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ALPHONSO JOHNSON BACK IN THE DAY!!!
- Thread starter bottomzone
- Start date
This is true, usually for people who don't have the breadth of experience you're talking to in this thread.
Over exagerate is an understatement.
How did funk come into the discussion? I think I missed something.
I didn't think any of them were arogant, you just have an overwhelming love of Jaco that is clouding your judgement. It's leading you to say things that don't really make a lot of sense if you're genuinely familiar with the other players of and before that time. By the same token, if you're not... you probably should reserve those judgements until you get up to speed.
i brought up the funk thing saying jaco didnt have stanley's funk or "real jazz" sensibilities
You more or less ignored what I tried to explain in the first half of my last post. I guess the apology was for no use
Did he... or are you ignoring what he plainly said?
Good point... and since you apparently can notice note choice, what note choices that AJ made do you attribute to Jaco?
Got a clip for the "Higher" solo?
Actually they have... you just seem to conveniently be ignoring it. AJ was an established soloist before Jaco gained notoriety and you need that explained?
Since the seventies when those effects were invented IIRC. Is there anything Jaco did that you don't think he was the first to do?
Cool. As far as funk goes, Jaco was Jaco and not even on my radar in that idiom. Not that that's a bad thing.
I always gave Jaco credit for the 'mandana' and also inventing really bad pants. Alas, I was even wrong about that.
Yeah, you could be on to something.
Okay, one comment... I thought the high waisted pants were a South Florida thing.
Butterfly Dreams was Stanley Clarke on bass, but great stuff. The ones I'm mainly talking about with Alphonso were: Encounter, Open Your Eyes You Can Fly and That's What She Said.
She always had great bassist including Ron Carter, Byron Miller and Jaco, but towards the end of the 70's they were trying to make her more commercial, but I even dug that stuff. Her concerts with Airto are still some of the best shows I've ever seen.
Yeah, you could be on to something.
Didn't Jaco play on 'Heartbeat'.
I'm bad, I'm soooo bad
The funny thing is that among fretless bassists who were big before Jaco, AJ was pretty subtle. If you want to hear over the top restless solos with effects BFJ, check out Ralphe Armstrong with Jean Luc Ponty.
Yeah, I realized that soon after posting. I also checked out Open Your Eyes, which I liked even more. I can't believe I never checked this stuff out before.
Didn't Jaco play on 'Heartbeat'.
That was just plain mean.
Ever see Phillip Michael Thomas' movie musical? I won't say it sucked because it did have comedic value.
+10!!! B.A.S.T.A.R.D. is an amplification system that Alphonso designed to, if I remember correctly, that allowed him to have the same sound both live and in the studio. He also was on of the first to play the Chapman Stick.
Invalid Link Removed CROSSOVER 1977
EPIC RECORDS, JE 34869(LP)
(C)(P)1977 CBS INC., USA
RECORDED: JULY,AUGUST, 1977
RELEASED: 1977, USA
RE-ISSUED: WOUNDED BIRD RECORDS, WOU 4849(CD)
RELEASED: 2006, USA
CREDITS (productions) :All music composed and lyrics written by Alphonso Johnson Produced by Alphonso Johnson and Dennis MacKay
for Zembu Productions, Inc.
Executive Producer: Jerry Schoenbaum Recording and mixing engineered by Dennis MacKay
Recorded at Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, July & August, 1977
Assistant Engineer: George Tutko
Mixed at Trident Studios, London, England, August 1977
Assistant Engineer: Neil H. Ross
Design and Photograph: Bill Imhoff
Background Painting: Dan Cytron
CREDITS (musicians) :Alphonso Johnson : electric stick, electric bass
custom frettless electric bass
3/4 bass voil, steel drums
lead vocals, background vocals
B.A.S.T.A.R.D., bass pedal synthesizer
Clyde Criner : Steinway grand piano
ARP 2600 synthesizer
ARP OMNI synthesizer
Hohner clavinet D-6
Fender Rhodes electric piano
mini moog synthesizer
Kevin Shireve : 12-string guitar
6-string electric guitar
David Igelfeld : drums, cymbals, electric percussion
gongs, hand bells, wind chimes
- Special Guests - Michaela Carey : background vocals Bayeté : background vocals Pat Thrall : guitar (solo on 2,3,6,7) TRACKS (total time 36:24) :1. Summer Solstice (1:31) 2. Follow Your Heart (4:41) 3. Bahama Mama (4:07) 4. Nomads (4:57) 5. Moonlight Conversations (2:56) 6. Face Blaster (4:13) 7. Feelings Are... (The Hardest Worlds to Say) (5:08) 8. Earthtales Suite (8:51)
intro. Winter Solstice
i. Release from Bondage
ii. Why
iii. Voice of Authority
iv. Rushing of the Wind
v. Sword and the Scepter
vi. Summer Solstice (Second Movement) 0879
I really didn't think that this post would turn into an Alphonso vs Jaco debate-silly me!!!
As far as whether or not he was influenced by Jaco is a question I will leave for him to address. Not only is Alphonso an amazing bassist, he is also an innovator. I saw a photo back in the day showing Alphonso giving pointers to the young bassist that would replace him in Billy Paul's Band. Youy may have heard of this bassist-Anthony Jackson!!!A Groove is a Terrible Thing to Waste!
http://www.embamba.com/
For those who don't know AJ, check out his website. The man had a serious music education and got some great heavy duty jazz gigs when was barely in his twenties. There would be nothing wrong with being influenced by Jaco, but Alphonso Johnson clearly developed his own identity by the early 1970s, several years before Jaco made his big splash.
For those who don't know AJ, check out his website. The man had a serious music education and got some great heavy duty jazz gigs when was barely in his twenties. There would be nothing wrong with being influenced by Jaco, but Alphonso Johnson clearly developed his own identity by the early 1970s, several years before Jaco made his big splash.
Good point... and since you apparently can notice note choice, what note choices that AJ made do you attribute to Jaco?
In the post you're using as a reference for that response, I was commenting AJ's possible influence on Jaco, not the other way around. But as I've said before, being influenced from another musician doesn't have to signify trying to incorporate anything from that musicians approach/repertoire into your own. It can exclusively mean being inspired to try harder to come up with OWN innovations and/or strive to become an even better player without sounding like a rip off. And people have explained that AJ was a great soloist before Jaco became internationally notorius, but to my recollection no one has explained whether he was as good as he was in the clip from 1976 with Billy Cobham.
I can send you an MP3 of the full, unedited track of Jaco playing Higher( meaning what came before the solo,
the solo itself and the collective playing from the band that ended the tune after the solo.) And being a respected soloist doesn't mean that the whole world has to have seen and/or heard you play. What I meant is that he was respected by the people who had seen him play, meaning mainly musicains on Florida scene. And knowing that Florida was the base of many talented musicians at the time, their opinion had some value and should not be shrugged off.
And no, I don't think everything that Jaco did was something no one had done before or wasn't at least reminescent of what others had done. But I dare to say that of those areas of his style that was obviously influenced greatly by others, he expanded on them more
than more or less anyone had done prior to him.
Thanks for the link, I learned a lot from visiting his site. Very informative biography-section, and the music-clips are very cool. I had forgotten how funky his playing is on "Cucumber Slumber"! Among the things that impressed me the most was that he played with The Chuck Mangione Quartet at such a young age. Next for me will be checking out the albums he played on prior to his tenure with Weather Report, as I haven't heard much of the stuff he was a part of before that.
Go back and read your previous posts... you really seemed to have a hard time believing AJ wasn't influenced by Jaco even though AJ was a predecessor of Jaco. And I'll ask again... what is there to explain? I honestly don't understand the request. Do you not understand, as has been said multiple times, that he already had a well developed style which he still has today? What more "proof" do you want?
Yes, he was as good as he was in that clip before Jaco. Is that really an explanation?
So what do you think Jaco's influence on him was? To sound more like himself?
And because of this solo, you have a hard time believing others might not have been influenced by him at the time? I'll PM you my email address, can't wait to hear it.
Stating that someone is a respected soloist and then adding that most people hadn't heard at the time is odd. Like one hand clapping or a tree falling in the forest when no one's around.
Edit: is this it?
Okay.
How much does you lack of knowledge factor into that? I mean no offense... you clearly weren't even aware of AJ's contributions yet you kept stating what you have a hard time believing about him? How much sense does that make? Maybe more research into a period many of us are all too familiar with will help.
