Jaco the world greatest bass player ...

[jerry]

In searching if Jaco Pastorius ever tried his timing with 'Cucumber Slumber' live I bumped to this PhD paper on the bass players of Weather Report (2010) which contains the stories of Miroslav Vitous, Alphonso Johnson, John Pastorius III and Victor Bailey and analyses of their playing style plus interviews of the living ones.

Nice and ear opening stuff. https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/45478/FRANDSEN_MARK_Diss.pdf

For the hell of it, Marcus doing Cucumber:

 

[garethbarnes]

I understand people pushing back on calling someone "the best." I hate the grammies and the academy awards for the same reasons. There is no best.

So why are we still talking about Jaco all these years later?

He was an original in every way is the short answer.
While you can hear his influences clearly; Charlie Parker, Bach, Sinatra, Jermott, Atlantic Records R&B, Rocco Prestia, South Florida Latin, and Creol, he put all of those into his own original stew.
Beyond that, he had some physical talents that are god-given, his motor skills were that of a world-class athlete. One in million get those motor skills and then combine that with some of the best time feel I have ever heard coming from any musician. He grooves and swings so hard it's hard to believe.
That brings me to his knowledge of harmony; soloing over the most difficult chord changes effortlessly, weaving in and out of rock, jazz, blues, and Bach. Even today, there are plenty of chops players but few that can play melodically with a command of chords, substitutions, and voice leading at his level, always heavy on the melodies.
If that where it ended, we would still be talking about him but there's more; he was a great composer and arranger. Three Views of Secret is my personal favorite, Havona, Barbary Coast are some that to come to mind instantly.
Did I mention, he was a pretty good showman?

Anybody that has never heard of him claims to play the bass is missing a gift, not just to bass, but to music. The fact is maybe, just maybe once in a generation a guy comes along and changes the face of music as we know it. Guys like; Charlie Parker, J.S. Bach, Hendrix, Mozart, these names are synonymous with music itself. Jaco has a seat at this table. RIP Jaco.
[/QUOTE

I think you said it all!

 

[bluesblaster]

I think he earned his place in history, unfortunately like some artists before him he suffered from mental illness that raised its ugly head later in life and ultimately his demise. I'm sure that boast of GOAT's was just him giving people the business, he was known to be quite the huckster, but he could walk the walk thats for sure. Considering the time period he was a total bad ass on the bass, there were others like Jeff Berlin that had that sort of prowess but Jaco was a real character and thats why will be remembered beyond the legacy of musical abilities. If you have the chance to watch the bi-op "Jaco" there is some footage of him from the early days that is just stunning to watch