Jaco - A Legacy

[IamGroot]

No one can tell you which music or musicians you have to like. And opinions change with time and more musical exposure and growth . For a long time, I thought Frank Sinatra was a corny singer. After I got into jazz, I came to realize how good his phrasing was, like an instrument solo.

I got into Jaco when Weather Report's "Heavy Weather" came out in 1977. That was a decade before I picked up a bass. I was a working guitarist, but I really dug his sound. It was new and it came out of nowhere. Later albums with Joni only confirmed how great he was to me.

Unfortunately, Jaco's demons started to come out around 1979 and we can only wonder much more he could have given us. So much of Jaco's prime was condensed into a period of 5 years. He died at 35 in 1987 after a long painful slide.

But Jaco was an innovator and today we take a lot of groundbreaking stuff he did for granted.

- He was waaay out in front musically and harmonically, especially for Jazz (apologies to Jack Bruce and Jack Cassady)
- He was the first virtuoso fretless electric bass player I had ever heard (I hear echoes in Mark Egan, his student).
- He had tremendous chops. groove and the bubbling 16ths (borrowed from Rocco Prestia) plus incredible stamina
- His solos - well listen to Havona.
- Joni Mitchell's "Hejira" - essentially vocals, acoustic guitar and jacos bass - and it is incredible.
- The list of bass players Jaco influenced..........

Jaco influenced me as his method book was my bible along with Dr. Licks book on James Jamerson.

So Jaco has been dead for 31 years and the wave of Jazz fusion moved on, so a lot of what he did can sound a little dated. But I still think he is worth checking out if you pplay a bass (no matter how many strings).

 

[Lee Moses]

. . . the bubbling 16ths (borrowed from Rocco Prestia)

Otherwise a very good post, but this statement simply is not true. Jaco's 16th-note finger funk was heavily influenced by Jerry Jemmott. But he already had that as part of his signature sound before T.O.P. ever broke on the scene. Rocco and Jaco each developed a similar style independently, no doubt largely due to shared influences.

 

[IamGroot]

Otherwise a very good post, but this statement simply is not true. Jaco's 16th-note finger funk was heavily influenced by Jerry Jemmott. But he already had that as part of his signature sound before T.O.P. ever broke on the scene. Rocco and Jaco each developed a similar style independently, no doubt largely due to shared influences.

I got that info from Wiki. It may also be in the Jaco bio. Makes sense as Jaco cut his teeth in a horn band and Tower of Power was out there. Rocco and Jerry both had a strong 16th thing, but the muted groove to me was more Rocco.

But the first TOP album was 1970, What is Hip came out in 1973 on 3rd album. So you are right, TOP and Rocco were probably too late on the scene to influence Jaco


Absolutely agree with you on Jacos admiration for Jerry (very much in evidence on the instructional video.

 

[Lee Moses]

I got that info from Wiki.

If so, that needs to be corrected.

It may also be in the Jaco bio.

I don't think so. Do you have a page number?

Makes sense as Jaco cut his teeth in a horn band and Tower of Power was out there.

I'm not sure what that means. Jaco was playing in horn/r&b bands long before anyone heard of T.O.P.

 

[IamGroot]

Here is the wiki reference that says Rocco influenced Jaco, if you want to work with Wiki to correct it. Look in the section Tecniques and Influences.

Rocco Prestia - Wikipedia

 

[eJake]

What R&B bands was he playing for? I am not super knowledgeable about Jaco and would love to hear him actually play a strong groove. I tried really hard to like him but failed. I feel like his bass playing is like a pair of tights.... no pocket.

 

[IamGroot]

jaco fannu mae - Google Search

 

[Lee Moses]

What R&B bands was he playing for?

I feel like his bass playing is like a pair of tights.... no pocket.

That seems like a strange assessment. He always grooved like nobody's business when the tune called for it.

 

[LBS-bass]

So many have imitated what Jaco first brought to the table that it will no longer sound innovative or original to anyone who wasn't there when he came onto the scene. His originality is lost in a sea of imitators. It's sad that people dismiss him for this reason but not surprising.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Check this out, Jaco states here how Jemmott influenced him.

 

[JimK]

What R&B bands was he playing for? I am not super knowledgeable about Jaco and would love to hear him actually play a strong groove. I tried really hard to like him but failed. I feel like his bass playing is like a pair of tights....no pocket.

And-
Tommy Strand & The Upper Hand
They cover Sly, Chicago, etc.

The Early Years Recordings (Lee Moses linked one of the tunes) and some of the major Anthology releases have some of this material.
A few years ago, Bass Player mag an article sayin' how some full-length CDs would be coming out:
Jaco w/ Woodchuck
Jaco w/ Tommy Strand
Jaco w/ Wayne Cochrane

...never happened.

 

[jdthebassman]

I heard that he got the 16th patterns from a local player he saw in Florida early on

 

[JimK]

I heard that he got the 16th patterns from a local player he saw in Florida early on

...that would be Carlos Garcia (Nemo Spliff).

Pg.32 in Milkowski's Jaco bio.

 

[JimK]

What R&B bands was he playing for? I am not super knowledgeable about Jaco and would love to hear him actually play a strong groove. I tried really hard to like him but failed. I feel like his bass playing is like a pair of tights.... no pocket.

 

[turbo2256b]

i learned of Jaco back in 70 71 after sharing an apartment with a couple different roomies one the guy that started teaching me bass. didnt know he lived down the street 90ish miles from me until finding this. studied his style and some of its in my playing somewhere. Maybe even seen him live somewhere while i was in fla. like at a friends party at his farm tended a keg with dicky betts but didnt know it until seeing his face on his album.
Official Jaco Pastorius Website

 

[Dr. Cheese]

That was the first time I ever listened all the way through the Little Beaver song (according to the lyrics, the problem was too little B———r.) Jaco’s style really fit like a glove in that laidback R&B groove, even though he was playing the he was playing the same licks that would be so frenetic in Fusion context.

 

[eJake]

That seems like a strange assessment. He always grooved like nobody's business when the tune called for it.

I'm in my phone but I'm checking out that first cut. Now that's what I've been wanting to hear!! So the early stuff? What albums should I go check out?

Ps I'll check the other cuts on the real stereo

Edit: Jim K answered my question.

 

[Duanestuermer]

I saw Jaco play live with Wayne Cochrane in 1969 at Fort Polk LA, he was playing bass lines along with many of the horn parts, and Wayne made a point to give him credit for writing many of the arrangements.
Saw him again with Weather Report in the late 70s at the Riverside in Milwaukee, after the concert he came into the club and sat in with the band I was in, and gave me an impromptu bass lesson. I was amazed how personable and friendly he was with me, being the obvious genius that he was. (He sat in on drums, and played some very complex piano), Bill Milkowski (who wrote the book about him, was also there in the club (Giorgi's) that night)
A few years later I saw the tour he did with Joni Mitchell live at Alpine Valley, where the cast of musicians was a whose who of the era, it was an incredible concert and beautiful sounding.
The demons did get him, but this is often the case with those with creative genius, from Mozart, to Hendrix, to Van Gogh, it often seems to go hand in hand, and I consider him to be up there with that elite and tiny crowd.