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Jaco-Tone: Do you really like it?
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Zawinul apparently said that he got sick and tired of listening to Jaco farting back there (with reference to tone and playing not GI issues).
I bought Black Market and Heavy Weather because of Jaco. That farting sound made a lot of money for Zawinu and Jaco was largely responsible for propelling that band to its brush with mainstream success. I watched that Jaco bio. Zawinul played a lot of mind games with Jaco's fragile psyche. Zawinul would say things and withheld respect that Jaco dearly wanted from him.
Can you please provide reference? I don't recall any such statement by Joe. Thanks.
Nope. Read it years ago with reference to Jaco's increasing mental health issues and their effect on live performances with Weather Report. The wording likely isn't precise at this point.
Regarding the various descriptions of Jaco's tone as "farting," I will just offer these comments.
First, what Joe Zawinul said about Jaco and his tone is best summarized on the CD Portrait of Jaco, where Joe gives some background and introduces Cannonball. Wish I could find it for a link; but it's not on YouTube. Joe's comments make the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time I listen to it. Referring to the intro Joe says he told Jaco, "Relax, you have this beautiful tone...and the rest is on the record." Gets me every time, like I said. Here's Cannonball:
The part that is notable to me is how seamlessly Jaco's tone and line flow seamlessly into Wayne's horn part. Awesome.
Second, Jaco actually had a HUGE ripping tone live that was pretty much what you get with a fretless Jazz Bass going into an Acoustic 360. Any semblance of "farting" is 110% strictly due to the listener having an inadequate reproduction system. Any player who describes that tone as "farting," but has never actually plugged a Jazz Bass into an Acoustic 360 and cranked it up is simply uninformed.
First, what Joe Zawinul said about Jaco and his tone is best summarized on the CD Portrait of Jaco, where Joe gives some background and introduces Cannonball. Wish I could find it for a link; but it's not on YouTube. Joe's comments make the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time I listen to it. Referring to the intro Joe says he told Jaco, "Relax, you have this beautiful tone...and the rest is on the record." Gets me every time, like I said. Here's Cannonball:
The part that is notable to me is how seamlessly Jaco's tone and line flow seamlessly into Wayne's horn part. Awesome.
Second, Jaco actually had a HUGE ripping tone live that was pretty much what you get with a fretless Jazz Bass going into an Acoustic 360. Any semblance of "farting" is 110% strictly due to the listener having an inadequate reproduction system. Any player who describes that tone as "farting," but has never actually plugged a Jazz Bass into an Acoustic 360 and cranked it up is simply uninformed.
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Jaco's battle with mental health was tragic and heartbreaking. We should leave it there. Try to track down Portrait of Jaco to hear the word from the horses mouth, if possible. Well worth the effort.
Agreed. I met him in Toronto years ago during a very bad stretch and it's quite a story for another place and time. Very sad. It reminded me of a concert I attended with an ancient Ella Fitzgerald. The legend had left the building long ago, and I couldn't go back for the second half--just sat in the lobby and waited for my friends.
His tone has its place but in my opinion it doesn't fit anything I would use it for. People should concentrate on developing their own tone and maybe one day we will talk about how life changing that is
Interesting. It is hard to watch time take its toll on our treasures.
Regarding Ella, I heard her at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor (one of THE greatest acoustic halls in the world) just months before her death. She gave an outstanding, totally all out performance that literally brought the house down. I will never forget it.
First, the tone should fit the gig. The mission on bass is to make the band swing and sound good; and fill up the dance floor.
Second, in thinking about Jaco, it is important to understand that in that time, the main thing for the premier artists was to develop their own distinctive tone. The ensemble playing sound was reserved more for the studio musicians who were toiling in the shadows. Certainly lessons to be learned from both; and one can appreciate and learn from both, without being a parrot.
There are SO many great clips of Jaco's sound. For the time he played, he produced a staggering body of work. The Birthday Concert is a killer.
But, I like listening to Will Lee's take on Jaco. I think it puts a lot of this in perspective to hear the take of one of our greatest cover bassists:
But, I like listening to Will Lee's take on Jaco. I think it puts a lot of this in perspective to hear the take of one of our greatest cover bassists:
Astonishing. The show I went to at Roy Thomson Hall was about the same time. Ella had a trio with her who were desperately trying to follow her memory lapses. She'd recite exactly the same banter after three or four songs in a row, call a song, not know when to come in, and then sing an entirely different song while the guys tried to track her. The overall effect was pretty well-established dementia. Her voice was gone too that night: an old lady's creak where that sweet bell of a voice had been. It was very sad, heartbreaking really.
I will avoid repeating everything that others that appreciate Jaco's tone has said.
So I will keep it short.
Yes.I like Jaco's tone.
To me his tone is THE sound of fretless bass.
I don't care if thousands imitate that sound.
I like it!
So I will keep it short.
Yes.I like Jaco's tone.
To me his tone is THE sound of fretless bass.
I don't care if thousands imitate that sound.
I like it!
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Watching Jeff Berlin knock Jaco's style is really sad because Berlin doesn't have 1/10 of Jaco's originality or musicality. Oh, and Jeff? I've got all your stuff that you played with Bruford, you were totally copping the "Jaco Pastorious Approach" in the 70's with staccato playing.
Heartbreaking is right, I would not be able to sit through that either. Must be difficult to listen to her recordings without that memory bubbling up to the surface.
Jaco's tone made his note choice and phrasing easy to hear in the context of fusion in that era. I have no use for that tone myself in what I'm playing, but it was such a clarifying tone for him.
But it's cool for you to knock Berlin? His body of work is out there. Point me to yours and we can pick it apart here.
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