| Author | Message | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1668 Registered: 12-2002 |
this Man was soo deep......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMQUFvv0WRY (Message edited by keavin on September 02, 2010) | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 250 Registered: 9-2009 |
Jaco is my all time favorite electric jazz fusion bassist period, and there will be no other in my life time. Peace and Love, Hal- | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 9572 Registered: 5-2002 |
Havona is a great tune. | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 1248 Registered: 5-2009 |
I had the good fortune of having met Jaco . A friend of mine who is a drummer was doing some recording and live gigs with him at the time . One day in early 1980's I had a gig at a local dive and they both suddenly showed up. In all honesty I do not think that Jaco wanted to die . In fact to this day I still think of him in my prayers. I know some folks that were somewhat close to him . Who loves you Jaco ? We do !!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 252 Registered: 9-2009 |
Jaco was never the kind of Soul that would say things like: "I ran circles around other musicians...". Peace and Love, Hal- (Message edited by toma_hawk01 on September 01, 2010) | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 1249 Registered: 5-2009 |
http://creatingminds.org/quotes/knowledge.htm Check it out and write it down ! | ||
| svlilioukalani
Member Username: svlilioukalani Post Number: 76 Registered: 6-2008 |
I would recommend reading Jaco's Biography to get some deeper insight into his life. | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 1251 Registered: 5-2009 |
I read that when it was first published and did some fact comparing from first hand experiences . | ||
| darkstar01
Advanced Member Username: darkstar01 Post Number: 259 Registered: 6-2005 |
that book has been widely criticized by people that were close to jaco. I'm pretty sure his ex wife even tried to sue bill milkowski at one point over it. basically people said he either over exaggerated or made up a lot of stuff in it, including a passage that was taken out in the revised editions where he claims jaco introduced a friend of his as his daughter. pat metheny has been pretty open about how inaccurate the book is, too. (Message edited by darkstar01 on September 02, 2010) | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 712 Registered: 5-2002 |
The book has been rewritten to accommodate a lot of the criticisms. The new version is pretty different. I read the original when it came out and then the new one last year. I recommend the new version, although the original is probably not all bad. | ||
| eligilam
Advanced Member Username: eligilam Post Number: 280 Registered: 2-2006 |
Actually, legend has it that while in Weather Report, Jaco would introduce himself onstage as "the greatest bass player in the world." | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 254 Registered: 9-2009 |
I don't believe in legends, nor do I believe you could prove Jaco ever said such things. Peace and Love, Hal- | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 9575 Registered: 5-2002 |
Edwin, I just looked at my copy and it appears to be the original. When did the new version come out? Never mind; I just looked it up, the new version came out in 2005. (Message edited by davehouck on September 02, 2010) | ||
| tmoney61092
Senior Member Username: tmoney61092 Post Number: 480 Registered: 9-2008 |
any musician who is praised all the time and told how great they are are bound to be very cocky/arrogant. take eddie van halen, i've read that he's one of the most arrogant people ever because he's been called the best guitarist ever for almost 30 years, not saying Jaco did say that, but i wouldn't hold it against him if he did ~Taylor | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 713 Registered: 5-2002 |
I think the new version is ca. 2005. As far as his claim to be the greatest bass player in the world, I don't think he said it from the stage, at least, that's not where the claim got famous. The story is that he said it to Joe Zawinul, before he played in Weather Report. Joe's reaction basically was "Sure you are, kid. Have a nice day." And then of course, he heard Jaco play. The other famous quote from him along these lines is "It ain't bragging if you can back it up!" At the time, he could back it up. However, this braggadocio is just one side of his personality. I saw him twice in the 70s, once with Weather Report and once on the Shadows and Light tour with Joni Mitchell. Both times his presence was enthusiastic, but more about the music than his ego. He never said anything into the mic that was self congratulatory. In fact, I don't think he spoke at all. Joni gave him a warm introduction, for sure. From all accounts, he was a genuine and generous person, who's personality, like many, was susceptible to having its faults amplified by drug use. I studied with people who played with him and I have played and hung with a drummer here in Colorado who spent a lot of time partying with him in the 80s. I have never heard an unkind word spoken about him from anyone who knew him. The negative stories I've heard were in the 80s. When I was at Berklee, in 1984 or 1985, Jaco came by the school. I was in a different part of the building, but a friend came up to me and told me that he just saw Jaco grab someone's bass out of their hands and go running up and down the hallway yelling "I'm the sh*t!" While that sounds extreme, it was by no means the most extreme thing I experienced in terms of seeing people do dumb things while on drugs. Jaco's hold on reality could get tenuous, with wild ups and downs and displays of weird behavior, but his fundamental persona was not one of arrogance. At that time, I think he was struggling with no longer being in Weather Report because of his personal demons and was trying to express his continuing relevance. There were other stories of him barging onto stages, trying to get attention, but I think these things were the signs of a person struggling for help more than a person asserting his ego. Sadly, there were lots of people who were looking for a chance to get high with a legend, so, like others who are famous, it was easy to get caught up in that and avoid spending time reflecting on what would be the healthiest path. The combination of his mental health and the chemicals that he put in his body was a tragic one. The result was not one of personal failing, but of disease and circumstance. I do think he did say to Joe that he was the greatest bass player in the world, but as a sober youth, I don't think he was being arrogant, I think he was making a confident assessment of his skills and path at the time that in no way diminished his admiration and respect for many musicians, some of whom we've probably heard. He said that in the same way that a lot of young kids come on the scene who are hungry and looking for a good job, regardless of the profession and you certainly hear it i the sports world all the time. He was an extremely focused and sober youth. He wasn't given to outrageous behavior until he was introduced to drugs, which he had vehemently resisted, after joining Weather Report. Still, even after he went through the craziest part of his life, he was known, both among musicians and his basketball buddies in New York City, as a kind, generous and loving man. Arrogant can be the flip side of intense, and Jaco was intense, but I don't think it came from a place of arrogance. Hal, you are right that Jaco is not a legend. He was a real man, with all that entails. | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 255 Registered: 9-2009 |
Jaco had never gone Hollywood (ego tripped), and could have... (but didn't). From the bass he played an old "beat-up" Fender he played... (Humble) From the clothes he dawned... (Humble) From the people he played with: 1. Wayne Shorter... (A Humble Soul) 2. Josef (Joe) Zawinul... (A Humble Soul (MHRIP)) 3. Peter Erskine... (A Humble Soul) 4. Joni Mitchell... (A Humble Soul) (Humble music). Jaco's love ran very deep with me as a bass player, and there was not one bass trick, he didn't share and teach others openly (That's humble too). Rhetoric alone, is great for politics, but Jaco was too good to be into the game for himself or for selfish reasons. Peace and Love, Hal- (Message edited by toma_hawk01 on September 02, 2010) | ||
| chrisalembic
Intermediate Member Username: chrisalembic Post Number: 132 Registered: 3-2009 |
Edwin, you saw Jaco at the Shadows and Light tour? Man what an experience it must have been... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doaqKPVcoPs | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 715 Registered: 5-2002 |
All I can say about it was that when the album and video came out, I was deeply disappointed. That performance seemed hectic and jacked up compared to what I saw. Although it was the Providence Civic Center, it had the feel of an intimate coffeehouse. Very relaxed and no hype at all. I've come to enjoy Shadows and Light, but I really wish there was documentation of the show I saw. I also heard the Tanglewood show was pretty amazing as well. It was a great summer, a few weeks later I saw Bob Marley at the Harvard Stadium. I saw her again in 1983 on the Wild Things Run Fast tour, which was a very different experience (although I thought that Larry Klein did some very cool things, especially when he copped a lick from Jaco's part in Refuge of the Roads and expanded it into a reggae groove). | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 716 Registered: 5-2002 |
All I can say about it was that when the album and video came out, I was deeply disappointed. That performance seemed hectic and jacked up compared to what I saw. Although it was the Providence Civic Center, it had the feel of an intimate coffeehouse. Very relaxed and no hype at all. I've come to enjoy Shadows and Light, but I really wish there was documentation of the show I saw. I also heard the Tanglewood show was pretty amazing as well. It was a great summer, a few weeks later I saw Bob Marley at the Harvard Stadium. I saw her again in 1983 on the Wild Things Run Fast tour, which was a very different experience (although I thought that Larry Klein did some very cool things, especially when he copped a lick from Jaco's part in Refuge of the Roads and expanded it into a reggae groove). | ||
| darkstar01
Advanced Member Username: darkstar01 Post Number: 260 Registered: 6-2005 |
one time I was at the blue note in NYC seeing charnett moffett. charnett told a story about jaco that went something like this: when charnett was a kid/teenager growing up in the city he played ball at the famed west 4th street courts (which are right next to the blue note, coincidentally). jaco was known to hang around there and play (and supposedly got the hell beat out of him for bringing a bass and amp and purposely being loud and disruptive one time). charnett said one day jaco showed up while he was there playing with some friends, and charnett (being a huge fan and a young bass player) recognized him and introduced himself. he says jaco basically blew him off and said he wanted to play ball, so of course they let him in the game. so after a while, charnett says he scored on jaco and jaco flipped, just went nuts. ripped charnett's shirt and began telling him there was no reason to play bass as long as he was around and blah blah, etc etc. then he stormed off the courts. I should point out that charnett was telling this all in kind of a laughing ( but not kidding) manner, and making it clear how much respect he had for jaco(he actually told the story as a preface to a song he wrote for him). and I should also point out that jaco was deep into his psychological problems at that point. but the point is, I will say jaco is my favorite electric player. period. but 'humble' is not a word I would use to describe him. in fact his arrogance almost make me like him more. I mean, when he was still in high school he would walk into clubs and go on stage and just take the bass players bass and take over. he was furious when people started saying Stanley was the best. guy wasn't a saint, but he was a hell of a musician. | ||
| bigredbass
Senior Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 1488 Registered: 9-2002 |
I've never seen a truly first-class player that somewhere inside did not have that 'killer' instinct that would take over a moment when the need arose. Just like Michael Jordan taking over a basketball game when his instinct told him that this was the moment, great players steer a band almost subconsciously by a presence that most of us mere mortals don't posess. I've never played in a band with a great player that didn't lift the game of everyone onstage. Everybody onstage knows where the center is, and often even the audience feels it. Most us have been there to see and feel this happen. Extremely talented people are often not the most well-balanced people, and given they're 'living the life' surrounded by one bad situation after another, unhappy endings like Jaco's are way too common, and it's a damn shame. The oft-heard comment of "It's great onstage, but what do I do the other 22 hours a day" would make a great generic epitaph for far too many. It's enough to make you very certain you would not want to be as succesful as Elvis or Michael Jackson, or in this case, Jaco Pastorius. Also, the state of mental health care is pitiful. JP was obviously a troubled soul that was not treated, except by his street pharmacists. Classic self-medication with the usual sad result. The huge mood swings should have been a red light to any professional, and certainly unsettling to those around him. This is just one more reason I, in fact, have come to often hate the music business, and it's accompanying drug and alcohol culture. I guess you just can't see the buzzards circling if you're tore down enough. How come there's not a 'Boot Hill' for musicians? J o e y | ||
| 2400wattman
Senior Member Username: 2400wattman Post Number: 825 Registered: 11-2005 |
Joey, there's no "Boot Hill" because all troubled musicians think they are rock stars and the people that could help them (like me) know that the time spent on them would be wasted on 99.9% of them. It's a damn freakin' shame indeed. I hate this ••••••• business too and •••• most of the soul robbing bastards in it. | ||
| richbass939
Senior Member Username: richbass939 Post Number: 1110 Registered: 11-2004 |
To me Jaco's story is one of many sad stories of an extremely talented person who has some trait that makes life difficult or even tragic. We hear weekly about people who rise above the field, then show the world that they are just human. We all have these traits; they just aren't on the tabloid covers. Any of us who have spent any time in the music biz have a handful of stories about people whose personal demons taken over. I am dealing right now with a fantastic guitarist who has the alcohol hooks sunk into him. He is a great guy to hang with, even a pretty humble person most of the time. When he drinks, Mr. Hyde comes out looking for a fight. I just avoid conflict if it's possible, but sometimes that's not enough. I have to let some things go so that a fight is avoided. I also have to make sure I'm not his whipping boy if he's in a mean mood. Balancing the two is the difficult part. He agreed to not drink at gigs (we'll see how that goes after the "honeymoon is over"). I try to arrive for rehearsals right after he gets home from work so he doesn't have time to get plastered. The really sad thing is that a life seems to be circling in the toilet bowl and there's nothing anyone can do. All we can do is try to support people like him and not lose who we have to be in the process. Rich | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 256 Registered: 9-2009 |
My First Drummer and best friend ashes were scattered from the Golden Gate Bridge because of drugs and alcohol. Here's a guy who's a four scholarship Tuskegee University graduate, held a great gig at major electric utility, and mom paid cash for his first house in Pacific Heights -- and on top of that, that "MuthaFuu_ ah" was BAAAD on the drums too! On the 6th year, I got a call from his mother (her only son) was dead just like that. Peace and Love, Hal- | ||
| toma_hawk01
Advanced Member Username: toma_hawk01 Post Number: 282 Registered: 9-2009 |
To my Drummer, and best friend...RIP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKm8nCSdN2I&feature=related Peace and Love, Hal- | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 1364 Registered: 11-2004 |
Have you all checked out the jaco website, has some midi file son there and transcriptions. Run up Cakewalk and play along(I wish we all could eh??) Here is the link http://www.artcom.com.au/jaco.htm Anyone up for the challenge?? |
