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You guys need to know where you came from

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pmgleenis

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Apr 30, 2009
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#1
I was recently blown away by the # of ill informed posts concerning my friend and THE biggest innovator of the electric bass, Jaco Pastorius. Most of the comments were either, "I have not heard him," or " I saw him on You Tube." Wake up people. You Tube is a joke. This is a fact whether you like it or not, Jaco single handedly changed the way the electric bass was played and approached. He was as much of an innovator for the bass as Jimi Hendrix or John Coltrane were for their instruments. 99% hide behind phoney names and have zero accountability, but tell me, why would Victor Wooten, Victor Bailey, Steve Bailey, Brian Bromberg, John Pattitucci, Jimmy Haslip etc. all think the same way? Go buy a copy of Jaco's first solo album just called "Jaco Pastorius." Then get a copy of Weather Report's "Heavy Weather" and Joni Michtel's "Mingus" alsbum. I remember as kid listening to Jaco and Stanley Clarke around 1977 or so. At the time I knew that I really liked listening to Jaco far more than Stanley Clarke, but back then I didn't know why. The reason was melody. You can sing every one of Jaco's solos off of the "Heavy Weather" record when you walk down the street. Yes, Jaco had FREAKY chops, but that was about 10% of what he did. He made music. His playing on all of those Joni Mitchell albums at the time was mind blowing. If you play the electric bass and don't have Jaco as a major influence, you will NEVER work as a musician. I also suggest you not believe all the lies that have been told about the man over the years. Go buy Bill Millkowski's biography about Jaco and read it. Jaco died because of a mental illness. It was no different than having a heart illness, but the haters want to call him a "drug addict" and "alcoholic" etc. Jaco changed the electric bass more than almost any other musician has changed his instrument in ALL of history. I'm talking about Bird, Trane, Miles, Jimi etc. Until you know the history of your instrument, you have no right to comment on it.
 
#3
Jaco's a great player, but your post is extremely arrogant. We'll never work as musicians if Jaco's not a major influence? Please, give me a break. There are tons of bassists around who work who aren't Jaco fanatics.

I've got an album by him, but he's not a major influence. Good playing, yeah, but it's not that exciting for me to listen to.

Not all of us play or even listen to free jazz. Oh, and I hate Coltrane's music.

Also, I think you're a troll. Get back under your bridge.
 
#5
"If you play the electric bass and don't have Jaco as a major influence, you will NEVER work as a musician."

That is funny because everytime I audition for a gig someone asks me if Jaco was an influence. When I say "no" they immediately show me the door. I always wondered why. Thanks for the tip.

Well, that's it folks. My troll feeding session is over. I'm out of nickels.

Hahahaha!:rollno:

Bo
 
#7
Jaco was indeed a tremendous talent. I agree that he changed the electric bass perhaps more than any player before or since. I also agree that he had a severe mental illness. I'm a huge fan. However, there are many working bassists that have never really listened to Jaco. His story is one of musics great tragedies, and people should remain respectful to him.
 
#13
Jaco had absolutely no influence on my playing. All my bass playing influences were either before his time or were not influenced by him either. I don't enjoy his bass playing, nor do I enjoy his music. I'm into other stuff. So what? I don't like avocados, wine, beagles, or babies either. Diverse styles, tastes, interests, influences etc. are what make humans not mind-numbingly boring. If we all had the same pastimes, desires, inspirations, etc., life would be way too dull and sad.
 
#14
Let's just skip to the ending of this argument:

We must like Jaco b/c he's influenced modern bassists. We must also like everyone who influenced Jaco. And of course, everyone who influenced those guys, and so forth. It's likely that non-bassists influenced a bunch of bass players, so we can't limit ourselves to just liking the old time bassists. In the end, I think it's fair to say that we all have to bow down and give it up for Gregorian Chant - one of the first *real* things we can call music. :D
 
#15
I know like the rest above me that the OP was an arrogant, even trolling.

But let me try to steer this thread in a positive direction. (Too late I guess, but meh.)

I must admit that I am not that familiar with Jaco, but I'm always interested to know new things.

quote out of the OP:
Go buy a copy of Jaco's first solo album just called "Jaco Pastorius." Then get a copy of Weather Report's "Heavy Weather" and Joni Michtel's "Mingus" alsbum.
Click to expand...

Is this one bit of good advice we can salvage from the OP?




Also,... this needs to be moved to the Bassists forum.
 
#19
I wont knock Jaco for the sake of humoring your arrogance, but I will say this:
Out of EVERY SINGLE BASS PLAYERS ALBUM WHO WENT SOLO, HIS WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT, IMO, DID NOT SUCK. Meaning it was actually a pleasure to listen to, not a noodle fest like some more contemporary cats that will go un-named. On that token, I am no huge fan of Macca, or his songwriting, but I will NEVER deny the fact that the man was a musical genius. The door swings both ways amd hero worship amounts to nothing.





So, buck up.
 
#20
jtkennedy9 said:
Probably passed out...;)
Funny, I just got back from a paying gig, and while I appreciate what Jaco was and did, he is not even close in my influences...guess I'll have to take my money back tomorrow...:D
Click to expand...

Or he's just a post-and-run troll, the type of which plague every internet forum.

Yeah, Jaco's not a big influence on me at all. I'd already been playing for years when I heard him, so basically I just said "that's cool I guess."

Much bigger influences for me are Geezer Butler, James Jamerson, Cliff Burton, John Entwistle and Geddy Lee.
 
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