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What Really Made Jaco Revolutionary?
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
DW can speak for himself, but he is a great player and he has gigged regularly more than forty years. He is sound on theory and reading too. DW plays Funk and R&B where copying Jaco is not going to get someone a ton of work. The same goes for genres like Urban Gospel or Country. Most serious players know Jaco and have learned at least some of his stuff, but copying is not a wise strategy in many genres.
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Completely agree. I respect Stanley but have never liked his playing. Thin and clacky and busy. I think if you were there at the time it was exciting, but as someone looking back, I think his music is pretty bad.
Jaco on the other hand, still inventive and exciting.
1) Getting into comparisons between the various elite bass players is fairly sophomoric. Stanley Clarke is absolutely amazing, my first fusion influence, an incredible leader and mentor; and I am most impressed by his unending and constant efforts at improvement / perfection, especially on upright. I don’t personally know Stanley; but, I have rubbed elbows with Ralphe Armstrong a couple of times; another incredible talent and wonderful person. We are lucky to have them ALL.
2) Whether you “like” Jaco’s considerable efforts or not, an appreciation for his contributions can be reasonably obtained by listening to the recording “Word of Mouth Revisited.” A careful listen to that recording will reveal a few factoids. a) Jaco performed a pretty broad spectrum of styles; b) a considerable number of world class players were strongly affected by Jaco’s work; and c) even world class players are generally NOT able to “sound like Jaco,” even when they try. Of those on WOM Revisited, probably Victor Bailey gets the closest. But, there is a lot more to “sounding like Jaco” than just having the gear or setting the pickups in some way.
3) I simply don’t get the apparent need by some to belittle the efforts of an artist, whose recorded track record is so explicitly a matter of historical record. There are artists whose efforts I don’t find to be particularly impressive. But, I don’t waste time decrying those artists. Each to their own. And, I’m generally open to new information. Input, Input.
Anyhow, carry on.
2) Whether you “like” Jaco’s considerable efforts or not, an appreciation for his contributions can be reasonably obtained by listening to the recording “Word of Mouth Revisited.” A careful listen to that recording will reveal a few factoids. a) Jaco performed a pretty broad spectrum of styles; b) a considerable number of world class players were strongly affected by Jaco’s work; and c) even world class players are generally NOT able to “sound like Jaco,” even when they try. Of those on WOM Revisited, probably Victor Bailey gets the closest. But, there is a lot more to “sounding like Jaco” than just having the gear or setting the pickups in some way.
3) I simply don’t get the apparent need by some to belittle the efforts of an artist, whose recorded track record is so explicitly a matter of historical record. There are artists whose efforts I don’t find to be particularly impressive. But, I don’t waste time decrying those artists. Each to their own. And, I’m generally open to new information. Input, Input.
Anyhow, carry on.
Definitely YOUR opinion. And you're not the only one who's played for decades. I've been playing since 1973. Influenced players? Maybe. Imitators? Not in my circles. Never seen or heard any. Wannabes? Maybe. I'm talking about professional high profile players. Yeah, could be a ton of amateurs trying to be Jaco. Probably all up on Youtube making videos. But hey, that's YOUR opinion and I'm ok with it. If I had proof, I'd certainly provide names.
Like I said, I get it. Some of y'all put Jaco on a high pedestal and that's fine. Not everyone is a Jaco fan! And it's cool if he had some influence in your playing. We all take something from musicians we like.
I, personally, never belittled anything Jaco. I recognized his talent and contributions to the world of bass. I merely said, he was NOT an influence on my playing. He was most definitely innovative.
I was mainly just trying to steer the thread in a constructive direction. No worries; wasn’t intending reference to your comments.
well said. I did pick on Stanley a bit, but I still have a great respect for him as a player.
I think there is a tendency to try to identify the component parts of a player. This is useful for study, but it won’t take you to the destination.
Jacos chops kinda matters. His gear, sound, tone, frets, the bridge pickup thing- none of this stuff matters. It doesn’t matter because Jaco was not just a bass player, he was an Artist. He had something to say. He was truly creative and gifted and that is why he mattered, and that’s why we will always talk about him.
Lots of great players, but very very few Artists out there. Celebrate them.
Try Jeff Berlin. When I first encountered him in Bill Bruford’s fusion band of the late 70’s, that was my immediate impression.
Hahaha. Jeff Berlin will never get over that he’s not as cool as Jaco. It really, really bugs him. If he would just say, “I’m not as important or as cool as Jaco. Boy that guy was SOMETHING!” A tremendous weight would lift off of him, and he would find much less friction between himself and the rest of the universe.
Never was my cup of tea either, completely understand the significance but couldn't make it 60 seconds into anything related
I love Jacos work with Joni Mitchell.
I can definitely see his influence on Marcus and Hadrian .
I enjoy the Fretless work of Pino and Esperanza just as much as I do Jaco.
I don’t think it was one particular thing that made revolutionary. I think it was the sum of his work.
I can definitely see his influence on Marcus and Hadrian .
I enjoy the Fretless work of Pino and Esperanza just as much as I do Jaco.
I don’t think it was one particular thing that made revolutionary. I think it was the sum of his work.
The sum of his work and his personality, IMO. Jaco's stage presence - I've seen him twice with WR - is nothing I've ever witnessed from another bass player and I've seen many legendary ones, both living and deceased.
He was never my favourite bass player, but if someone asked me who moved the goalposts when it comes to electric bass the most I'd say it was Jaco.
Not sure how revolutionarty this is, but it shows he was one busy little beaver...
He managed to be on six albums released in 1976…his solo debut, his first album with Weather Report (Black Market), his first album with Joni Mitchell (Hejira), Pat Metheny’s “Bright Size Life”, Paul Bley’s “Jaco” and Ian Hunter’s “All American Alien Boy” (he also played guitar on one track of this one).
He managed to be on six albums released in 1976…his solo debut, his first album with Weather Report (Black Market), his first album with Joni Mitchell (Hejira), Pat Metheny’s “Bright Size Life”, Paul Bley’s “Jaco” and Ian Hunter’s “All American Alien Boy” (he also played guitar on one track of this one).
I saw Jaco a bunch in the 70's plus Weather Report before he joined and and after, Jaco was a rockstar in a jazz band. He brought women into the seats, he had the animal magnetism that Joni talks about. Zawinul's bank account definitely got healthier after Jaco joined.
They know me as 'one take dlew'. That one take is generally take 15, but…What an impressive list!
Nevertheless, I do assume it was not too much time needed to record all this as he described himself as "First take Jaco"...
Which is another impressive ability in my book.
The Bley album was recorded and first issued in 1974, without a particular title, just the names of the players involved(Bley, Jaco, Pat Metheny, Bruce Ditmas). It was the first commercial recordings of Pastorius and Metheny.
