For those who don't like how Jaco plays...

[stevensivak]

This is one of the best videos of him playing.....

 

[Dlew919]

How can you not love Jaco when he’s on fire? (Don’t answer that.)

 

[pingvuiini]

Modern Electric Bass with Jerry Jemmott! I had the VHS and instructional booklet for a long time. Interesting to see Jaco playing with a fretted P neck.

 

[2saddleslab]

Certainly admire his immense talent and iconoclastic approach to the electric bass but I've never been a fan of the burp tone.

 

[stevensivak]

In this video he is not "overplaying" as he sometimes does..... I think this is the best I have ever heard him play!

 

[Moving Pictures]

Certainly admire his immense talent and iconoclastic approach to the electric bass but I've never been a fan of the burp tone.

Exactly this! His playing is exquisite and there is no denying his impact on the world of music. However the tone is not my thing.

 

[31HZ]

Yeah, don't get me wrong, the Jaguar E-type is kind of pretty in the right light, I just wish they had made it in purple because that's what I like, shame really because it could have been so much better.

 

[roccobass]

I hear that alot about his tone. It’s his signature, for sure. Yea, a little bit of variance might haven added some spice. For the most part I’m good with it. I even try to cop it on certain songs.

Maybe if he’d lived long enough we’d seen him experiment more with that. IMO
I’m more intrigued by his phenomenal playing.

However, his so called “burpy” tone doesn’t get me annoyed anywhere near as the really burpy tone of one other famous legendary bass. That gentleman did eventually progress on to better sound.
Each to his tastes.

 

[Killing Floor]

Creative player. I love his technique. I saw him in a small barroom called Moonshadow. I see posters say he’s always at the bridge but he uses 100% of the bass.

Always with the schmatte.

 

[NKBassman]

For those who don't like how Jaco plays... This is one of the best videos of him playing.....​

Ok.

 

[bassdude51]

Jaco was a certain "type" of bass player that generally played certain "types" of music.

Talented? Yes! Mass bass player appeal? No!

IMHO

RIP almost 38 years ago.

 

[Element Zero]

I hear that alot about his tone. It’s his signature, for sure. Yea, a little bit of variance might haven added some spice. For the most part I’m good with it. I even try to cop it on certain songs.

Maybe if he’d lived long enough we’d seen him experiment more with that. IMO
I’m more intrigued by his phenomenal playing.

However, his so called “burpy” tone doesn’t get me annoyed anywhere near as the really burpy tone of one other famous legendary bass. That gentleman did eventually progress on to better sound.
Each to his tastes.

Who?

 

[roccobass]

Who?

I didn’t want to mention his name at the risk of pissing off a segment of the bass community. and digressing away from Jaco.

Actually, it wasn’t the mystery bassist’s playing that bugged me. He was a fantastic player and inspired generations of other players, but I always thought his tone was poopy. Seriously! It always sounded like he was playing under a pile of pillows and peanut butter. PMing you.

 

[monsterthompson]

Maybe it’s not Jaco’s playing I don’t enjoy, but the playing of all the other musicians he’s been in bands with…
Maybe it’s both?


Mildly joking. I’m not a Jaco fan, but I do keep giving his material a chance in case I’ve just missed something. This might be one of the more enjoyable things I’ve heard from him.

 

[bobyoung53]

This is one of the best videos of him playing.....

Shoot me but this video shows that he absolutely couldn't or didn't want to play in the pocket. I do appreciate his talent but his playing and tone wears on me quickly. I will admit though that when he starts going nuts later on in the video it is kind of amazing.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

He more or less invented that tone, which later became kind of the fretless "cliche" tone ( he sounds like he's playing a fretless even with frets"). Listen to 10 Joe Dart bass parts and get back to us about bass players with only one tone. Lot's of players can cop his chops now, but in his Day, nobody could touch him. Sad story, another guy taken by substance abuse and mental illness.

 

[groooooove]

I always found the "overplaying" argument interesting.

by that standard, the bass parts of mozart would be deemed inappropriate.

i find listening the a performance, or composition, as a whole gives a better picture. i typically find jaco to be an appropriate piece of a musical situation when he plays. he was such an intense player, a lot of other musicians -if they were good - knew to leave space for him.

same goes for anything. van halen basslines being very few notes with good feel, jamerson somewhere in the middle, and jaco with speed and facility often on display - what matters more is the rest of the band, in order to determine if the performance as a whole "works"

 

[logdrum]

I did not know who he was and was also not playing bass yet. Saw him in NC months before he died (did not live there but was travelling with friends ). Just got dragged into the show.. One of my influences. I still have the original VHS and I finally got a DVD off of Amazon.

I am a jazz nut and play jazz and fusion and improv so my bass tone conception is different even on the upright - I love La Faro, Eddie Gomez and Miroslav's tone as well and opposite of the Ray Brown approach.

 

[brianrost]

Talented? Yes! Mass bass player appeal? No!

You could say that about any famous bassist, really.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Some people don't seem to understand that well-known musicians are often hired to play a role and do "their thing."

Sometimes I hear "Victor Wooten plays too many notes" and then you watch the clip and he's a featured soloist who was hired specifically to showcase the things he's known for. It's just so dumb.

If Jaco was an anonymous session player on this cut he'd probably be playing less notes, and not be a featured soloist. But he's clearly being encouraged to do this thing, it's what they are literally paying him to do, so he does it.