This is an old video that I saw before. It can't hurt to share it again.
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Will Lee on Jaco
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
This is an old video that I saw before. It can't hurt to share it again.
Thank you Mr Cheese, you always post the most interesting videos, I have a feeling that Jaco actually intimidated Will as he pretty much did everyone when he came on the scene. I also like when he said that every bass player nowadays has a little of Jaco in him and it's true, one more thing, Will is a GREAT player, I could just watch him and listen all day. I especially like how he seemed to be muting the strings at one point but I couldn't figure out how he was doing it unless he was pulling his fretting fingers off the fret just a little bit or more likely playing right in front of the fret to damp down the highs. I had fooled around with that years ago but didn't think it would be practical especially being as lazy as I am to try to perfect it.
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Thank you Mr Cheese, you always post the most interesting videos, I have a feeling that Jaco actually intimidated Will as he pretty much did everyone when he came on the scene. I also like when he said that every bass player nowadays has a little of Jaco in him and it's true, one more thing, Will is a GREAT player, I could just watch him and listen all day. I especially like how he seemed to be muting the strings at one point but I could figure out how he was doing it unless he was pulling his fretting fingers off the fret just a little bit or more likely playing right in front of the fret to damp down the highs. I had fooled around with that years ago but didn't think it would be practical especially being as lazy as I am to try to perfect it.
It's not a great analogy, but Jaco was sort of like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods at their peaks. They were just operating on another level, and even great players were scratching their heads. The only thing will said that I took issue with a little bit was when he said Jaco created fretless, or something like that. We can't forget that Alphonso Johnson played fretless in Weather Report before Jaco joined. Ralphe Armstrong's fretless work with Jean Luc Ponty was extraordinary too. That said, when most think of fretless, they think of Jaco's bridge pickup tone and his harmonics. I am pretty sure that was what Will Lee meant. Finally, as you say, Will Lee is a great player.
I had never heard of him when I got my first fretless either in 1977, not that I was ever going to overtake him.
It's great to see a player as great as Will Lee is be totally humble and honest in his admiration of what Jaco did - no ego. I've been a fan of Will Lee's playing since his Brecker Brothers days, it's nice to see he's such a cool guy too.
I think it helps that Will Lee was never famous for being a flashy lead bassist. When Jaco came on the scene, he knocked Stanley Clarke out of the top spot as the leading bass guitar soloist. Looking back, they were so different, they really not have been compared. Stanley was and is a fantastic string bassist. He could afford to look as bass guitar as his Rock, Funk, Fusion instrument. For Jaco, his fretless was everything.
Stanley is another terrific bassist I've listened to since my introduction to "jazz rock". I saw him with Return to Forever in '75. Great band, although, unfortunately Bill Connors had left and Al Dimeola had joined the band. At that time Stanley was just playing bass guitar with RTF. About 10 years ago I saw Chick, Stanley and Lenny; with Chick on grand piano and Stanley on double bass. They were great too.
