He gets his chronology mixed up, but it was nearly fifty years ago!
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Narada Michael Walden’s Jaco Stories
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
He gets his chronology mixed up, but it was nearly fifty years ago!
Stories abound about Jaco's dark period, if you spend any time around musicians from that time especially NYC guys you will hear many, kinda like Buddy Rich stories.
I am not too keen on those stories because at the root of it is a mentally ill man who did not get the help he needed to save his life. I enjoy the earlier stories much more.
Two friends of mine, after leaving James Brown, got to know Jaco very well. They sadly told some Jaco stories. His death occurred after they moved. The band they formed, and later the restaurant they bought, were called Word of Mouth, to honor him and remind them of his spirit. They had several Weather Report tunes in their set list. David's fretless playing on A Remark You Made always brought a tear to my eye.
I share your feelings but also hope that stories from Jaco's and other's dark and troubled days will help others find the care and treatment they need and a more supportive community. Speaking as someone who has been on all sides of the equation.
This made me pull up and listen to Velvet Darkness and album I has long really love since finding it in a cut out bin. Alponso is so fierce and funky on that record.
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Allan Holdsworth plays violin on one track of Velvet Darkness. It was the last time he recorded with that instrument.
It’s a very raw sounding record, which is unusual for a CTI production.
It’s a very raw sounding record, which is unusual for a CTI production.
Sounds like a cross between early Zappa early Tribal Tech and Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy era Return to Forever.
That record was just a taped rehearsal that was released against Alan’s wishes. He completely disavowed it.
Wait, in this video, Jaco was a lefty?!?
Could be a case of an unreliable narrator.
Yeah, its a must for Alphonso fans, especially fans of 70's effects on bass that Alphonso was a master at. The CD I have has the album recorded twice on it. I love Creed Taylor recordings, every instrument is always present.
Yes, Holdsworth was angry that it got released, he felt that he was deceived by the label. I bought it, but didn’t listen to it much. One retroactively sad aspect of it is that unfortunately the cover has the Twin Towers on display.
Not to derail, but one album featuring Holdsworth that seems to get overlooked is Gazeuse!(aka Expresso in the U.S.), by the band Gong, who had transitioned from a quirky prog collective into a fusion-esque ensemble due to personnel upheaval. Bassist Francis Moze did some interesting fretless work:
He was involved for that one album only. It’s funny how, in those days, every new release of his was with a different band(he did stick around for two albums with Tony Williams, but Million Dollar Legs got such bad reviews that I never picked it up).
...as well as for Narada fans. In fact, I would argue that the things that made (and, to this day, make) Narada Michael Walden one of my favorite drummers ever were actually limited to the three albums he did with Mahavishnu, the two tracks on Robert Fripp's Exposure that he played on, and Holdsworth's Velvet Darkness.
Period.
Everything else I've heard him play drums on makes me think "Wait, where's the fire?!?!"
I finally wound up satisfying my Million Dollar Legs curiosity without having to give up my street cred: When I went to replace my 40+ year old vinyl copy of Believe It with a CD I found one of those cutout bin compilations on the Columbia Jazz Contemporary Masters label called "The Collection" that combined both albums by The New Tony Williams Lifetime.
The bad reviews were spot-on.
