Jaco the world greatest bass player ...

[DJ Bebop]

Oh man, I been awake for 35 hours straight!

?

 

[5StringBlues]

Smarties!

 

[DJ Bebop]

Lemmy's mole rocked harder than John Boy Walton's.




Discuss.

 

[J_Bass]

True. Michael Bolton doesn't play sax.


Nice edit.





And, if you read what I said , I never mentioned who was greatest at anything.




If you don't read 60's science fiction, would you know who Stanislaw Lem is?


I don't.

The post wasn't for you, was for the TB'er who didn't know who Jaco was. I was agreeing with you, actually.

 

[Colin Cunliffe]

For sure he was bi-polar. One of my best friends is also bi-polar; all the signs were there.

They didn't have great treatment options then. Lack of treatment or inability to get properly diagnosed and treated are what killed him. It's a terrible illness.

This is certainly a factor BUT as to his arrogance I just think that is also part of the fame thing, look at the Beatles in their films, came over as self rude arrogant etc etc.

However how much of that is their ACT, their playing the part that we WE want to see.Only the people that KNEW him, or the others can say what he was really like as a person.

As the the claim he is the greatest ever. Horses for courses, one mans meat etc

A couple of very important little tit bits that a friend once told me:
If I get 6 witnesses to a crime I have 10 descriptions
Opinions are like @ss holes, we all have one

 

[dougjwray]

I have to chime in one more time about Jaco's character. As I mentioned, I hung out with him, mostly over a few days in 1977. Earlier, I had heard him tell someone that he would give a lesson to anyone who came to his place in Fort Lauderdale. That summer, I took him up on that and headed down from New York. I stayed at a Holiday Inn, and expected to get a lesson and leave the next day, but when I walked up to his house (he was watering his lawn), he immediately invited me to join him and his brother and some friends for a swim at his mother's condo swimming pool. He was on vacation (from Weather Report), and he could have brushed me off; but, instead, he invited me to take part in everything he and his family were doing-- parties, lunch invitations, hanging out at his house... His hospitality was surprising and amazing. I was a basically a stranger, and yet he trusted me to watch his kids when he went out for an errand. I remember giving a piggy-back ride to his son, John.
He was 25 at the time (I was 20) and he was like a big, friendly, athletic kid. He did brag (after showing me some spacey sounds with his MXR Digital Delay, he told me "I was the only bass player who could have played with Hendrix!") but you have to understand that he indulged in hyperbole about everything. I remember that we were having dinner at someone's house, and when they brought out the wine, Jaco noticed the brand and proclaimed, "This is the best wine in the history of the world!!" Everything was "the greatest ever", etc. By the way, he used the phrase "of doom" to praise all kinds of things, not only his '62 fretless Jazz Bass.

The flip side of this was that he was apparently bipolar, and his incredible enthusiasm and energy was likely a symptom of the "manic" phase. I did see him suddenly go sit in a corner by himself, or start to become negative or dark about his current surroundings-- the "depressed" phase.

He also had a way of leading people on; after days of this unexpected hospitality, I still hadn't had a lesson. One night at about 3:00 AM, after we ended up at his house following a solo gig that he did at a local bar, it was time for me to go back to my hotel. He vigorously shook my hand, grinned, and told me what a great compliment it was for me to come down to Florida. ("You're the first person who's ever come from New York! Well... goodbye!") I stood my ground and said something like, "Aren't you forgetting something? I came here for a lesson." He was taken aback for a second. Earlier in the day, when we were at the house of the people with the wine, there was a piano, and I made a point of walking over to it and playing the first few bars of a piano reduction of "The Rite of Spring." (I was a classical music undergraduate student at the time.) I did this to try to casually show him that I was serious about music, not merely a fanboy. He listened and said, "I quoted that piece in one of my solos." I knew that, but didn't let on. Anyway, his wife, Tracy, finally took me aside after a couple of days to ask me if I'd gotten a lesson yet. I said no, and she promised that if I came over early the next morning, she'd make sure he'd be home and would sit down with me and get serious. So, I did end up getting a good, long lesson in his backyard. (I had gotten another lesson earlier in the year, backstage at a show he did with Herbie Hancock. He taught me "Portrait of Tracy" and some other things, and I remember him saying, "I don't have any time to practice any more. I can't pull off half of the things I used to.")
He refused any payment for the lesson, telling me that the compliment I gave him by traveling down there was payment enough.

I shared all of this to try to show that he was a complex person: warm, generous and kind; someone who liked to tease and put people on; a dedicated family man. When he wasn't being the "Jaco" superhero character, he could be quiet and honest about being out of practice, and so on.
I don't think it was arrogance that got him killed. When he was very ill toward the end, his weird, self-destructive drive to push people got to the point where he would supposedly go into bars and pick the biggest, meanest person to insult. He finally picked the wrong person.
Being around him was very inspiring. One night I got a lift back to the hotel from his family doctor, who had been at a party at Jaco's house. He said, "I see that you love Jaco, too." He'd been the doctor since Jaco was a baby, and he told me that he'd always felt that whatever Jaco did in life, he'd be a huge success. It's true-- he had a tremendous mind, and I believe he really was a genius, in the sense that he envisioned things no one else had. Making them a reality was where the hard work came in... but being bipolar, he very likely could have had practice sessions where he was laser-focused for long periods of time.

 

[Bassdirty]

Hyperbole and the internet. Oui!

Yes? (The definition of Oui [pronounced "wee"] in French). Maybe I missed something?
Or did you mean "Oy", as in "Oy Vey"? (the Yiddish term of exasperation).

No thanks necessary , I'm here to help.

 

[jerry]

Since this thread started with Jaco art, my hallway at home:

 

[J_Bass]

 

[jerry]

 

[J_Bass]

View attachment 3695380

Jaco and Joni, very nice!

 

[DJ Bebop]

If Jaco owned a P bass, maybe...

It could have looked like mine

 

[Bass Battalion]

The Luthier is of French Origin Name Unknown

Instrument Used by Pastorious Jaco In Modern Bass Vide0Lesson


watch large screen at;

mm/ss
45/43



Does AnyOne know by Name Whose Lutherie this Instrument is from (Stem)

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I've always wondered about that bass, it has a Carl Thompson look about it with that scroll on the top horn, beautiful instrument. The Jazz he plays is almost undoubtedly borrowed, I don't think he even owned a bass at the time, having smashed the Bass of Doom. He was a genius, but that video makes me sad, he looks kind of haunted.

Edit:
Apparently it was made by a a luthier named Abe Rivera. Thread about it here:

Jerry Jemmott fretless

 

[bucephylus]

I have to chime in one more time about Jaco's character. As I mentioned, I hung out with him, mostly over a few days in 1977. Earlier, I had heard him tell someone that he would give a lesson to anyone who came to his place in Fort Lauderdale. That summer, I took him up on that and headed down from New York. I stayed at a Holiday Inn, and expected to get a lesson and leave the next day, but when I walked up to his house (he was watering his lawn), he immediately invited me to join him and his brother and some friends for a swim at his mother's condo swimming pool. He was on vacation (from Weather Report), and he could have brushed me off; but, instead, he invited me to take part in everything he and his family were doing-- parties, lunch invitations, hanging out at his house... His hospitality was surprising and amazing. I was a basically a stranger, and yet he trusted me to watch his kids when he went out for an errand. I remember giving a piggy-back ride to his son, John.
He was 25 at the time (I was 20) and he was like a big, friendly, athletic kid. He did brag (after showing me some spacey sounds with his MXR Digital Delay, he told me "I was the only bass player who could have played with Hendrix!") but you have to understand that he indulged in hyperbole about everything. I remember that we were having dinner at someone's house, and when they brought out the wine, Jaco noticed the brand and proclaimed, "This is the best wine in the history of the world!!" Everything was "the greatest ever", etc. By the way, he used the phrase "of doom" to praise all kinds of things, not only his '62 fretless Jazz Bass.

The flip side of this was that he was apparently bipolar, and his incredible enthusiasm and energy was likely a symptom of the "manic" phase. I did see him suddenly go sit in a corner by himself, or start to become negative or dark about his current surroundings-- the "depressed" phase.

He also had a way of leading people on; after days of this unexpected hospitality, I still hadn't had a lesson. One night at about 3:00 AM, after we ended up at his house following a solo gig that he did at a local bar, it was time for me to go back to my hotel. He vigorously shook my hand, grinned, and told me what a great compliment it was for me to come down to Florida. ("You're the first person who's ever come from New York! Well... goodbye!") I stood my ground and said something like, "Aren't you forgetting something? I came here for a lesson." He was taken aback for a second. Earlier in the day, when we were at the house of the people with the wine, there was a piano, and I made a point of walking over to it and playing the first few bars of a piano reduction of "The Rite of Spring." (I was a classical music undergraduate student at the time.) I did this to try to casually show him that I was serious about music, not merely a fanboy. He listened and said, "I quoted that piece in one of my solos." I knew that, but didn't let on. Anyway, his wife, Tracy, finally took me aside after a couple of days to ask me if I'd gotten a lesson yet. I said no, and she promised that if I came over early the next morning, she'd make sure he'd be home and would sit down with me and get serious. So, I did end up getting a good, long lesson in his backyard. (I had gotten another lesson earlier in the year, backstage at a show he did with Herbie Hancock. He taught me "Portrait of Tracy" and some other things, and I remember him saying, "I don't have any time to practice any more. I can't pull off half of the things I used to.")
He refused any payment for the lesson, telling me that the compliment I gave him by traveling down there was payment enough.

I shared all of this to try to show that he was a complex person: warm, generous and kind; someone who liked to tease and put people on; a dedicated family man. When he wasn't being the "Jaco" superhero character, he could be quiet and honest about being out of practice, and so on.
I don't think it was arrogance that got him killed. When he was very ill toward the end, his weird, self-destructive drive to push people got to the point where he would supposedly go into bars and pick the biggest, meanest person to insult. He finally picked the wrong person.
Being around him was very inspiring. One night I got a lift back to the hotel from his family doctor, who had been at a party at Jaco's house. He said, "I see that you love Jaco, too." He'd been the doctor since Jaco was a baby, and he told me that he'd always felt that whatever Jaco did in life, he'd be a huge success. It's true-- he had a tremendous mind, and I believe he really was a genius, in the sense that he envisioned things no one else had. Making them a reality was where the hard work came in... but being bipolar, he very likely could have had practice sessions where he was laser-focused for long periods of time.

Thanks for sharing. Great experience for you and very much captures the spirit and context. Your post should be a sticky for any lesser informed discussions about the man.

 

[Manuel Bass]

Who is jaco ??

Is this guy seated at the right of god

 

[pbassnut]

Whereas I think very highly of Jaco's playing and like a lot of his music ... particularly his work with Weather Report, the idea of anybody being "the world's greatest electric bass player" is silly, IMHO. Art isn't quantifiable in the same way as, for example, the Olympic 100 meter dash where the best time is the best. Opinions and biases need not apply.

 

[Mark A Munoz]

My personal opinion is that expressions like "world's greatest" make it seem like there is an absolute scale by which all bassists can be measured, regardless the genre(s) they explored, instrument(s) they played, era(s) they lived in, and contribution(s) they made to the art.

I don't think there is an absolute way to rank the greats, so I don't think he was the world's greatest or wasn't the world's greatest, because the idea that there could be a "greatest" in some absolute sense doesn't work in my brain.

Now as for the portrait: I love it, and given that he referred to himself as the "World's Greatest," I like the line on it. It captures who he was and what he thought of his contribution to music.

And isn't that what portraits are supposed to do? Capture the soul of the subject? If reproductions are available for sale, count me in. I'd hang that in my house in a shot. With the claim, whether I think it's meaningful to compare great bassists or not.

Jaco just sounds like a good name for a legendary electric bass player, LL!

 

[Manuel Bass]

Yes he did. His arrogance got him killed..

Not. He was killed by luc havan.
I hope you never have to fight with this kind of mental illness
Poor jaco

 

[ThudThudThud]

Why'd you make a portrait of Jaco? Surely you should have a Portrait of Tracy.