Not only was Jaco a genius for pretty much joining Weather Report at will, but Weather Report was genius for recognizing Jaco's amazingly unique qualities as a musician and human. His charisma burned 10x brighter than any others on stage with him.
Joe Zawinul picked up on that fact right away, and based the music around him. Just like a few years later, he based the band around drummer Omar Hakim.
@@PatriotSteve I saw Weather Report several times in NYC in the late 70's, and his Word Of Mouth band in 1983 in a small club called My Father's Place on Long Island in 1983. Those are my most fond memories from those times.
I was crazy about Jaco around this time😁 All the musicians I worked with were in awe of him, but not everybody got it. Jaco did his own thing and it was genius. He was revolutionary. I think even looping was relatively new then.
The best..simply because.. innovative..spirit of rock, spirit of jazz, spirit of funk, spirit of art, crazyness, passion, soul, rhythm, tension... he just changed the way of play bass and opened doors for so many alive "best bassists".. The first time i heard jaco (on a tape) i didn't like at all, but a voice in my mind was saying keep this tape, you will be able to ear this in some years.. and yes. .I'm still so glad to take year after year inspiration from his playing. RIP Mister Jaco
Astounding Jaco. One-man Electronica, Funkathon, Jimi Hendrix Experience organism, prowling the stage. I'm a very fortunate critter to have had the experience of playing with the man. Wow! A crazy great performance)))
Sure, Drblooter. I used to teach him the ins and outs of the Prophet 10 synthesizer at his house in Deerfield Beach. Then we'd go to a place in Ft. Lauderdale called the Musician's Exchange and jam - me on guitar, Jaco on bass and keyboards. Had the pleasure of doing so a number of times, along with Othello, the great pans player, and other friends of Jaco. An indelible, priceless memory!
Rick, long time no speak (or write). You are the king of Jaco rarities my friend. This clip made me so happy to watch. This performance happened about a year or a little more after I saw Jaco live with Weather Report. He was riding high and at the top of his industry. Thanks for sharing this incredible performance. Wayne Dent
I think people's problem with Jaco is partly cuz they're jealous of his facility on the bass but also because we Jaco-philes tend to label him as "The Greatest Bass Player Of All Time" & that's a hard pill for some folks to swallow. He DID HAVE the BEST chops of any jazz/fusion player tho. theres no getting around that. Its like arguing that Michael Jackson was the greatest performer of all time with someone who doesnt like him. Idiots will be idiots. plain and simple. dont argue. just groove.
It could well be that the obsession that some people have to label this or that artist "THE GREATEST WHATEVER OF ALL TIME..."in and of itself is idiotic...our deep and probably heartfelt admiration and often also adoration does not turn whoever into the greatest of whatever...if pitted against say NIELS HENNING ØRSTED PEDERESEN or SCOTT LAFARO or PAUL CHAMBERS purely on chops how can you possibly make an educated or even realistic choice about whose the best...the answer is simply that you can't...realistically all players mentioned posess a level of musicality and yes chops that puts them in a class by themselves...with their personal and highly individual styles and presentaties...me disagreeing with you or anyone else does not make me an idiot thank you...i just think diff'rently and have other preferences...lets enjoy each musician bassist pianist saxist or whatever for the valuable musical contribution they bring to society...GOD IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME BEYOND TIME...the rest of us mere imitators...😊..PEACE...OUT...!!!
@jontheliar Yes, he had several pedals and a whole rack behind him, which you can vaguely see standing behind the amplifier. I saw somewhat the same slang in 1980 in Oslo, Norway, noticing his efforts to make loops and nothing happened. He smashed the rack, which I believe was a stunt for the public. We were totally in his state of mind and laughed. Before that he also included a part from Bachs Chromatic fantasies, sitting on a chair which he almost trashed.
@graff302420 Alright man, if that was your whole point, fair enough, I agree with you 100%. They do deserve credit, but labeling somebody "The best whatever EVER" it gives room for unnecessary arguments. Me instead I like to say "One of The Bests", that accommodates a major number of artists that deserve equal recognition based on their efforts and dedication.
@vivelavidarocka I'm not sure I totally understand your comment and which parts you do or don't agree with and which part you think is "unnecessary". Of course everyone is gonna have their own opinions on just about everything, I ain't got beef with that. I'm just tired of people bitchin'. The point of my comment was "don't argue. just groove." Give credit where credit is deserved and both Michael and Jaco deserve it.
Petit's Poly-Poxy, an epoxy varnish for wooden boat hulls. I've used it on three of my own fretless basses with really great results. I don't know if it's still available. Jaco is it (still) .
@1980Triumph There you go again. I'm tempted to send you some links to vids that showcase some of Jaco's legendary studio-work, because you seem to have conveniently avoided checking out the tunes that I suggested. Maybe you did, and got scared of Jaco's amazing playing on those tunes but you don't want to admit it because it would mean that you couldn't post your stupid comments about him anymore.
I read somewhere that he made his bass fretless by removing the frets with a butter knife and then covering the rosewood board with some type of lacquer. Not sure if true thought, anyone care to confirm or deny this.
Someone said somewhere in an interview that it wasn't true. But it's possible. Because of the rumors of what he did, Eye did the same to my cheap Yamaha bass at first and then my fender American jazz and they both worked and sounded great. They even had a different fuzziness than the actual Tony Franklin signature fretless fender Bass that Eye bought
@graff302420 I agree with the first part of your comment. The second I don't agree with, and the third one, totally unnecessary. "Best Performer", sir, is even a bigger pill to swallow due to that there are one hundred millions more performers than bass players. BTW even a bass player is a "performer", or a drummer, or a guitar a player. Not only singers are. Peace.
I suppose I am a Jaco underrater - this was ridiculous - and his presentation had you pulling for him. It does prejudice one to hear about dope and no-show behaviour. I wish I never had heard such about Jaco, James Brown, Elvis, MJ, or for that matter the Kennedys. After all I understood long ago that drugs should be legal- that the illegality puts people in contact with hard drugs, where govt hasn't taken control - where dealers can offer up free samples to susceptible people like Jaco- or Johnny Winter, as he told it.
Legal or illegal it wouldn't have made a single bit of difference in jacos life for his particular problem trust me.We should really just be greatfull and thankfull that he was able to release and record as much material as he did before his untimely tragic death/murder. Which was also a blessing because he was a mess often times the poor guy yet he was still bale to hold it together when it usually counted and he really did record alot of material,both official and a bunch i mean alottttt of bootleg underground recordings with various artists as well,Even here on youtube prior to like 10 years ago or so alot of these awesome live videos counldnt be found,so even though he died at 35 and his top level musical career probably only spanned around a decade if that in terms of playing with and recording fellow musicians and etc, he was Probably active at the top level from like age 23 to 32 ish or so.
If you want to see Jaco at his best, don't watch these clips of his 'solos'. He was at his best in an ensemble. The solos seemed to bring out the worst in him: all ego, not much content. And yes, he was a genius.
@xrxevilxox No man, Jaco just isn't as good as people want to imagine he is. The fact is their are millions of other bass players before and after Jaco that are better than he is.
