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What do you like about Jaco Pastorius' playing?

#161
bassistjoe93 said:
I personally love that tone! I don't use it for everything, but if I'm at home practicing or have a more fusion oriented gig, I love a good solo'd bridge pickup with some boosted upper mids. Tonegasm! :D

But I'll be the first to say I could see why many wouldn't like his tone, and some of his tone is hit or miss for me.
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I'm fine with his tone until he lays the chorus on thick.
 
#162
qervo said:
The self titled one is by far one of the best. Probably the best debut album in jazz. Just try and put yourself in 1976 and try to imagine what it would have been like hearing that in that time . Sometimes I think young cats that hear jaco for the first time in today's time aren't as impressed because so many new players have coped it , over done it , and/or taking it to new levels, but even those guys would say Jaco is the one who opened the door for them.
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+1 or ditto.
 
#163
With respect to Jaco and his tone I gotta say that the warmth of his tone compared to the other virtuoso fusion bassist of this time (Stanley Clark) is (along with Jaco's funk and r&b roots) what drew me to Jaco vs. the others. Everybody else seemed to head into that mid-scooped poppin-slappin direction which never appealed to me.
 
#165
qervo said:
The self titled one is by far one of the best. Probably the best debut album in jazz. Just try and put yourself in 1976 and try to imagine what it would have been like hearing that in that time . Sometimes I think young cats that hear jaco for the first time in today's time aren't as impressed because so many new players have coped it , over done it , and/or taking it to new levels, but even those guys would say Jaco is the one who opened the door for them.
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I have a somewhat different view. if you use the WOM Revisited recordings as reference, what you hear with basically all of the current luminaries paying tribute is that none of them totally cop it. There are some remarkable attempts - Haslip, East, and Bailey; IIRC. But, the differences are immediately obvious. BTW, MM, who was pretty loyal to JP, turns in a remarkably funky tribute that has nothing to do with Jaco sound-wise, but more in the harmonic/creative vein. All very cool, but shows how singular a cat Jaco truly was. IMO.
 
#166
bucephylus said:
I have a somewhat different view. if you use the WOM Revisited recordings as reference, what you hear with basically all of the current luminaries paying tribute is that none of them totally cop it. There are some remarkable attempts - Haslip, East, and Bailey; IIRC. But, the differences are immediately obvious. BTW, MM, who was pretty loyal to JP, turns in a remarkably funky tribute that has nothing to do with Jaco sound-wise, but more in the harmonic/creative vein. All very cool, but shows how singular a cat Jaco truly was. IMO.
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Perhaps I should have said "many have tried to imitate , not coped"
 
#168
Jaco Taco said:
Yeah, as much as some of the great bassists today are technically better than Jaco, I've never heard anyone with his feel. His feel is amazing. Like any musical genius, incredible music just seemed to flow out of him effortlessly.
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Yea I actually don't think that there was anything at all 'effortless' about it. Jaco put in long, long hours of practice. While the rest of us Ft Lauderdale rock and rollers were happy to rock on and play clubs he was dissecting Donna Lee and pushing himself.
 
#169
pedro said:
Yea I actually don't think that there was anything at all 'effortless' about it. Jaco put in long, long hours of practice. While the rest of us Ft Lauderdale rock and rollers were happy to rock on and play clubs he was dissecting Donna Lee and pushing himself.
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Yes indeed. I remember a passage from his book when he was about 15 or 16 (can't remember ) he told his mother that he no longer could wash the dishes in the sink because the dish washing liquid made his calluses soft and if he was going to be the best, he needed tough calluses. Even early on he was thinking of all avenues to become the best.
 
#170
qervo said:
Yes indeed. I remember a passage from his book when he was about 15 or 16 (can't remember ) he told his mother that he no longer could wash the dishes in the sink because the dish washing liquid made his calluses soft and if he was going to be the best, he needed tough calluses. Even early on he was thinking of all avenues to become the best.
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Most of us in that area at that time didn't practice at all. I mean we rehearsed and we had the bass or guitar in our hands a lot but we were mostly wiggling our fingers and doing whatever it is that we enjoyed playing instead of actually practicing with a purpose to move our skill level forward. Jaco did the hard and uncomfortable work, which combined with his talent is what made it appear effortless but it was anything but.
 
#171
pedro said:
Most of us in that area at that time didn't practice at all. I mean we rehearsed and we had the bass or guitar in our hands a lot but we were mostly wiggling our fingers and doing whatever it is that we enjoyed playing instead of actually practicing with a purpose to move our skill level forward. Jaco did the hard and uncomfortable work, which combined with his talent is what made it appear effortless but it was anything but.
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+1000

Jaco paid his dues in triplicate...In the video with Jerry Jemmot, some of the phrases he plays to illustrate his technique are right out of Slonimsky's thesaurus of scales.

They were played with flawless intonation and rhythm, boggles the mind in some respects, and any one who has studied theory is aware of the tremendous time & effort that goes into achieving that fluidity.

It's quite obvious that there was massive theory behind Jaco's work
 
#174
qervo said:
Yes he said it all in that instructional video . Practice practice practice. You gotta shed that stuff.
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Most us didn't know how or what to practice but Jaco figured it out. Much later on when I studied classical piano I was fortunate enough to study with a guy that was very, very specific not only about what but more importantly how to practice. Making yourself do what is hard and often quite boring (along with talent) is what separates guys like Jaco from ham and eggers like me.
 
#175
qervo said:
Perhaps I should have said "many have tried to imitate , not coped"
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Its cool. At some point we get comfortable in our own skin. Jaco was marvelous. The other guys on that recording are also amazing in different ways. That's what pop music is all about for a player - having your own thing going. Actually makes it easier to appreciate Jaco for what he did, and not feel you have to play exactly that way yourself.
 
#176
This may have already been said, but to me Jaco's most important contribution was his impeccable groove. He could be a great soloist. He raised the profile of the fretless bass. He could write and arrange. But everything started and ended with the groove.
 

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