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Thoughts on Pino Palladino
- Thread starter TJH3113
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- palladino pino palladino
Agreed with the state of The Who. I thought they were a pale imitation of themselves last night. 8 people on stage and still sounded pretty weak.
Great question, "So...if not Pino, who?" I'll give that some thought.
The Who could certainly have found and hired a bassist that could have played John's parts backwards and forwards identically. However, they decided not to try to fill the shoes of an icon so they did the next best thing… they hired the most solid support bassist in the world.
I gotta ask this because I think there is some UNINTENDED disrespect going on here.
To say that Pino or any other bassist is a bad choice for this position is a slap in the face of the remaining members that asked him to sit in. If they thought he was good enough or a good to perfect fit, who are we to say they made a bad or inappropriate choice? Are the remaining members idiots that are not capable of making choices for a legacy that THEY helped build and maintain? It's really disrespectful to assert that the surviving members were not capable of choosing replacements to continue their legacy.
FF
To say that Pino or any other bassist is a bad choice for this position is a slap in the face of the remaining members that asked him to sit in. If they thought he was good enough or a good to perfect fit, who are we to say they made a bad or inappropriate choice? Are the remaining members idiots that are not capable of making choices for a legacy that THEY helped build and maintain? It's really disrespectful to assert that the surviving members were not capable of choosing replacements to continue their legacy.
FF
No offense, they're opinions. They don't have to consider why he was chosen or anything else. I don't find any of it to be disrespectful. Anyone looking for Entwistle reincarnate in Pino will likely be disappointed. Pino didn't seem to be going for that.
As far as the live mix, I'd bet Pino had no control over that... like most of us.
As far as the live mix, I'd bet Pino had no control over that... like most of us.
Sounds like a talented player filling in for a beloved bass icon and not wanting to step on any toes.
I listen to Pino a lot. What impresses me the most is that he fits into every setting and either writes the bass line or recreates the classics seemingly effortlessly. He is such a versatile player! And I think he shows a lack of ego by shifting his role and style depending upon the group he is playing with. I can't think of many players that have such a wide scope of sounds and ability.
As for The Who, they were my favorite growing up. I simply can't listen or watch them anymore. My love of The Who started waning with Kenny Jones anyway....
As for The Who, they were my favorite growing up. I simply can't listen or watch them anymore. My love of The Who started waning with Kenny Jones anyway....
Finally....someone mentioned his work with John Mayer....I'm really new to Pino...but the Trio album is what made me dig him!I think "presence on stage" is often overlooked. Pino is a quiet guy and I've never seen him "moving" too much on stage except for those 80's video when he was young and energeticsome musicians continue to be "present on stage" till the end of their career, because it IS the band's image. Pino comes from a different background - he's one of the best session bass players ever! He pretty much never been a part of a band in sense of being founding member/songwriter. Basically if you're a session bass player who got hired to play with an artist, you don't want to be a distraction. I think his relationships with The Who are strictly business. He will never be able to replace Entwistle, so he's just doing his job
I'd encourage you to listen to the John Mayer track "Edge of Desire". The pop session work Pino does is certainly not him playing beneath his abilities. Pino is a master of serving the song with complex melodic movement, but staying in the pocket so brilliantly that it never sounds like overplaying. Transcribe that Edge of Desire tune and you'll see how scientific his playing really is. Awareness of space and ability to utilize that space are second to none. Pino is truly one of the greatest players of the modern era, and that's an opinion held universally in popular music.
Pino ranks as high as Victor, Jamerson, Clarke and Jaco IMO.
Not sure what you mean by "playing below his abilities," but it's hard to imagine anyone doing a better job on a 12/8 Slow Blues than Pino (with Mayer and Steve Jordan) in this video:
I'd say of all his various approaches, it's the D'Angelo-style neo-soul style that is what he's actually most known for currently, at least in musicianly circles. He's a HUGE reason, perhaps the primary one, for the resurgence of the whole muted/flatwound/retro-ish Pbass sound that is so revered again these days. When Voodoo came out bass players were freaking out! If I'm asked for a "Pino vibe" by a producer or artist these days, that's what they're asking for, NOT fretless!
