HALLRL@MOREKYPR.BITNET (02/22/90)
Jaco was an excellent player, such a great sound, a bass player friend of
mine said the reason he had such a great sound or tone was because of his
left hand technique, I have no idea what that means but my friend sure seemed
to know what he was doing. Jaco was quite a good drummer also, seems like he
played drums on a Weather Report song or two and played some on his two solo
albums, I think he also played some percussion on a Joni Mitchell album.
RandoUCSKRT@UWPLATT.EDU (By-tor) (02/22/90)
Jaco was one of the best bass players ever to live, IMHO. His technique and
style is immediately recognizable in his recordings. Most of this was due to
two things. First, he had a style that no one else could approach. Once asked
by someone who had bought all of his equipment why he didn't sound like him,
Jaco replied, "It's all in the hands, man." Secondly, he played fretless bass
the majority of the time. It was an old Fender Jazz that had had the frets
yanked out of it, a truly unique sounding instrument.
His style came from a very smooth, long vibrato with his left hand. Using a
fretless made this much easier and flowing. Also his use of bass natural and
false harmonics was a trail blazer, helped by his very large hands. He could
span five frets at times to hit false harmonics. He had all the speed in the
world also, but knew when to use it and didn't flaunt it.
The Weather Report concerts turned into Jaco's shows, with him doing Jimi
Hendrix style antics on stage, jumping around and breaking equipment at times.
I believe he also played the Star Spangled Banner for a solo. Unfortunately he
also had a huge ego, one which eventually led him to drug and alcohol abuse,
and eventually to his death when he was kicked out of a nightclub in Florida
and subsequently beaten to death by the bouncer. His music lives on.
By-tor <ucskrt@uwplatt.edu>