Jaco the world greatest bass player ...

[LBS-bass]

Older folks who were around and paying attention when Jaco was in his prime were often astounded by his ability because nobody had ever made a bass sound like that before. That's what a lot of younger people don't appreciate, because when they hear him, it sounds just like so many of the imitators who went on to also do great things. Jaco broke that ground. He was the first to sound like that and he paved the way, stylistically, for a lot of what was to come later.

 

[Ric5]

sometimes really talented musicians are not always easy to listen to

To me Jaco's endless burpy toned noodling gets old after one song

 

[pappabass]

Who is jaco ??

 

[Allan Allan]

The best ever? I get the debate. All I can say is there never was before or since a player that connected with me on a visceral, emotional level the way he did.

I feel the same way about Dusty Hill, but I'm not about to say he's the best ever

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

Man, just listen to Jaco. Joni and Pat.

Bright Size Life, Hejira, Mingus, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter...

Four of my all-time favourite albums of any genre. Bright Size Life, Hejira, and Mingus are on my “Desert Island Discs” list.

 

[Reg Braithwaite]

That's what a lot of younger people don't appreciate, because when they hear him, it sounds just like so many of the imitators who went on to also do great things. Jaco broke that ground.

That’s always the way. Try to show someone “The Godfather” today, and they might shrug. It’s hard to appreciate how much it broke the mold for “crime dramas” by being a story about a father and his sons, who just happened to be a crime family.

But if you grew up with The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, that doesn’t seem novel or groundbreaking. It’s hard to appreciate that The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are what they are because The Godfather broke the trail for them.

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I’m still very much a fan of Jaco’s playing. For me, not only did he have blinding chops, but he also had Soul. IMO he was a great groove player. Even his solos grooved.


I believe music at it’s highest performance level is “Art”, so I don’t personally believe this is a “Greatest” musician I feel it’s a waste of time to rank them.

IMO Jaco was a trailblazer. There wasn’t anyone doing the things he did before him. And as already mentioned, he also was a great Composer.

 

[REV]

I can add only one thing to this discussion. Listen to Stanley's first solo record and then listen to Jaco's first solo record. End of discussion. Write this down!

 

[singlemalt]

Jaco was 35 when he died. 35.

Where would we be now if he had been able to find the help he needed?

In ten short years he produced an amazing body of work.



One of my favorites.

 

[2F/2F]

Loved his work with Wayne Cochran. He was semi tolerable with Ian Hunter too.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Didn't Jaco call himself "The greatest bass player in the world."

Yes he did. His arrogance got him killed..

 

[Kukulkan61]

He was the greatest at how he played but not the greatest ever...

 

[jerry]

Yes he did. His arrogance got him killed..

Wow! What utter bulls*&^!

 

[dougjwray]

I don't think there can be a single "greatest" when it comes to art.
I do think Jaco advanced the electric bass farther than any other single person has to date, and I also think he did more things well than anyone else did. Time. Articulation. Harmonic sophistication. Endurance. Dexterity. That thing called "personality." Most fine players have a few, or most of these, but he did all of them about as well as anyone could.
I don't think he was actually arrogant. He was mentally ill, and might have had delusions of grandeur, or something. He had his manic phases and his depressed phases.
Also, the whole "I'm Jaco, the world's greatest bass player" was in part a character he was consciously playing. He felt that he had to become famous and successful in order to support his family. The name tags on his flight cases said "John Francis Pastorius III."
I know all of this because I knew him and hung out with him for a while, 1976-1977.

 

[Kmonk]

There's no such thing as the "World's Greatest" player. It's very subjective and everyone has their own opinion. Personally, I can appreciate his talent but his music never did much for me. I'd much rather listen to Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, John Deacon, Marcus Miller and Scott Ambush. Interesting portrait though.

 

[Samatza]

Whether you liked him or not Jaco helped to put the bass on the map. When his album came out everyone that played bass was trying to figure out what he was doing and to that end yes, he was great.

The best? I think he was one of the best yes, but there were so many 'best' bass players out there and each one brought something different to the instrument. All of a sudden the bassist wasn't the guy standing in the shadows at the back he was front and centre in the spotlight, all of a sudden there were solos and chords and funky grooves that made songs move you.

I believe we owe these guys a lot, we've listened, watched and learned from them a lot of what we know and the instrument has grown out of its primary role. Isn't that great?

 

[BOOG]

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.

Articulated prose with realism.
Well said.

 

[Ric5]

Who is jaco ??

 

[bobba66]

I wish I could have partied with him.

 

[Kukulkan61]

Wow! What utter bulls*&^!

True story