Not a huge Jaco fan BUT...

[Brad Johnson]

Had I been around in those days though, I might well have worn those trousers. If it's good enough for Jaco...

And that was the simple point I was making. AT THE TIME, contrary to what some people have said, that most definitely was in style. So were tight shirts and big hats among other things.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/ilove/years/1977/fashion2.shtml

I guess no one was fashion aware except the kid.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I saw Weather Report before Jaco and after he joined, a lot more chicks started coming to the shows with Jaco, somebody dug what he was wearing!

 

[puff father]

And not only was he a great bass player, he was an over all great musician.

I am a huge fan of Jaco and couldn't agree with you more. Cleanest player ever IMO. Clean, funky, precise..., on and on..

Jaco did more for the evolution of the electric bass then Jimmy Hendrix did for the evolution of the electric guitar.

...oops, lost me there though..., Jimi, when he was 'on' gives me goose bumps! Electric rock guitar was turned upside-down by Hendrix. Still there are those that don't 'get' Jimi too.

I guess both Jimi and Jaco can be acquired tastes.

 

[NYCBass]

I am a huge fan of Jaco and couldn't agree with you more. Cleanest player ever IMO. Clean, funky, precise..., on and on..



...oops, lost me there though..., Jimi, when he was 'on' gives me goose bumps! Electric rock guitar was turned upside-down by Hendrix. Still there are those that don't 'get' Jimi too.

I guess both Jimi and Jaco can be acquired tastes.

Don't get me wrong, I think Hendrix is and was great. I'm talking about the over all impact that Jaco had over the electric bass. In the late 60's if you could play Purple Haze on the guitar you were great. In the late 70's and early 80's if you could play Teen Town on the bass you were God. Jaco change not just the electric bass for it's tone, but where it sat in the mix and how much room the other musicians gave it.

Aside from musicianship "witch is not the point I'm making here" Hendrix gave the guitar big distortion and a new path. Jaco gave the electric bass a whole new life.

 

[Brad Johnson]

As a fan of Jaco, I can't see where he gave electric bass a "whole new life". It wasn't like there was any lack of electric bass before him. And Hendrix most certainly did turn the music world on it's ear.


Remember, Jaco was basically pre-keyboard bass, not post.

 

[extrem94]

That's gymnastic.

 

[NYCBass]

As a fan of Jaco, I can't see where he gave electric bass a "whole new life". It wasn't like there was any lack of electric bass before him. And Hendrix most certainly did turn the music world on it's ear.


Remember, Jaco was basically pre-keyboard bass, not post.

True there was electric bass before Jaco and Hendrix did put the music world on it's ear.

Now I will try to make my point one more time. Would you agree that the electric guitar had more of a revolution in how it was played and the type of instrument used by Eddie Van Halen over Hendrix?

You see my point is not that Jaco was the first electric bass player "now try and keep up here" but that he revolutionized the way it's played and the tone used. Before Jaco how much Growing fretless electric bass did you hear in popular music? Answer is... None.

Now in this very small part of my post I talked about this and it is the whole point of the post as far as a few of you see it to be. Now I'm sorry I didn't say Allen Holdsworth because more then half of you would have never knew who I was talking about. And for all of you guys that only listen to 2% of the music out there, Allen Holdsworth is where Eddie Van Halen got most of his tricks from. Here comes more posts now because I talked about Van Halen

Jaco was basically pre-keyboard bass, not post. Okay I guess it's time here for a

 

[Brad Johnson]

True there was electric bass before Jaco and Hendrix did put the music world on it's ear.

Now I will try to make my point one more time. Would you agree that the electric guitar had more of a revolution in how it was played and the type of instrument used by Eddie Van Halen over Hendrix?

No, I'd even go as far as to say that the idea itself is silly.

You see my point is not that Jaco was the first electric bass player "now try and keep up here" but that he revolutionized the way it's played and the tone used. Before Jaco how much Growing fretless electric bass did you hear in popular music? Answer is... None.

What "popular music" did Jaco play? Try and keep up with that. In the idiom he worked in, Alphonso Johnson. Percy Jones. Fernando Saunders. There's more. Should I assume as you do that you don't know who I'm talking about?

Now in this very small part of my post I talked about this and it is the whole point of the post as far as a few of you see it to be. Now I'm sorry I didn't say Allen Holdsworth because more then half of you would have never knew who I was talking about. And for all of you guys that only listen to 2% of the music out there, Allen Holdsworth is where Eddie Van Halen got most of his tricks from. Here comes more posts now because I talked about Van Halen

It's merely an assumption that that is all we see... it is what I responded to. If you really think about it you may figure out the difference

If you had said Holdsworth instead of Hendrix I wouldn't have said a thing about it... there's no way Holdsworth was anywhere near as influential as Hendrix. Just like many say that bass is divided between before and after Jaco, the same is true of Hendirx and guitar.

Jaco was basically pre-keyboard bass, not post. Okay I guess it's time here for a

If there was a time when electric bass needed a "whole new life", it was after keyboard bass became popular, not before.

 

[jsingles]

I find it unbelievable that anybody could deny jaco the credit he deserves.
He made music with harmonics on bass before anybody else
he revolutionized the use of tone
he revolutionized the very way the bass was played back then.
he viewed his role as a bass player entirely differently and more melodically than anybody at the time, and even if you dont like jaco's music or you dont particularly enjoy his exact tone, (which is FINE, everyone has their right to their own opinion,) you should not deny his importance, and furthermore when people say he flat out "sucks" I wonder if they are suggesting that they can play better than him?

dont mean to offend anybody, I can FULLY understand that jacos work is NOT for everybody, and its easy to understand why somebody wouldnt like listening to him. He does deserve my respect though.

 

[NYCBass]

"What "popular music" did Jaco play? Try and keep up with that. In the idiom he worked in, Alphonso Johnson. Percy Jones. Fernando Saunders. There's more. Should I assume as you do that you don't know who I'm talking about?"

Not that "Jaco" played in pop music, The tone that he made popular that then all other bass players used in popular music recordings. Other bass players try to emulate his playing style and his tone. No producer would have ever given players like Pino Palladino the freedom to play the way he did in Paul Young's recording "Everytime You Go Away I think is the title of the tune" in a pop tune if it had not been for Jaco making that fretless tone popular. That fretless tone is the point, that growly in your face fretless tone he had. Not that Jaco played with WAM ! ! !

Copy is the biggest form of flattery and to this day I see players trying to sound like Jaco.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Not that "Jaco" played in pop music, The tone that he made popular that then all other bass players used in popular music recordings.

Here's the root of the problem we seem to keep running into... look at what I highlighted above. Why would you say something so over the top and not even close to reality?

Other bass players try to emulate his playing style and his tone. No producer would have ever given players like Pino Palladino the freedom to play the way he did in Paul Young's recording "Everytime You Go Away I think is the title of the tune" in a pop tune if it had not been for Jaco making that fretless tone popular. That fretless tone is the point, that growly in your face fretless tone he had. Not that Jaco played with WAM ! ! !

Some did. Everyone didn't. That really isn't that fine a point, is it?

You asked who else had that fretless tone before Jaco and then ignored my answer. That's who.

Copy is the biggest form of flattery and to this day I see players trying to sound like Jaco.

And far, far more who don't... but by doing that they're consciously acknowledging him by not playing like him.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I find it unbelievable that anybody could deny jaco the credit he deserves.
He made music with harmonics on bass before anybody else
he revolutionized the use of tone
he revolutionized the very way the bass was played back then.
he viewed his role as a bass player entirely differently and more melodically than anybody at the time, and even if you dont like jaco's music or you dont particularly enjoy his exact tone, (which is FINE, everyone has their right to their own opinion,) you should not deny his importance, and furthermore when people say he flat out "sucks" I wonder if they are suggesting that they can play better than him?

dont mean to offend anybody, I can FULLY understand that jacos work is NOT for everybody, and its easy to understand why somebody wouldnt like listening to him. He does deserve my respect though.

Who is denying Jaco credit?

Do you believe he affected every living bassists and if they don't admit it they're lying and ignorant? Do you think his tone was what "all other bass players used in popular music recordings"?

Credit is one thing... this stuff is so far over the top it's like a Chuck Norris joke.

 

[NYCBass]

Brad, Fretless players is the point. Sorry I didn't make that clear in my post.

Yes there were other fretless players but Percy started off playing a fretless P Bass. Not the same tone.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Brad, Fretless players is the point. Sorry I didn't make that clear in my post.

The people I mentioned all played fretless.



Or are you saying Jaco affected "all" fretless players? In that case what was his affect on Percy?

I had a guy tell me I started playing fretless because of Jaco. Pretty funny.

Yes there were other fretless players but Percy started off playing a fretless P Bass. Not the same tone.

Percy didn't have a growly tone? Okay.

And the other two? I know Alphonso played a Charles Lobue IIRC so if that rules him out because he didn't play a 60's Jazz...

 

[NYCBass]

Brad I'm so sorry that my opinions offend you in such a great way.

I know it must be hard enough for you sitting by your computer hitting the refresh button looking to keep an argument going all day. Let alone having all the knowledge & wisdom in the world and having to deal with us mear mortals in this thread.

God Bless You my Friend and all the burdens you face each day trying to fix all the worlds problems. From Bellbottoms to Jaco, thank you for having all the answers.

 

[Rossman59]

A possible correction -

Wikipedia has the following guys (not Jaco) playing bass on Court and Spark -

Wilton Felder - Bass
Max Bennett - Bass on "Trouble Child"
Jim Hughart - Bass on "People's Parties" and "Free Man in Paris"

Given that this is Wikipedia is this correct?

 

[Brad Johnson]

Brad I'm so sorry that my opinions offend you in such a great way.

I'm not the least bit offended. It's called talking on the internet, that's all. You say stuff and sometimes people respond.

I know it must be hard enough for you sitting by your computer hitting the refresh button looking to keep an argument going all day. Let alone having all the knowledge & wisdom in the world and having to deal with us mear mortals in this thread.

I know how hard you must have thought to come up with that so... kudos.

God Bless You my Friend and all the burdens you face each day trying to fix all the worlds problems. From Bellbottoms to Jaco, thank you for having all the answers.

There you go with "all" again. It never stops.

 

[Brad Johnson]

What did you think of Harvey Brook's playing on "Bitchs Brew"?

I didn't think it was influenced by Jaco.

 

[Brad Johnson]

What do you think of Harvey Brooks?

Harvey is like the Woody Allen character Zelig or Forrest Gump... he popped up everywhere with a veritable who's who of artists during my formative years.

 

[Brad Johnson]

When I hear bass players talk about Jaco it's like two fat old bald guys standing on a corner as Paris Hilton walks by and one saying to the other "she's really not that hot" Here is the point, If Jaco had a dress on in the Shadow and Lights video, he still would have been a "Great Bass Player" Okay now try and keep with me here... Jaco did more for the evolution of the electric bass then Jimmy Hendrix did for the evolution of the electric guitar. And not only was he a great bass player, he was an over all great musician.

Look if you don't like Jaco that's cool with me. If you can't make it through every track on a Wether Report recording that's cool too. I think it's really cool that you found a style of music that you like and Jaco just happened to be the bass player. But I don't think it's cool when some one who couldn't play their way through a Blues Standard critiques the style, note choice or amount of notes played by any Jazz Musician.

Want to hear something that your small little 1 4 5 ears might like. Look for Ian Hunter's recording All American Alien Boy. Jaco plays on that one as well.

PS
Try and get hip to a 6 2 5 1 turnaround Please ! ! !

You've been condescending from the start and nobody got upset. Think about it.