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What do you like about Jaco Pastorius' playing?

#121
I think he was amazing in many ways, but what always stood out to me was the incredible control he had over his right hand - the attack, dynamics, evenness, accents, etc. He could play a complex line and make some notes POP out in a wonderful way. Lots of players can do that now, but I never heard anybody do it before him.

And he had GREAT intonation, I don't know what Friesen was complaining about.
 
#122
How early you goin' back?
I'm talking when he was playing covers (Sly, Chicago, Betty Wright, etc). Granted, he was talking some chances & liberties with what he was playing bass-wise on those tunes. IIRC, his daze with the CC Riders opened up his composing/arranging chops.

As usual, I am probably wrong.
 
#123
His stacatto fretless style really got me. Not rolling into notes, or sliding, but very quick precise attack and decay, left no doubt how adept his intonation was. It's the one thing nobody has been able to copy about him. Quick choppy and always spot on playing.
 
#124
Musiclogic said:
His stacatto fretless style really got me. Not rolling into notes, or sliding, but very quick precise attack and decay, left no doubt how adept his intonation was. It's the one thing nobody has been able to copy about him. Quick choppy and always spot on playing.
Click to expand...

This. And so much more.
His articulation, dynamics, phrasing... and his creativity.
He played many things that made me think "how did he DO that?" But a lot of great players do that to me.
What Jaco did was play things that made me think "how did he ever THINK OF (or hear-in-his-head) THAT?"
The turnaround in Havona - I can learn it. I can play or compose lines with a generally similar contour, and play them at that speed.
BUT those particular notes? He didn't choose them because they are easy to play in that line. Those particular note choices - how and why?

That one bar poses all these questions...

RIP Jaco.
 
#125
Here's another solo that's always killed me, particularly the beginning (around 1:23) and the end (starting at around 2:34). The beginning is a perfectly placed bebop lick, and the end is another one of those "how did he think of that??" moments.

Of course, his phrasing, time and intonation are impeccable, and his ostinato playing on the rest of the tune is typically tireless and flawless.

 
#126
dougjwray said:
Here's another solo that's always killed me, particularly the beginning (around 1:23) and the end (starting at around 2:34). The beginning is a perfectly placed bebop lick, and the end is another one of those "how did he think of that??" moments.

Of course, his phrasing, time and intonation are impeccable, and his ostinato playing on the rest of the tune is typically tireless and flawless.

Click to expand...


Wonderful!
 
#129
bottomend! said:
I disagree. Even the early recorded stuff that you can find has a deep sense of composition and harmony in the lines he played. That was rare and dare I say almost non-exsistant on electric bass in jazz at the time. And that sense, coupled with his superior technique propelled him to the front of the line.
Click to expand...
...thought about this more. I agree with you.

dougjwray said:
Right around this time, there was also a Blindfold Test with the fine upright bassist David Friesen. He listened to Jaco's version of "Donna Lee" and was rather unimpressed. I seem to remember that he was critical of Jaco's intonation. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Here's David Friesen Blindfold Test w/ Leonard Feather (June 01, 1978)
Feather played "Donna Lee" from Jaco Pastorius-
Yeah, that was a tune called Donna Lee, I believe & I don't recognize the drummer , but I enjoyed what he did, & the bass solo. It was a Fender bass player who has an incredible amount of technique, but my ears failed me through parts of it, for intonation. I lost track of the melody of that song for some reason. There were parts of it, and I don't know if it was a recording fault, but it left something to be desired in the intonation.
I enjoyed the harmonic things he did. Maybe that's what threw me off. As great as this bass player sounds on this track, I can't hear the sunstance inside the note. I think he perhaps might be a younger musician because of that. usually the older musicians are just like wine. It takes time to age. There's an ingredient there that's so very dear & very special.
So as far as musicianship & technique, it's wonderful. But as far as substance, it left something to be desired. Overall, I would rate this maybe three stars".

IMO, Friesen did not ID Jaco as the "young musician" on this track. Why? Because the very next track Feather played was "Carin'" from Gil Goldstein's Pure As Rain. Jeff Berlin is playing freless bass on this track (w/ Ray Baretto & Bob Moses on percussion).
"That's a very interesting song & very interesting 7/4 rhythm. I liked the percussionist, & the pianist & the bassist. Especially the bassist.
Goodness, I don't know who that is. There are a couple of bass players that come to mind when I hear that sound. It's a very sweet sound, a very singing sound on the instrument. Jaco gets that, Eddie Gomez gets that feeling. Niels Pedersen- his name came to mind. They all play a little differently through their solos. It seems like I should have known who that was. I liked him very much. There was emotion in his playing, his intonation seemed in focus..."

Friesen goes on to talk about the composition & the how it was recorded.

For "Donna Lee", Friesen ID'd that it was a Fender bassist.
On "Carin'"...he doesn't mention that (or that it's an electric bass)...he mentions Jaco but includes URB icons Gomez & Pedersen.

Weird?
 
#131
Stanley Clarke Blindfold Test (March 24, 1977). Leonard Feather played "Opus Pocus" from Jaco Pastorius-
"That was a record by Jaco Pastorius, & I know that was Lenny playing drums because Lenny was the guy who told me about him.- that's there's this new guy I should check out. I've met Jaco & known him for some time- I used to see him in Florida a lot.
The tune I don't remember, but I'll tell you what I like about it. The steel drums; & that was Wayne Shorter, right? Nice. I'll give it three stars. There's actually some other tracks where Jaco really plays his stuff- he's a great electric bass player, & the thing I like about him is that he's very melodic. Very. And he writes pretty nice. This isn't his best.
I think his best composition on this album is one track where he does something with harmonics- a very short piece, but it's very nice. A nice melody there. But he's a great bass player. Portrait Of Tracy is the one I like. It's a nice usuage of harmonics."
 
#132
Yeah, if my intonation slipped a little while playing Donna Lee solo on a fretless at full speed with no harmonic support, I wouldn't be stressing about it too much. It's a flurry of notes, maybe disorientating on first listen, but he's playing the changes, that's for sure.
 
#136
Another Blindfold Test-
Downbeat June 15, 1978
Milcho Leviev was played "Birdland" (from Heavy Weather)

"Here I would say 5000 stars! This is my favorite group, Weather Report, and this particular tune, Birdland, is one of my favorite tunes of the '70s. For me, this is one of those rare occasions when a tune becomes a hit & is still an art product. It's very rare. This particulat tune is a classic because it is musical, masterful...besides the musical point, there's a message. There's so much vitality & joy in it & it's not cheap at all.
I would say Joe is a genius to have this idea to put these chromatic diminished chords, which is the cheapest thing that usually accordian players do at Bar Mitzvah gigs & all...he put it in the middle of the tune, which is the typical mark of a genius because all of a sudden it means something that you can't express with words. But it means eveything.
And the clapping hands at the end, the singing of Jaco, the synthesizer work of Joe- everything is just superb. It lifts you up- it makes you day. Usually if you hear it in the morning & you're in a bad mood, you go out on the street & you are joyful the whole day. Dr. Feelgood, definitely!"
 
#138
Jaco's playing was literally a life changing experience for me.

Over the years that I have contemplated his music and skill I have to say that what appealed to me most about his approach to the bass is what I think of as "fearlessness".

It's not just a matter of technical mastery (of either bass itself or musical theory/composition) but to incorporate all those things and then step out of his own way and push himself to the very precipiece of his musicallity, knowing full well he might go right over the edge and despite that do it anyway.

That was Jaco to me.
 
#139
Its his playing in Weather Report and Joni Mitchell that inspires me! I love his solo stuff . . . his two studio albums, the Birthday Concert and various bootlegs. But its his imaginative creativity with W.P and J.M that blows me away. That bass line in "France They Kiss on Main St." is amazing!
 
#140
Basshappi said:
Jaco's playing was literally a life changing experience for me.

Over the years that I have contemplated his music and skill I have to say that what appealed to me most about his approach to the bass is what I think of as "fearlessness".

It's not just a matter of technical mastery (of either bass itself or musical theory/composition) but to incorporate all those things and then step out of his own way and push himself to the very precipiece of his musicallity, knowing full well he might go right over the edge and despite that do it anyway.

That was Jaco to me.
Click to expand...

+1!
 

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