I can totally believe that. He was not going to be contained by any local scene. Doesn't diminish in any way where he took things. The two are not mutually exclusive.
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Jaco clip causing some controversy
- Thread starter PahaPeikko
- Start date
No doubt. IIRC Joni has stated that the whole tour was one big nightmare blur from end to end.
Yet, there are all those cats in the Shadows and Light video footage layin' it down and producing some my favorite moments.
I guess there were certainly different expectations vs what went down. Yet, the end product is still marvelous to behold. IMO.
Here's the TB link for Downbeat's review of Jaco Pastorius-
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f28/how-many-us-really-listen-jaco-903643/index18.html#post13134291
Here's the text-
Ray Townley wrote the review.
"Slowly but surely word started getting around about this amazing new bass player from Ft. Lauderdale named, unforgettably, "Jaco". Then, all of a sudden, he had replaced Alphonso Johnson in Weather Report when Johnson left to join Billy Cobham's band. Now, just months later, Jaco's first album is out on a major label, produced by Bobby Colomby & featuring some of the established heavies of contemporary music.
Word is that he has hands as large as a lion's paws & that he uses them as adroitly as a needle-point expert. From the opening statement of Bird's Donna Lee, done in duet with percussionist Don Alias, Pastorius displays chops that must be reckoned with.
Yet it not his bass playing that stands out on this debut effort. As flawless as his technique & rhythmic sensibilities may be, it's Jaco's compositional, arranging, & unique voicing talents that demand attention.
Side one has its moments of glory & its moments of all too obvious, & quite uninteresting, virtuosic demonstration. Donna Lee, placed at the beginning, impresses more as a personal dedication than anything else. Come On, Come Over, with full brash horn arrangements by Jaco & featuring the by now obligatory Sanborn solo, is far too similar in every way to BS&T material for comfort. Sam & Dave evoke Clayton-Thomas & one can only imageine Randy Brecker digging up the old cobweb-crusted memories. Considering the rest of the material on the album, this tune can only be rationalized as a nod to the venerable Mr. Colomby sitting in the producer's booth. With Continuum, Jaco finally gets done to business as he handles the electric bass as if it were an acoustic upright model & he were Stanley Clarke. With graceful left-hand sweeping bass lines & double Rhodes piano tinkering off in the corner, this number is right down the current ECM alley.
The combination of Jaco's Kuru & Hancock's Speak LIke A Child proves devastatingly successful. Assited by Michael Gibbs' superb conducting of Jaco's horn arrangements, this mini-suite becomes a powerful showcase for Jaco's galloping equestrian bass playing & Hancock's acoustic pianistics. (Please Herbie, record an all acoustic album!) The concluding Portrait Of Tracy, a solo bass number dedicated to technique & harmonic dabbling, is interesting only in its demonstration that one person can get so much sound out of one instrument.
But it's side two where everything comes together. Jaco proves himself an exquisite mood builder as he flows from Oriental to Caribbean to a mix of bebop & Latin to, finally, a lush theme fit for a Women In Love or Barry Lyndon film score. In fact, by the final number, Jaco isn't even playing any longer, so immersed is he in writing. Instead, there's a large string section, replete with double basses, setting a cushion for Hancock's keyboard hypnosis.
Throughout the album, Jaco manipulates the bass with fluency, his concepts more in line with those of a lead player than a mere metronome. He certainly belongs, or soon will belong, in the same category as Clarke, Johnson, McBee, Carter & Vitous. But it cannot be overemphasized that at this point it's his writing that heralds a new & refreshing face on the scene".
__________________
Ray Townley wrote the review.
"Slowly but surely word started getting around about this amazing new bass player from Ft. Lauderdale named, unforgettably, "Jaco". Then, all of a sudden, he had replaced Alphonso Johnson in Weather Report when Johnson left to join Billy Cobham's band. Now, just months later, Jaco's first album is out on a major label, produced by Bobby Colomby & featuring some of the established heavies of contemporary music.
Word is that he has hands as large as a lion's paws & that he uses them as adroitly as a needle-point expert. From the opening statement of Bird's Donna Lee, done in duet with percussionist Don Alias, Pastorius displays chops that must be reckoned with.
Yet it not his bass playing that stands out on this debut effort. As flawless as his technique & rhythmic sensibilities may be, it's Jaco's compositional, arranging, & unique voicing talents that demand attention.
Side one has its moments of glory & its moments of all too obvious, & quite uninteresting, virtuosic demonstration. Donna Lee, placed at the beginning, impresses more as a personal dedication than anything else. Come On, Come Over, with full brash horn arrangements by Jaco & featuring the by now obligatory Sanborn solo, is far too similar in every way to BS&T material for comfort. Sam & Dave evoke Clayton-Thomas & one can only imageine Randy Brecker digging up the old cobweb-crusted memories. Considering the rest of the material on the album, this tune can only be rationalized as a nod to the venerable Mr. Colomby sitting in the producer's booth. With Continuum, Jaco finally gets done to business as he handles the electric bass as if it were an acoustic upright model & he were Stanley Clarke. With graceful left-hand sweeping bass lines & double Rhodes piano tinkering off in the corner, this number is right down the current ECM alley.
The combination of Jaco's Kuru & Hancock's Speak LIke A Child proves devastatingly successful. Assited by Michael Gibbs' superb conducting of Jaco's horn arrangements, this mini-suite becomes a powerful showcase for Jaco's galloping equestrian bass playing & Hancock's acoustic pianistics. (Please Herbie, record an all acoustic album!) The concluding Portrait Of Tracy, a solo bass number dedicated to technique & harmonic dabbling, is interesting only in its demonstration that one person can get so much sound out of one instrument.
But it's side two where everything comes together. Jaco proves himself an exquisite mood builder as he flows from Oriental to Caribbean to a mix of bebop & Latin to, finally, a lush theme fit for a Women In Love or Barry Lyndon film score. In fact, by the final number, Jaco isn't even playing any longer, so immersed is he in writing. Instead, there's a large string section, replete with double basses, setting a cushion for Hancock's keyboard hypnosis.
Throughout the album, Jaco manipulates the bass with fluency, his concepts more in line with those of a lead player than a mere metronome. He certainly belongs, or soon will belong, in the same category as Clarke, Johnson, McBee, Carter & Vitous. But it cannot be overemphasized that at this point it's his writing that heralds a new & refreshing face on the scene".
__________________
Three(3) capsule Concert reviews from Downbeat...I posted this on 09/04/2012.
Thanks for checking it out...I have also stumbled upon three(3) Downbeat concert reviews...Jaco in three(3) different projects-
July 14, 1977-
Weather Report. Heavy Weather must have been recently released. The reviewer talked about the theatre being 2/3 EMPTY (he attributed this to a nearby Country-Rock concert nearby. LOL). The sound system for Weather Report's concert was on the fritz. Nevertheless, Jaco & band get a positive review; the reviewer mentions, I assume, "Slang"...he thought the Jimi Hendrix homage was cool.
July 2, 1978-
Joe Farrell Quartet. Jaco with Joe Farrell & two(2) L.A. Express-ers, John Guerin & Victor Feldman. Very positive review. Jaco gets a solo spot...and goes "too long".
"Farrell had to walk over to Pastorius to get his attention- Jaco had exceeded his time limit. As if awoken from a trance, stopped with a rather startled expression, then smiled & laughed reassuredly. The band picked up again & Farrell climaxed the first set with a ceaselessly energetic free=form piece that had the crowd on its feet with appreciation for an altogether stirring performance".
The third review was 100% negative...Jaco, as a soloist, opens for the Pat Metheny Group. Reviewer sez Jaco looked lost & totally unprepared.
...trying to find the issue.
Thanks for checking it out...I have also stumbled upon three(3) Downbeat concert reviews...Jaco in three(3) different projects-
July 14, 1977-
Weather Report. Heavy Weather must have been recently released. The reviewer talked about the theatre being 2/3 EMPTY (he attributed this to a nearby Country-Rock concert nearby. LOL). The sound system for Weather Report's concert was on the fritz. Nevertheless, Jaco & band get a positive review; the reviewer mentions, I assume, "Slang"...he thought the Jimi Hendrix homage was cool.
July 2, 1978-
Joe Farrell Quartet. Jaco with Joe Farrell & two(2) L.A. Express-ers, John Guerin & Victor Feldman. Very positive review. Jaco gets a solo spot...and goes "too long".
"Farrell had to walk over to Pastorius to get his attention- Jaco had exceeded his time limit. As if awoken from a trance, stopped with a rather startled expression, then smiled & laughed reassuredly. The band picked up again & Farrell climaxed the first set with a ceaselessly energetic free=form piece that had the crowd on its feet with appreciation for an altogether stirring performance".
The third review was 100% negative...Jaco, as a soloist, opens for the Pat Metheny Group. Reviewer sez Jaco looked lost & totally unprepared.
...trying to find the issue.
Blindfold Test-
Downbeat June 15, 1978
Milcho Leviev was played "Birdland" (from Heavy Weather)
"Here I would say 5000 stars! This is my favorite group, Weather Report, and this particular tune, Birdland, is one of my favorite tunes of the '70s. For me, this is one of those rare occasions when a tune becomes a hit & is still an art product. It's very rare. This particulat tune is a classic because it is musical, masterful...besides the musical point, there's a message. There's so much vitality & joy in it & it's not cheap at all.
I would say Joe is a genius to have this idea to put these chromatic diminished chords, which is the cheapest thing that usually accordian players do at Bar Mitzvah gigs & all...he put it in the middle of the tune, which is the typical mark of a genius because all of a sudden it means something that you can't express with words. But it means eveything.
And the clapping hands at the end, the singing of Jaco, the synthesizer work of Joe- everything is just superb. It lifts you up- it makes you day. Usually if you hear it in the morning & you're in a bad mood, you go out on the street & you are joyful the whole day. Dr. Feelgood, definitely!"
Downbeat June 15, 1978
Milcho Leviev was played "Birdland" (from Heavy Weather)
"Here I would say 5000 stars! This is my favorite group, Weather Report, and this particular tune, Birdland, is one of my favorite tunes of the '70s. For me, this is one of those rare occasions when a tune becomes a hit & is still an art product. It's very rare. This particulat tune is a classic because it is musical, masterful...besides the musical point, there's a message. There's so much vitality & joy in it & it's not cheap at all.
I would say Joe is a genius to have this idea to put these chromatic diminished chords, which is the cheapest thing that usually accordian players do at Bar Mitzvah gigs & all...he put it in the middle of the tune, which is the typical mark of a genius because all of a sudden it means something that you can't express with words. But it means eveything.
And the clapping hands at the end, the singing of Jaco, the synthesizer work of Joe- everything is just superb. It lifts you up- it makes you day. Usually if you hear it in the morning & you're in a bad mood, you go out on the street & you are joyful the whole day. Dr. Feelgood, definitely!"
Stanley Clarke Blindfold Test (March 24, 1977). Leonard Feather played "Opus Pocus" from Jaco Pastorius-
"That was a record by Jaco Pastorius, & I know that was Lenny playing drums because Lenny was the guy who told me about him.- that's there's this new guy I should check out. I've met Jaco & known him for some time- I used to see him in Florida a lot.
The tune I don't remember, but I'll tell you what I like about it. The steel drums; & that was Wayne Shorter, right? Nice. I'll give it three stars. There's actually some other tracks where Jaco really plays his stuff- he's a great electric bass player, & the thing I like about him is that he's very melodic. Very. And he writes pretty nice. This isn't his best.
I think his best composition on this album is one track where he does something with harmonics- a very short piece, but it's very nice. A nice melody there. But he's a great bass player. Portrait Of Tracy is the one I like. It's a nice usuage of harmonics."
"That was a record by Jaco Pastorius, & I know that was Lenny playing drums because Lenny was the guy who told me about him.- that's there's this new guy I should check out. I've met Jaco & known him for some time- I used to see him in Florida a lot.
The tune I don't remember, but I'll tell you what I like about it. The steel drums; & that was Wayne Shorter, right? Nice. I'll give it three stars. There's actually some other tracks where Jaco really plays his stuff- he's a great electric bass player, & the thing I like about him is that he's very melodic. Very. And he writes pretty nice. This isn't his best.
I think his best composition on this album is one track where he does something with harmonics- a very short piece, but it's very nice. A nice melody there. But he's a great bass player. Portrait Of Tracy is the one I like. It's a nice usuage of harmonics."
One more (sorry)!
Here's David Friesen Blindfold Test w/ Leonard Feather (June 01, 1978)
Feather played "Donna Lee" from Jaco Pastorius-
Yeah, that was a tune called Donna Lee, I believe & I don't recognize the drummer, but I enjoyed what he did, & the bass solo. It was a Fender bass player who has an incredible amount of technique, but my ears failed me through parts of it, for intonation. I lost track of the melody of that song for some reason. There were parts of it, and I don't know if it was a recording fault, but it left something to be desired in the intonation.
I enjoyed the harmonic things he did. Maybe that's what threw me off. As great as this bass player sounds on this track, I can't hear the substance inside the note. I think he perhaps might be a younger musician because of that. Usually the older musicians are just like wine. It takes time to age. There's an ingredient there that's so very dear & very special.
So as far as musicianship & technique, it's wonderful. But as far as substance, it left something to be desired. Overall, I would rate this maybe three stars".
Here's David Friesen Blindfold Test w/ Leonard Feather (June 01, 1978)
Feather played "Donna Lee" from Jaco Pastorius-
Yeah, that was a tune called Donna Lee, I believe & I don't recognize the drummer, but I enjoyed what he did, & the bass solo. It was a Fender bass player who has an incredible amount of technique, but my ears failed me through parts of it, for intonation. I lost track of the melody of that song for some reason. There were parts of it, and I don't know if it was a recording fault, but it left something to be desired in the intonation.
I enjoyed the harmonic things he did. Maybe that's what threw me off. As great as this bass player sounds on this track, I can't hear the substance inside the note. I think he perhaps might be a younger musician because of that. Usually the older musicians are just like wine. It takes time to age. There's an ingredient there that's so very dear & very special.
So as far as musicianship & technique, it's wonderful. But as far as substance, it left something to be desired. Overall, I would rate this maybe three stars".
If she hated that tour so much, why did she choose it, of all tours, to document with a live film and live album?
I suspect that was all arranged ahead of time; and then Jaco shows up (late) doing his somewhat Mr Hyde act and everything just went from there. Unpredictable.
As I said, I still totally adore everything I hear in it. At the same time I understand there was a lot of tension and players not getting what they expected.
Sure; his story here is "Once upon a time there was a guy WHO WAS SO FREAKIN' LOUD HE DROWNED OUT THE SAXOPHONE"
sure does look like they all were having a fantastic time onstage at this gig-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1XFbhSMxIM
in the interviews i've read, Joni dug the tour and the recording sessions for the albums with this band. she said that Jaco became a musical soulmate who was fully able to bring an approach on bass that she was asking her other bassists for, but who refused saying that the bass was a "rhythm section instrument" (it's in the 4-part Jaco youtube doc).
as far as brecker's reaction at the end of his solo, we can slow the tape of his expression down to single frames like the Zapruder film, and still not know what was in his head. hearsay and "i have it on good authority that.." doesn't really cut it.
i'll submit that Jaco's comping behind the solo on "Dry Cleaner" takes the tune to a powerful new level- and also, these weren't exactly uptight jazzers or by-the-numbers blues cats- each guy onstage was an experimenter and boundary-pusher in his own career, so what Jaco was doing isn't exactly over the top or inappropriate or harmonically threatening to them, as it would be to the generic meat&potatoes rank & file session guys of the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1XFbhSMxIM
in the interviews i've read, Joni dug the tour and the recording sessions for the albums with this band. she said that Jaco became a musical soulmate who was fully able to bring an approach on bass that she was asking her other bassists for, but who refused saying that the bass was a "rhythm section instrument" (it's in the 4-part Jaco youtube doc).
as far as brecker's reaction at the end of his solo, we can slow the tape of his expression down to single frames like the Zapruder film, and still not know what was in his head. hearsay and "i have it on good authority that.." doesn't really cut it.
i'll submit that Jaco's comping behind the solo on "Dry Cleaner" takes the tune to a powerful new level- and also, these weren't exactly uptight jazzers or by-the-numbers blues cats- each guy onstage was an experimenter and boundary-pusher in his own career, so what Jaco was doing isn't exactly over the top or inappropriate or harmonically threatening to them, as it would be to the generic meat&potatoes rank & file session guys of the day.
This isn't really the kind of jazz I'm into, but I don't get what anyone finds objectionable. He's playing a somewhat busy walking bass line, but that's really not very unusual in jazz. Where he plays little flourishes, it's mostly in reaction to the lyrics being sung. Later, during the solo, I don't think he's "stepping all over" the sax player; they're jamming, riffing off each other.
Here's a blurb from Musician magazine, December 1987-
Joni Mitchell sez...
The Shadows & Light tour worked out fine, but it did not look like it was going to. Jaco was MD, & as MD he didn't show up until we'd already been in rehearsal for two weeks. And when he did show up he decided he didn't like the band. As we'd been rehearsing without a bass player, we'd kind of fleshed it in to where it sounded pretty good even without a bass. So when Jaco came, he started tearing the arrangements apart, demanding more space onstage. He later came to love everybody, but he didn't hear it that way initially. He didn't like Don Alias on drum kit. He liked him on hand drums. Well, I really liked the feel of Don's playing. He is not a technical virtuoso on the kit like he is on congas & other kinds of drums, where he's in the top three in the world, but he's such a good feeling kit player to me. So we had this big argument & it looked like this thing was not going to fly. But as the tour rolled along that tension dissolved. As a matter of fact, he took that band & played with them on his own record.
I think we played very well on that tour, especially, oddly enough, the day we filmed. Something personal had happened to him that day. I don't know what. Something between his wife & his mother, some family thing had gone down. He was in the midst of some tempering revelation. When we started, the first few notes he played were from "The High & Mighty". For a minute I thought, "I can't believe it! I watching Jaco having a humble attack! It's not really good for him to be this humble. Come on, Jaco, be a little arrogant"! Toward the end, he took off, but he used to jump over his amp & beat his bass with his strap every night on that tour - this was the one night he didn't do it. It was a shame because Mike Brecker & I had cooked it up that when he jumped over the speakers & beat his bass, Mike was going to jump out & beat his saxophone. We were going to have a real donnybrook up there. I thought, "Maybe I'll come out & beat the piano". And he didn't do it.
