could you please sell me on Jaco?

[Tampabass]

Jaco forever changed peoples' perceptions of what was possible on the electric bass similar to the way Jimi Hendrix changed the way people thought about the electric guitar. Jaco had a singular tone: fretless jazz bass, favoring the bridge pickup. No one was doing this in 1976. Sure, there were incredible bassists back then, but Jaco could absolutely BLAZE. He inspired an entire legion of copy cats.

Exactly. And whether anyone "likes" his sound or playing is irrelevant. Not sure why this is so hard to grasp, aside from a general ignorance of music history.

 

[bikeplate]

Figure out some of his tunes. Maybe youll change your tune

 

[Tampabass]

I doubt any one can give you an argument that would change your mind, and I personally don't care whether you change your mind or not, if you can't hear it yourself then that's cool with me. Stupefying, but cool. If you are serious about not getting it, I invite you to learn some of his basslines, and get honest feedback from experienced bass players on how you did. You can learn something "paint by numbers" and completely miss the nuance of timing and dynamics though, so even if you get your fingers in the right places at more or less the right times, don't get cocky. Craftsmanship is in the framework, artistry is in the details and the overall picture.

Jaco simultaneously played the traditional role of the bass, that is providing rhythmic weight to the harmony, as well as playing melody. Birdland is a good example of this. This was groundbreaking for many bass players, who in Jazz typically played walking quarter note lines with occasional improvised heads, or to rock players who although had McCartney, Entwhistle, Jones, etc for inspiration with the "rhythmic weight to the harmony" role, really had no one but guitar players like Hendrix and Clapton to emulate or follow, so typically just stood back "in their place" beside the high hat. Jaco shows how bass can be integral to the melody as well as the rhythm and the harmony. He also has some damned tasty grooves, for example "Barbary Coast" and "The Chicken". His timing is perfect, his sense of phrasing is saucy and audacious, his tone disregards the generations of upright players without disrespecting them. You can tell he is hearing the entire arrangement when he is playing and he always, *always* served the groove as well as the harmony.

Well stated. And absolutely true.

 

[lfmn16]

Without liking MUSIC of either of them, I can't not notice that their legacy still runs through me, and everyone else who was (in)directly inspired by them in some way.

+1

Too many people think that because they didn't listen to a particular artist, that the artist didn't influence them. Sometimes it's a secondary influence. Muddy Waters influenced me through Zeppelin long before I started listening to Muddy Waters.

 

[socialleper]

You either like him or you don't. It isn't something you can explain or debate. People get all hot in the pants over bassists that bore me to tears. What are you going to do?
I like Jaco's first self titled CD and some of his Weather Report stuff. I'm not a fan of his later Punk Jazz work.

 

[Canadian APII]

what the heck are people idolize him anyway? what's missing?

I am not going to sell you on him if you don't want to be. I can only state why I like him. For me it is a combination of tone and creativity. I don't like Jazz music generally but Jaco could pull so many perfect tones out of the Bass of Doom and string them together in such a way I am constantly amazed at the result. While I experimented with tone in the eighties he found perfection with the small details that elicited a comprehensive picture if you will. Its like a picture. Todays music is much like modern art. Nice but essentially a bunch of geometric shapes fit together to make a picture that you feel something for. Jacos playing was like an old Master like Picasso or Davinci. Get up close and the brush strokes look the same as any other. Now step back and those brush strokes, Dots and shapes become an amazing painting like the Mona Lisa while modern art gives us....

Yes, Beautiful and it might speak to your heart but incomparable next to

And yes maybe you don't like the Mona Lisa. That is the same argument.

 

[BassBrass]

As a fellow New Englander and Bruins fan, I agree with the Bobby Orr analogy!

Bobby Orr also only lasted about a minit and a half too and there are legends about his early days. I also like an Ernie "D" (DeGregorio) analogy...for the N.E. sports trivia connection

 

[Rudyboy98]

you mean.. Weather they Report it or not?

This guy gets it! Winning comments right here.

 

[IamGroot]

Yeah, OP is probably trolling, but look on the bright side. A bunch of Jaco fans got to have a discussion about what they really loved about him, and there was tunes posted. That's not bad on a Monday morning if you're a fan.

I personally am not. I try to get into his sound on occasion. Going to give the Heavy Weather album a full listen right now actually.

I'd be a fool not to respect his chops or appreciate his contributions though.

Make this thread a sticky.
Please.

 

[Alex O]

The cool thing about Jaco is that his influence transcends just his own genre. So even though you may not like his music, your favourite act probably wouldn't be the same without him.

 

[MattZilla]

Master of harmonics

I thought that that was Dimebag Darrel?

It's not going to happen. 126 posts in and no further comment from the OP? Troll. I will ignore him now.

the op was not even 0.750 of a day ago. Relax.

 

[IamGroot]

Come On Come On Over, Teen Town and other Jaco works are good bass exercises. Whether you get him or not.

 

[SteveCS]

The cool thing about Jaco is that his influence transcends just his own genre. So even though you may not like his music, your favourite act probably wouldn't be the same without him.

Indeed - his influence can be heard all over a huge swath of 80s pop music, from all those bass players who were just starting out when he landed...

 

[JimK]

Music is like food. You taste it and either like it or you don’t. You can’t argue someone into liking food or music.

FME-
Tastes change...with food and especially with music.
Years ago, I would never eat avocados or drink iced coffee. Today? I could live off both of them.
Years ago, just getting into Jazz...did not like Coltrane' late period or Miles' Bitches Brew. Took years of effort.

Years ago, we all liked Nursery Rhymes, no?

 

[xnewyorka]

what the heck are people idolize him anyway? what's missing?

Before spending time answering the question, I have to ask a few questions to help frame my reply:
1. How will it help you or change your life if the TB community succeeds in selling you on Jaco?
2. How will it help the TB community by succeeding or at least trying to sell you on Jaco?
3. What is the measure that will indicate that you have been sold on Jaco? Are you going to purchase all of his works (audio and video recordings and printed material) if you become sold on Jaco?

 

[JimK]

Exactly! I don’t listen to music to be impressed, I want to feel, I want to be moved.

"Three Views Of A Secret"?

 

[squeaker]

I first heard Jaco Pastorius on Joni Mitchell's Hejira album, on the radio. I was stunned!

 

[David Sutkin]

Indeed - his influence can be heard all over a huge swath of 80s pop music, from all those bass players who were just starting out when he landed...

"Radioactive" - Tony Franklin on bass w/ The Firm ... Totally inspired by Jaco

 

[RichardW]

You're not required to like Jaco, but you do need to respect him. His music may not speak to you personally, which is fine, but no one can dispute that he played in a completely unique style that was without precedent and has not been (nor likely ever will be) equalled.

 

[Kragnorak]

what the heck are people idolize him anyway? what's missing?

Welp, I'm just going to copy/paste my answer from a very similar thread:

"Party as much or as little as you want. I like Jaco and I like Lemmy. Lemmy couldn't care less about geezers like Jaco according to an interview. I don't know what Jaco thought of Lemmy but he probably didn't spend much time figuring out how to play like Motorhead either.

I remember reading a biographical article on Andre the Giant. Giants tend not to live very long, but Andre managed to pack a few lifetimes of experience into his short life. [Jaco] was that kind of guy, a giant among [jazz/]rock musicians. It's amazing that he lived as long as he did, but I have no doubt that he played like 5 lifetimes worth of gigs in his time and had more interesting experiences than any 10 of us.

For example, [if he had lived, would he have built on his 'punk jazz' stuff and ended up in the John Zorn/Bill Laswell clique]? I'd like to know!"