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jaco pastoriusitis

100thmonk	Date: May 8, 2004 @ 4:27 PM i wonder if too many people hear jaco and stop looking around for something challenging to do.(don't get me wrong, jaco was amazing!) thing thing that occurs to me though is that as soon as a guy picks up a fretless electric, he tends to lean toward jacoisms. the solution i propose for those who don't wish to come out sounding like other bassists though, is to start to look at other instrumentalists for inspiration. (i.e avoid instruments tuned in fourths like guitar) Consider studying the work of trumpeters, or sax players, or piano players. this kind of study is part of what jaco was diggin into. it opened him up to the sounds he liked, and what the mechanics of that sound was...
XentropyX	Date: May 10, 2004 @ 12:19 AM meh, i'm not into jaco anyway; he's overrated if you ask me.
100thmonk	Date: May 10, 2004 @ 1:56 AM maybe, but i just think people play like him by the nature of the instrument. he extended the technique, and now we use that techinique without realizing it leads us to sound like it's progenitor. much like most sax players tend to sound like parker, bassplayers tend to sound like their idols. it's a huge and ever expanding bass world out there, but to do that you have to open up to the vastness of it..
bastardo23	Date: May 10, 2004 @ 12:02 PM jaco very hard to avoid as a player even if you try. tends to play too many notes, sometimes at the cost of rhythm. the story of his death, and the behaviour that led to it speak for themselves. who goes to a show and get's on stage where they are not invited anyway! he claimed superiority over mingus, but frankly he was hardly a pimple on the ming's hefty buttcheek. faster is not necessarily better, especially in the rhythm section.
jsklbrd	Date: May 17, 2004 @ 2:33 PM I think Jaco was an amazing bassist he influences almost all who come accross the bass Mingus was also amazing. I think Jaco held that rhythym section like noonw else even with his sixteenth note runs he was a master. Drummers and singers loved to play with him. And yes 100th monk it is definately a good idea to look towards diferent instrumentalist besides the bass. I really enjoy reading through Beethovens music and putting the treble and bass together working out a nice double handed technique Stu Hamm does a great job of The Moonlight Sonata I put together The Fur Elise much more complex then The Moonlight Sonata. But innovative thinking is what makes a bass player unique look for whatever resource you can and learn from it.
imemine	Date: July 19, 2004 @ 10:23 PM Jaco in a Word----Rules!!!! actually--Ruled. R.I.P. Jaco.
dicktruth	Date: July 21, 2004 @ 5:51 AM I heard some of his stuff, and I don't want to sound disrespectful or anything but I really wasn't impressed. He was obviously talented, but I don't think he's as good as everyone says
bbranch	Date: July 27, 2004 @ 9:55 PM I have read Jaco's biography and his extreme behavior at the end of his life was because of a mental illness. You can't blame that all on him. Because of his mental problems there were periods were his playing wasn't 100%. In his instructional video it is very sad to see him try to play "Portrait of Tracy", but not being able to remember it, while his hands were shaking. When Jaco was healthy, I think was to this day the world's greatest bass player. Sure he played alot of notes, but he made everyone count and everyone groove like mad. Finally, Jaco was not just a great bassist, but an incredible composer as well. Just listen to "Three Views of a Secret."
jeddak	Date: January 9, 2005 @ 8:39 PM A real tragedy. He really changed the world of music vis-a-vis the electric bass. Serious groundbreaker.
Bunghole44	Date: January 10, 2005 @ 7:13 PM What everyone who doesn't like jaco has to realize is that if he doesn't soumd revolutionary, its because he WAS the revolution. he was what made everyone decide to learn what was reserved for the guitars. he really was a great musician. just think if we still had him today...
dobrazil	Date: May 30, 2005 @ 6:08 AM I think that to get a point on Jaco, you have to know that his playing has been seriously deteriorating through the years. If you listen to some bootleg tapes from '84, you sure won't have the sound of what he made in '76. To understand his genius or whatever you want to call it, listen to his first solo album, called "Jaco Pastorius", the one with his face in black and white. I have myself NEVER EVER heard something like Donna Lee, the first track. I have listened to a lot of great and amazing bass players, but should it be only for this track, Jaco should be on the head of the bass players pantheon. His sound, the mastery of every note is just something I've never heard elsewhere. Sure if you listen to something after '81, you have good chance to hear him on drug abuse.
zique	Date: May 30, 2005 @ 7:07 AM As jeddak said...I think jaco was the one who set the trend.He made it ok for the electric bass to step into the spotlight.He showed that the electric bass could be the featured voice in music.Upright bass had been featured to some extent before.I have read that the electric bass was thought of as an extension or accent for the drums in its begining.
zedsalt	Date: May 30, 2005 @ 12:20 PM Eerie, the commonalities between Jaco's story and Byrd's.
shouhei	Date: September 15, 2005 @ 1:33 PM I think it's a shame that some people can't recognise his skill. Nowadays all I ever really see is people two-hand tapping and showing off these techniques that do nothing for the music, Wooten for instance. I mean he's cool and stuff, and an amazing player... but have you heard his compositions!? I think "Classical Thump" is the perfect example, it's the most uninventive thing I've ever heard in my life, yet this is what's popular in the bass-world now seeimingly; techniques for techniques sake. If you listen to Jaco Pastorius' first album, or his stuff with Weather Report, there's no-one else on electric who comes close to his rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic prowess. I consider him to be the Scott Lafaro of the electric world (around that period anyway). To say "he plays too many notes" is heresy imho, I mean he's playing saxophone lines on that thing really. You wouldn't say John Coltrane was playing too many notes... (or would you?) and I'll stick by his rhythms, they're complex but their sound. Although I agree, some of his later stuff was a bit :/ and he seems to play that lick from "The Chicken" all the time. To be honest, I dig his stuff with Weather Report and his first album mainly because imho it's perfect electric bass playing.
GeneHilbert	Date: September 15, 2005 @ 3:21 PM Listen to his version of America.... The guy was a monster..... he was also an arrogant self-absorbed prick which is why he was beaten up – and that resulted in his death.... but he was still amazing artist .... Not soon to be forgotten.
shouhei	Date: September 15, 2005 @ 9:04 PM yeah man, I agree. You summed up my post with 3 lines
tsand19151	Date: September 16, 2005 @ 1:05 AM put me in the "jaco as genius" catagory. agree 100% with shouei. the Weather Report era was ground-breaking.....
davidwhitbeck	Date: September 24, 2005 @ 9:23 PM I have to say, jaco is an amazing influintial bass player. Although he is amazing he is not the greatest in the world. Mingus, Jamerson, Clarke...the list goes on. Listen to my cover of Continuum i did. www.myspace.com/davidwhitbeck there are some other songs on there too that feature bass.
Traf	Date: October 2, 2005 @ 6:31 AM In my eyes he was a genius... and yes, he was a bit unbalanced and ended up a rather sad case, but no-one can deny what he did for bass playing.. along with Clarke , Brown and a few others. I thought his best work was with Al De Miola. Just incredible .
TheOwl	Date: October 20, 2005 @ 11:46 AM Jaco always held a special place in my heart. From way early on before he even knew of Weather Report's existence, he was already doing some very groundbreaking stuff. There's a great box set called Jaco: The Early Years that really gives you a good overview of how his style and musical concept came together, wether playing jazz in Peter Grave's Big Band (no, not the Peter Graves of Mission Impossible fame)or R&B with Wayne Cochrand and The CC Riders and various other folks, he was truly one of a kind. I saw him do a solo gig in LA in late 1983 and it was obvious the drugs and mental illness were taking their toll already. Even then, plenty of Jaco's genius as a musician still came through. Jaco not only revolutionized bass playing, but was one excellent composer too! It's not often you find the two things in the same person.
TheOwl	Date: October 20, 2005 @ 11:49 AM And here's the websites: http://www.jacotheearlyyears.com/ http://www.jacopastorius.com
100thmonk	Date: January 26, 2006 @ 10:00 PM well it seems this post has completely degenerated into an i do/don't love jaco thread did any of you actually read what i wrote? i did not question the mans technical prowess or genius on any level. i proposed though that imitation may not be the direct route to innovation or superlative technique. sorry to interrupt you whilst you wax poetic of the master...
shouhei	Date: February 7, 2006 @ 8:55 AM no, you said "thing thing that occurs to me though is that as soon as a guy picks up a fretless electric, he tends to lean toward jacoisms. the solution i propose for those who don't wish to come out sounding like other bassists though, is to start to look at other instrumentalists for inspiration. (i.e avoid instruments tuned in fourths like guitar)" Every musician I've ever met has at one point sounded, or wanted to sound like an idol... usually you find after a few years it wears off and people tend to find their own sound. It's all good practice really... I know I sound a lot like Jaco sometimes but it doesn't really bother me, I think the whole jaco fretless thing is a heinous stereotype... if for once people could just forget it and listen to each person individually rather than constantly comparing then errrr... that would be great. I'm sick of hearing about sounding like him, even though he's a master imho. I play coltrane's solo on giant steps and I still get fools telling me I'm like jaco.
Dominon	Date: May 25, 2007 @ 9:54 PM I've heard of jaco but I haven't heard him play. One of the things I'm absolutely certain about is that if you're playing bass the last thing you want to do is listen to somebody else play bass and then copy that. Imitation is not conducive to innovation.

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