| << Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring Again | 2004 > May | Learning my tools >> |
Saturday, 22 May 2004
Portrait of Jaco ::
Browsing CD Baby a couple months ago, I came across Portrait of Jaco - The Early Years among the jazz best-sellers and ordered it immediately. It sat in my to-listen-to pile until Wednesday night, when I listened to the whole two-disc set, enthralled. I’d thought I’d just hear old recordings, but there are wonderful interviews.
Joe Zawinul speaks of how Jaco introduced himself as “The World’s Greatest Bass Player,” and how that put him off at first, but that he was utterly polite ... and later proved himself deserving of the title, for indeed, Pastorius redefined the instrument. Pat Metheny spoke of Jaco’s musicality in the most glowing terms, and alluded to his sad decline due to what his daughter describes in the liner notes as manic depression. I remember going to see Weather Report in Rochester, NY in May 1982, eager to see Jaco, and not being able to believe that it wasn’t him on stage. It didn’t sink in for several tunes that that was someone else playing the bass, and not the master on bass (no offense to Victor Bailey, who was great nonetheless). I later learned that was the first show Weather Report did without Pastorius. I remember my friend Pat telling me, around 1986 or so, that he’d seen Jaco in New York looking like a bum, having sold his bass, scraping along by giving lessons. In the early 90's I bought a badly-recorded CD of Jaco playing live sometime in the mid-80's and was disappointed. I mention all this because it seems his unfortunate downfall overshadowed my appreciation for a man who was a living legend, and deservingly so. It’s nice to go back in time and hear his amazing musical force grow from track to track (the collection is arranged chronologically).
A couple of my favorite moments: Jaco talking, in 1974, to Bob Bobbing, the creator of the collection, playing chords made up entirely of harmonics, telling him what each chord is. Bob asks if he can play a particular scale using only harmonics, and without hesitation Jaco fires off the scale.
I’ll have to listen again to be reminded of who said this, but one musician said Jaco had taught him how to “float above the music” while playing. That struck me as such an apt description of that state of feeling less like “I am playing” than “music is happening.” It stuck with me. I tried it while playing last night, and for a few moments, I was there. Thanks, Jaco, and thanks to everyone who helped create this wonderful tribute.
| << Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter ... and Spring Again | 2004 > May | Learning my tools >> |