The "what's the big deal about Jaco?" Zombie thread.

Change your own mind.

This of course isn't ment to offend bassisters or anyone's bassisting.


Some people love him, some don't.

Why do you list Jaco as an influence in your profile if he so obviously is not?

Some people like exotic food like truffles and foie gras. Other people like McDonalds. Each to their own.

...

Wow.

Good luck on getting an amp so everyone else can hear your wonderful bassisting.

Uh, you need to listen to some of his recordings. I'd get his self-titled release, "Jaco Pastorius" and give that a good listen. It sounds like you got crap videos because he will always be considered one of the greatest bassists ever. He was very innovative and really did a lot to reveal the possiblilties of the electric bass to the world. His solo abilility was amazing as was his ability to hold down an awesome groove. He may not be the best when compared with the superbassists of today, but I think most can agree those superbassists would not exist were it not for Jaco's music.

Wow, that means the guy who started that thread about people saying Jaco was an influence when they didn't know any of his tunes was right! Dude, we owe you an apology!

Ya... my view on jaco:

I can totally respect his talent... but he bores me to death.

For me, I totally respect his music, but it's not my bag of tea. Not only did he bring bass to the forefront, but he also had impeccable phrasing with almost a vocal-like quality. He's not my favorite bassist either, but he's certainly influential in at least a sizable way.

Check out Heavy Weather by Weather Report and his solo album. Listen to the whole album of each to get an idea of what he can do.

Frugle, though you think your views warrant Talkbass consideration, there have been multiple Jaco threads recently that started with posts just like yours. There have also, in turn, been extensive replies to your question written in these threads of late.

Also, Frugle, get ahold of Jaco's self-titled ablum and listen to it a number of times to get a good feel for the man.

The Clap said:

Frugle, though you think your views warrant Talkbass consideration, there have been multiple Jaco threads recently that started with posts just like yours. There have also, in turn, been extensive replies to your question written in these threads of late.
.

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+1

RTFM!!

Is the only comment that sums up my feelings on this....

Bruce Lindfield said:

+1

RTFM!!

Is the only comment that sums up my feelings on this....

Click to expand...

Of course, you noted that this was a perfect example of that other users point whose thread you poo pooed. Frugle quoted Jaco as an influence without even listening to him. I guess you owe someone an apology, I am sure you are a big enough man to admit when you are wrong.

Get Joni Mitchell's 'Don Huan's Reckless Daughter' 'Hejira' and/or 'Mingus.'

That's Jaco in a more approachable situation. Maybe you just don't get heavy jazz from the '70's.

When you listen, remember that most electric bass parts recorded by that time sounded more like Country bass does now. There was some other amazing bass before Jaco (Look into James Jamerson!) but it wasn't as far forward in the mix back then. Even if you can't dig him, learn enough to respect him.

In my opinion the best "intro" Jaco cd would be Pat Metheny's Bright Size Life - Fantastic!

Jaco liked to do his own thing, which sometimes meant that he screwed around more than some of us might find musical, but he plays with so much melody and feel at other times that he more than makes up for any of the harsh vibes he creates.

Jaco and Stanley both knocked down walls in the 70's in my opinion.

Mark Latimour said:

Of course, you noted that this was a perfect example of that other users point whose thread you poo pooed. Frugle quoted Jaco as an influence without even listening to him. I guess you owe someone an apology, I am sure you are a big enough man to admit when you are wrong.

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Look _ I wasn't "poo pooing" that thread - whatever that means - I exlained about five times, that what's irritating is the proliferation of these threads - every week (!) now we have threads saying something like - I don't get Jaco - and this one just goes to further prove my point!!

What I'm saying - to make it clear for those like Mark who are slow on the uptake ..

...is why can't these people go and read all the responses to the 500 other Jaco threads round here? Why do they have to start a new thead every week and expect us (the TB regulars) to write out the same thing every time!! :scowl:

It's very irritating - but maybe that's why they do it....

I remember calling on an ad at Musician's local 47 in the 70's that read "Wanted; Bass player for Weather Report" I promptly called the number and the guy(Bobby Colomby?) said "we found a guy from Florida'. I replied "Are you auditioning anyone else?" and he said "no, this guy is outrageously good" (click).

At the time,Jaco played in a way that was rarely heard. Fretless through that boss chorus, open harmonics, stacatto 16th note funk lines etc. He really opened peoples ears to a different way of approaching the Bass Guitar.
Remember that back then Stan Clarke and Chris Squire were also opening peoples ears.
It's really east to listen to his version of "Donna Lee" in 2005 and deem it as sloppy,abstract or any of the many comments I've heard from people trashing his performances.
If you listen to our modern "greats" ,more often than not, you will hear a bass player who "soaked" in Jaco's playingh for a while.

Paul McCartney's "Paperback Writer" bass line was the state of the art in 1966.How many guys do that stuff now?

All of the above have a level of musicianship that is undeniable and they had the sound you know so well before anyone else did.
I saw jaco play live a number of times.Once he threw his bass across the floor of the stage,still plugged in, then from out of his back pocket he whips out a baseball cap ,puts it on ,and runs,then slides into "Bass".He opened that show playing drums because Erskine was late.

So he was a unique personality,a showman, a musician' s musician and developed a strong,original bass concept that affected others.So many of our modern bass "greats" are influenced by Jaco, that they border at times on being clones.It is easy, for the uninformed player who hears Jaco for the first time, to say he sounds like the 125 guys who consider themselves great players....because they can sound similar to Jaco. He did it first. If you removed Jaco's influence from some of the guys many TBer's think are the best players today, the influence that those players used to measure excellence would be missing.They wouldn't play the same way.