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Jaco's "crazy" distortion solos?

#21
Davo-London said:
I think the book dwelled too much on Jaco's illness. For me you finish the book and it's really sad. There seemed far less celebration of his music and his playing.

Davo
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...whenever I re-visit the book-
There's a certain place where I stop.
I have read through the dark pages enough...I get it.
I just like to read through the 1st few Chapters & stop with a smile on my face.
 
#28
dhsierra1 said:
a great musician will be able to take any instrument (and amp) and still sound like themselves.
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Exactly. Not arguing over that.
Jaco always said "the sound is in my hands".
That said, there is this anecdote...IIRC, Jaco was auditioning for Zawinul(???).
Anyway, it was in NYC & Jaco was told an amp would be provided, etc.
Still, he wanted to bring his own gear up from Florida. Why?
"...because it's my sound, man"!
:)

And Peavey isn't exactly chopped liver :eyebrow:
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If you say so...my experiences are otherwise.
 
#29
I knew him personally & saw him several times near the end where he would show up at someone elses gig with a keyboard and play crap

or, sit in and immediately go into a Pete Townsend thing - feedback - throwing the bass around

by this point I think he was high so much of the time he couldn't play and was just living off his 'celebrity'

it was sad because, in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, everybody knew him and each other - I remember walking out
 
#30
Davo-London said:
I think the book dwelled too much on Jaco's illness. For me you finish the book and it's really sad. There seemed far less celebration of his music and his playing.

Davo
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you on this point. The opening chapters of the book are very cool and give a pretty good sense of Jaco developing as a bassist, musician and a person. It starts to get pretty dark once he enters the public eye and gains fame and recognition with Metheney and then Weather Report, the last few chapters were really hard for me to read - basically one sad/ugly thing after another.

The approach of reading the first part of the book and stopping after the early WR era is probably a good one.
 
#31
ggoat!!! said:
I doubt YOU.
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Hey guys, let's try and stay civil. This is not intended as a gear debate in any way shape or form.

The Milkowski book does say that in his latter period Jaco did just play whatever gear he was provided, mostly because he could not keep a handle on any if his own gear. Pics in the book show him playing all kinds of basses. I'm guessing the same is true for amps. The instructional video he did with Jerry Jemmot shows him playing a std fretted Jazz.

He basically sounds like Jaco in all of the examples I have seen. The book has a CD with a bunch of different clips and interviews. There is one of him playing URB, and he sounds pretty unmistakably like ... Himself.
 
#35
pfschim said:
The instructional video he did with Jerry Jemmot shows him playing a std fretted Jazz.
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That's the Bass of Doom with a P-bass neck. He says so in the video. He says he did it to make practice harder, but I believe his normal fretless neck was getting some fine tuning by Kevin Kaufman when the video was made.
 
#36
THand said:
That's the Bass of Doom with a P-bass neck. He says so in the video. He says he did it to make practice harder, but I believe his normal fretless neck was getting some fine tuning by Kevin Kaufman when the video was made.
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perhaps, it's been a while since I looked at that video with Jemmot and Jaco.

In the Milkowski book, there are plenty of pics showing Jaco playing basses other than Fenders, and fretted basses instead of fretless. The primary point was, that after a certain time, Jaco pretty much played whatever was available at the moment.
 
#37
pfschim said:
perhaps, it's been a while since I looked at that video with Jemmot and Jaco.

In the Milkowski book, there are plenty of pics showing Jaco playing basses other than Fenders, and fretted basses instead of fretless. The primary point was, that after a certain time, Jaco pretty much played whatever was available at the moment.
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Oh sure, I agree. As for the book...I'm not going to read it. Ingrid was upset about it, saying some things weren't true, and IIRC Mary was upset by how her relationship with her father was represented too..So out of respect to his family, I'm passing on it. But I love uncommon pics of behind the scenes stuff, so it is tempting. But again, for me, I can buy the CD's and know what I need to know about Jaco cause I don't want help someone profit off of him, if it's not truth and is hurting Jaco's family. That's just my opinion though, and not a judgement on all of you who choose to read it.
 
#39
pnchad said:
I knew him personally & saw him several times near the end where he would show up at someone elses gig with a keyboard and play crap

or, sit in and immediately go into a Pete Townsend thing - feedback - throwing the bass around

by this point I think he was high so much of the time he couldn't play and was just living off his 'celebrity'

it was sad because, in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, everybody knew him and each other - I remember walking out
Click to expand...

Love to hear more from you sir.
 
#40
I'll chime in a little more

It was a different world - vinyl, 8 Tracks in the car, no interwebs, no cable TV (until 80s)

Jaco lived on NW 17th Way in Fort Lauderdale through most of his 'famous' years. There were several excellent jazz players living on the same street - duplexs & apartments

I can remember eating green pea soup for breakfast outside on a table about midday (everyone played & stayed up all night sleeping late) - he was in good form - healthy and excited by his success - probably right around 1979 - 1980

Most folks were in awe, some very close personally to him. I said something to the effect of 'you know Jaco, you have a responsibility to all those players who look up to you' (I meant to set a good example) - I've always thought his response was telling - he didn't like or accept this idea

He didn't want to be an idol, I don't think he was ever comfortable with the 'celebrity' aspect of things. He was a Showman and understood the value of theatrics on stage but IMO he never adapted to being 'Jaco' - he tried to play it down but I think it weighed on him

You also have to remember he was a big name but only in certain circles (jazz/fusion) which even then wasn't a huge market - he was voted Downbeat electric bassist of the year several years in a row but the big $$ were not there like pop artists make. In order to do well he had to tour which can be a hard life

During his life, as now, great jazz artists are more popular outside the U.S. - he is still adored in Japan for instance - he was not a household name in his day - some say the early demise leaves these folks larger than life - think Janus, Morrison, Jimi, et.al. - not that they don't deserve the recognition but that WE tend to lionize them

BTW, there is now a JP Park in Oakland Park FL not far from where his ponytail was severed by a train and he was beat into coma. Not much there yet but a youth center is proposed and needed for that 'hood - he lived and died on the wrong side of the tracks

my 2 cents
 

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