ditmas' name. Metheny is the guitarist...this album pre-dates Jaco's official debut & maybe even Metheny's Bright Size Life(IIRC).

[Alan Vorse]

As much as I love the solo stuff and Weather Report, REALLY love
Joni Mitchell-Hejira

[spc]

May I suggest Jaco's Word of Mouth album....
or his self titled one. Someone said Heavy Weather (Weather Report) and that's a great suggestion

[Nick Ioannucci]

self titled and a weather report album.

[MikeyFingers]

Originally Posted by BassGod

For what it's worth, I hear Punk Jazz reccomended a lot.

This was one of my first Jaco CDs. It's essentially a "Best of" album, but it's 2 discs and does have a lot of good stuff on it.
The one thing I couldn't understand though, they had a very odd variety. Disc 2 of Punk Jazz starts with all but 1 song from Word of Mouth, meanwhile there's only 1 song from the self-titled (Continuum). No Donna Lee? No Portrait of Tracy? No Teen Town!?
It's a decent introduction to Jaco as it shows his diverse range of styles, but you should definitely get his self-titled and Heavy Weather to go with it.
So that's Punk Jazz, Jaco Pastorius, and Heavy Weather (by Weather Report).
In addition:
Pat Metheny---Bright Size Life
Jaco Pastorius---The Birthday Concert
Weather Report---Night Passage (this one doesn't get enough credit, it's freakin AWESOME)

[bassist15]

I would really suggest his albums that are most notabble like The self-titled, Heavy Weather , Black Market, a few joni mitchell ones, word of mouth , the birthday concert. Then I would get Jaco: The Early Years by Bob Bobbing. Bobbing was Jaco's best friend and has many early years recordings of Jaco that no one else has. It is very awesome. I have it and it shows you jaco at an early age

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by JimK

Those Live in NYC discs = 'not good'

+1. Stay away from these. They look compelling, but in fact are very poor-quality tapes done from audience microphones. Unlistenable.

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by BassGod

For what it's worth, I hear Punk Jazz reccomended a lot.

Graeme

Good pick!

There's a great set called Jaco: The Early Years that is highly recommended too:

http://www.jacotheearlyyears.com/

[The Owl]

Originally Posted by JimK

As people around here know...I'm a huge fan.
That said, I do disagree with the 'anything Jaco" = 'good'.
Those Live in NYC discs + some other Euro boots = 'not good' & have actually turned off a few people as those cds were the only Jaco they had heard.

Same goes for guys like Hendrix...there's some great material & then there's some real tripe.

Very true, I avoided those ones like the plague after hearing some of them. Jaco was unfortunately very much on his last legs on these, the drugs and mental illness had taken their toll by this point.

[Jereth]

I picked up Modern Electric Bass nearly a year ago, it blew my mind. That 20-minute jam at the end was ecstasy! I loved every second of it. However, it's currently on loan to my drummer's brother...

Desite my ongoing best efforts, I couldn't find his self-titled album anywhere inb the shops. About a month ago, I noticed it in my drummers i-Tunes library. I got him to burn it for me and 'oh my god' was it good! I was hooked from the start. I'll never forget hearing Portrait of Tracy for the first time. I replayed it like 5 or 6 times before moving on!

Try and get his Modern Electric Bass video/DVD if you can. Great stuff...

[MikeyFingers]

Originally Posted by JimK

Those Live in NYC discs + some other Euro boots = 'not good' & have actually turned off a few people as those cds were the only Jaco they had heard.

I agree with that, for the most part, but I think Live in NY Vol 2 is actually not too bad. The quality isn't horrible, not the best, but not that bad by a long shot. The only thing I don't like about it is that the band is a bit scattered at times, losing sync with each other from time to time. But songs like Dear Prudence, Son of a Creeper, Cissy Strut and even that version of Teen Town are quite fun to listen to.
But be prepared, the songs from his prior studio releases (Continuum, 3 Views of a Secret) are horrendous, just absolutely terrible. But like I said, there are some very cool tracks and the quality isn't all that bad.
These albums are not good at all for Jaco new-comers, but as a fan of many years I really enjoy Volume 2 once in a while.

[Aaron Saunders]

My favourite Jaco moments are...


Self titled
Heavy Weather
Hejira (with Joni Mitchell)
Mingus (with Joni Mitchell.) Jaco played bass on this CD which also includes a full on start set of jazz musicians. He also arranged the horn parts for "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines," which is easily my favourite track from the whole album and is a prime example of his talent. Groovy.

[MikeyFingers]

Dry Cleaner is freakin AWESOME. By far my favorite song he did with Joni.

[Aaron Saunders]

See?! Great stuff!