Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

One, of course, can call Jaco "clumsy", (you can call him anything you like)....however, in this instance it is simply inappropriate.

This is him, in his golden age, redefining the bass as an instrument, changing the structure of said instrument, and simply showcasing his genius, which musical history has shown he most certainly was...

Well, when you don't get it, it's clumsy.
I have been greatly inspired by Jaco, I've seen him get the hook at the Hollywood Bowl, I've seen him several times in top form too. My greatest memory of Jaco was picking up his father Jack at the airport in Phx and bringing him to the concert as a surprise,,,Jaco flipped, he was playing on stage and was stunned, he couldn't believe his father was there all the way from Philly. I am originally from Philly and used play with with Jack and his blind pianist Ralph Jopling. Ralph could always tell when I was reading a chart(!!) and tell me to put it away!! I have some other stories I will post another time.

I moved this thread to the Fretless Forum and did a little "clean-up" to continue discussion.

Here's Jaco laying down some of the good stuff, as opposed to "just soloing":

Joshua, I edited your links so it would work.

Thankew Josephus... one of these days I'll get that YT linking figured out. I swears.

tennis_nick wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:I don't know why more bassists don't try a fretless.

I'm happy more of them don't

Gives a whole new meaning to the expression "Just farting around."
JimK
(oh, my sides hurt from laughing)

I've NEVER even touched a fretless before last Wednesday, and I'm WAY better than that...

That's the guy who builds those Wish Basses is it not?

Man... I mean I really feel just terrible for whoever was filming that and expecting something good to happen. Sounds to me like he not only has poor intonation but also just has no idea about how to create a walking bass line. It burns...

Don't you guys get it?
He's demonstrating how NOT to play a fretless bass.

God, that was painful!!

I will say, that of my five fretless basses (upright doesn't count), I do own a Wishbass. It has been modded by another manufacturer who makes a tone switch that dials in about 6 different EQ settings. It goes from mega treble punch to Precision thump, with a few good growly settings in between. But seriously, as for the Wishbass demo, whomever allowed themselves to be viddied destroying a piece of wood with that dreck should have their head examined.

The Wishbass gets FAR more growl than any of my other basses, including my upright. The intonation is not great (I asked the maker for a selection of wood bridges and he sent three to replace the Corain bridge.) I think I'll invest in a replacement bridge for it, as long as it can accomodate a string-through configuration.

Not for every application, but the Wishbass does sound fantastic in the right spot. Tons of mid and growl. The fat neck is as big as my upright and feels great; it really EASES hand discomfort. It's always funny to read on-line about people complaining how they'd never own a bass without a trussrod. Gee, never played an upright, huh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lENMTBqTrg

This is pretty good fretless playing, very lyrical but too short!!

Scott LaFaro died in 1961 after running his Corvette into the back of a truck shortly after those famous Village Vanguard Sessions with Bill Evans. He had his Prescott bass in the car with him; it is on display in NYC at a music store whose name escapes me right now. Fire damage and all.

He was a freak of nature. He played clarinet and sax in HS for a bit, then took up bass. He had, at the time of that video, probably only been playing bass for about 4-5 years.

If you want to check out LaFaro, see:

1. Bill Evans at the VIllage Vanguard, and Waltz for Debby (from the same weekend gig)
2. Hampton Hawes - For Real!
3. Out there a bit - he played bass for Ornette Coleman in the "double trio sessions" that became Free Jazz.

and this. Just a fantastic swinging bass line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cANYKXVy ... re=related
There's much more...but not nearly as much as other players who lasted longer. Like a "select" few, LaFaro had so much that he just couldn't stay here for long.

Scotty died too young,an amazing player.