Scott La Faro

[Frank Kreber]

I'm currently listening to the Village Vanguard recordings of the Bill Evans Trio again. I'd be interested in your opinion on Scott LaFaro—how much did his technique and harmonic understanding influence the role of the bass in the trio? Was he just one among many, or was he a prominent pioneer? And can his role be compared to that of Jaco Pastorius on electric bass?

 

[jim nolte]

I'm currently listening to the Village Vanguard recordings of the Bill Evans Trio again. I'd be interested in your opinion on Scott LaFaro—how much did his technique and harmonic understanding influence the role of the bass in the trio? Was he just one among many, or was he a prominent pioneer? And can his role be compared to that of Jaco Pastorius on electric bass?

Jack Casady , Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna, has said that Scott LaFaro was a huge influence on his electric bass playing, in his mind LaFaro was taking upright bass playing to another level, excellent player who left this world way too soon.

 

[brianrost]

Yes, he was a prominent pioneer.

While best known for the Bill Evans recordings (two studio LPs and the VV LPs), he also recorded with Ornette Coleman He’s on Free Jazz (1961) and Ornette! (1962, a posthumous release) as well as albums of outtakes like Twins and The Art Of The Improvisors. He had been rooming with Charlie Haden which how he probably got the call. He also recorded with Stan Getz, Hampton Hawes and John Lewis amongst others, so he caught the ears of many major leaders.

 

[Lee Moses]

Definitely a prominent pioneer. The conversational style he developed with Bill Evans was revolutionary and highly influential on many bassists that followed him. You could argue that other bassists took it to another level, but sadly he died too young (only 25 years old!!) for him to approach all that he would have accomplished if he would he lived to anything near a full age. Remember that Ron Carter was 26 when he first joined Miles.

 

[bucephylus]

LaFaro was a definite pillar of Jazz Bass virtuosity, with heavy influence on Jazz Bass players around the world. +1 to @brianrost ’s post above.

I believe that Marc Johnson stands as a recent practitioner of some of LaFaro’s approaches / techniques; and his couple of books are outstanding for those wanting to pursue further studies in that style.

 

[ajkula66]

I've played some Bill Evans stuff with LaFaro to a few people not familiar with the latter. Musicians, BTW.

Quite a few of them remarked that there was nothing new and/or outstanding about his approach to bass.

"Fine" I said. "Find me someone who played like that prior to 1960"

Crickets. They finally got it.

I'd never claim that LaFaro had influenced me on any level that I'm aware of but wouldn't be one bit surprised to find out that he actually did in some less-than-obvious way.

A fabulous player whose sand ran out way too soon.

Remembered and deeply respected by silly old me.

 

[dougjwray]

When I was 21, I took upright bass lessons for about a year with John Neves, a fine player in Boston who had worked with Stan Getz, Joanne Brackeen and others.
At the first lesson, he played piano and I accompanied him on upright. I tried to play some flashy stuff (like a 21-year-old), and he firmly told me, "No one wants to hear that Scott LaFaro sh/+!"
He was a Ray Brown guy. (I am, too.)
It was a valuable lesson-- the LaFaro style can be very inspiring, and he was brilliant. But it doesn't work in most situations, when you're an accompanist..

 

[Don Kasper]

As groundbreaking as S.LaFaro was, it needs to be mentioned that his approach was welcomed and encouraged by both Bill Evans and Paul Motian, who were clearly interested in playing Piano trio in a different way...this was a collective experiment for all 3 musicians.
IMFO, of course.
Also - in the early 80's I was playing near Scott's birthplace of Geneva, NY, (Rochester, NY area), and a really OLD guy came up to the bandstand and asked if any of us knew who Scott LaFaro was - we all answered in the affirmative. The old dude said he had been Scott's High School Band teacher, who also taught him the tenor sax.
We asked how Scott sounded on sax, to which he answered - "He was AWFUL!"
Yikes.
Thanks.