" I met him in 1979-80 and hung out with him off and on until he passed away. He would come sit in with me on my gigs in New York (he'd turn the amp all the way up and play "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix!!) Once we played his composition "Continuum" as a duet.
Jaco and I didn't go over a lot of stuff. He showed me a diminished pattern that he was working on. He asked me if I knew about "cutting" the notes once. At the time I didn't know what he was talking about, but now I know he was telling me I should articulate each note harder when playing with my fingers - hard enough so that each note popped a little. Not pop like when you're thumbing but pop like Rocco's notes used to pop. I remember evaluating myself once and not liking the weak articulation and then realizing that that was what crazy Jaco was talking about (at the time he was pretty out there!)
Once he said, "You think you're bad 'cause you can improvise!!" I came to find out that a lot of his stuff wasn't improvised. When I was a kid I thought it was and was banging my brains (and my fingers) trying to figure how to improvise such perfectly constructed and flawlessly executed solos.
It turns out that even Jaco couldn't improvise those perfect solos - he used to compose the solos then perform them. I was dissapointed in him for a while. Then, when I began to look at him as a composer, I was floored all over again - because as compositions, his solos are still breathtaking (not to mention difficult to perform).
I think Jaco definitely influenced contemporary jazz bass. These days you can hear so many bassists who play with that singing fretless bass tone that Jaco popularized.
He also, along with Stanley Clarke, challenged bass players to examine the extreme possibilities of the bass guitar. I think the expectations for a contemporary jazz bass guitarist are high primarily because of the standards that Jaco and Stanley set.
Listening to Jaco as a youngster, I was encouraged to approach the fretless bass from a vocal perspective. I read that he tried to emulate Frank Sinatra, his favorite singer, with his bass. My favorite singer was Stevie Wonder, so I began to try to emulate him with my fretless. Developing a vocal approach to melodies Iike this is really important for instruments that don't rely on the breath. You hear so many bassists and guitarists playing "run on sentences" because they never have to stop for air. Playing from a more vocal perspective forces you to leave space and gives your playing more structure. Listening to Jaco encouraged me to be expressive on the bass guitar.
In learning Jaco's solos, I was also forced to learn the harmonies that supported his solos (since the harmonies were the foundation for his melodies). The same with Stanley Clarke, Paul Chambers, and John Coltrane. When I learned their solos, I had to learn the supporting harmonies. Eventually, I found myself with a strong harmonic vocabulary - a nice palette to write music from.
And finally, because Jaco's sound was so distinctive, I was forced to abandon his style because I realized there was only so far I could progress sounding like someone else. So I concentrated on developing my own sound from the age of 19 on.
I think I succeeded in finding my own sound, but I think it's obvious that Jaco is a big influence when you hear me play, at least sometimes."
Marcus Miller.
Jaco and I didn't go over a lot of stuff. He showed me a diminished pattern that he was working on. He asked me if I knew about "cutting" the notes once. At the time I didn't know what he was talking about, but now I know he was telling me I should articulate each note harder when playing with my fingers - hard enough so that each note popped a little. Not pop like when you're thumbing but pop like Rocco's notes used to pop. I remember evaluating myself once and not liking the weak articulation and then realizing that that was what crazy Jaco was talking about (at the time he was pretty out there!)
Once he said, "You think you're bad 'cause you can improvise!!" I came to find out that a lot of his stuff wasn't improvised. When I was a kid I thought it was and was banging my brains (and my fingers) trying to figure how to improvise such perfectly constructed and flawlessly executed solos.
It turns out that even Jaco couldn't improvise those perfect solos - he used to compose the solos then perform them. I was dissapointed in him for a while. Then, when I began to look at him as a composer, I was floored all over again - because as compositions, his solos are still breathtaking (not to mention difficult to perform).
I think Jaco definitely influenced contemporary jazz bass. These days you can hear so many bassists who play with that singing fretless bass tone that Jaco popularized.
He also, along with Stanley Clarke, challenged bass players to examine the extreme possibilities of the bass guitar. I think the expectations for a contemporary jazz bass guitarist are high primarily because of the standards that Jaco and Stanley set.
Listening to Jaco as a youngster, I was encouraged to approach the fretless bass from a vocal perspective. I read that he tried to emulate Frank Sinatra, his favorite singer, with his bass. My favorite singer was Stevie Wonder, so I began to try to emulate him with my fretless. Developing a vocal approach to melodies Iike this is really important for instruments that don't rely on the breath. You hear so many bassists and guitarists playing "run on sentences" because they never have to stop for air. Playing from a more vocal perspective forces you to leave space and gives your playing more structure. Listening to Jaco encouraged me to be expressive on the bass guitar.
In learning Jaco's solos, I was also forced to learn the harmonies that supported his solos (since the harmonies were the foundation for his melodies). The same with Stanley Clarke, Paul Chambers, and John Coltrane. When I learned their solos, I had to learn the supporting harmonies. Eventually, I found myself with a strong harmonic vocabulary - a nice palette to write music from.
And finally, because Jaco's sound was so distinctive, I was forced to abandon his style because I realized there was only so far I could progress sounding like someone else. So I concentrated on developing my own sound from the age of 19 on.
I think I succeeded in finding my own sound, but I think it's obvious that Jaco is a big influence when you hear me play, at least sometimes."
Marcus Miller.
