RUN YOUR F#@KING TRIADS!!! - Jaco Pastorius, Bassists 101 #1

i don't want to dwell too long on introductions. that's not what i'm here for... this is a new series i'm gonna be trying to do where i talk about bassists, their technique, tone or any other fun facts and trivia about them. now, i'm doing this because i play bass myself, but at some point i realized "fuck! i hardly know any bassists!", so this is an exercise for me (in writing and in music, i guess) and a treat for you, because you get to read my sick blogs about bassists =3

you know when a guitarist says bass is easy (first of all, yuck! i don't take a shit on your instrument, lay off mine! =d)? it's just playing the root notes, right? at the absolute most, you have to worry about different rythms and whatnot. on top of that, i'm gonna ask you a question: have you ever heard a bass solo? now, i'm guessing if you're not a bassist or not a jazz (or technical death metal, i guess?) fan, the answer is no. well, today, you're gonna find an answer for your cheeky, arrogant guitarist friends and you're going to listen to - wait for it! - an entire song made only on bass. fuck yes!

today's bassist is Jaco Pastorius. born in december first of 1951 in norristown, pensylvania, a city located to the east real close to philly, but having moved to oakland park, florida when he was eight, John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (i'm not kidding, that's really his name. a great name for a great bassist, i guess?), son to Stephanie Catherine and jazz musician John Francis Pastorius Jr, who was a drummer and singer, Jaco was close to music and great musicians, by proxy of his dad, since birth.

well, his name is John (as well as Francis and Anthony, lol), right? how did he manage the nickname? well, the legend tells that his parents gave him the nickname Jocko, allegedly due to the boy's competitivity and interest in sports. still not quite Jaco, though... that nickname came to be when a french musician friend and neighbour wrote Jocko as Jaco by mistake. allegedly, Jaco liked that spelling so much, he took that and ran with it!

as a kid, he picked up sports at roughly the same time he picked up music: in fact, he loved sports, so much so that he was a baseball, basketball and football player. later on, he was frequently spotted playing pickup in NYC, while leaving his bass unnatend, which ultimately got it stolen. it was found, though, and it's now owned by Metallica's Rob Trujillo, who loved Jaco. who would've known! anywayz. that story could've gone a lot different! he also began playing the drums when he bought a drum kit with the money he earned as a paper delivery boy. however, tragedy struck. don't worry, no one died, but he suffered a wrist injury playing football in 1964, and required surgery (ow...). he continued to play the drums, but his wrist was giving in, and it became much more difficult.

now, i can see you saying "so he dropped the drums and picked up the bass, right?" well, you'd be wrong! sucker. despite the injury, the man was still getting gigs. you'll see a bit later that all the gigging was crucial to the building of his distinct style and insane endurance, but that's not the topic right now. you'll have to wait! 

in 1966, he joined a high school soul cover band name Las Olas Brass, still as a drummer. however! and this is where everything changed... their bassist left. so, the young Jaco bought a fender jazz bass (sweet... i wish my first bass was a fender) and hopped into the empty spot. and so it began...

even since the Olas Brass era, it was obvious to everyone in his circle that Jaco had a real knack for the bass guitar. he had talent, although rough and unpolished at the time. after borrowing his friend's tape recorder in 1968, he recorded his version of the tune The Chicken, by Pee-Wee Ellis. even in this shitty recording from 1968, with the organ fucking assaulting your ears, you can hear it clearly: the kid is hip. he is undeniably grooving on that bass. but here's the kicker... he played ALL THE INSTRUMENTS in that recording. without even knowing how to read music, he clearly had an innate knowledge of harmony and rythm, as evidenced by his great solo on the organ and his tight drumming. also, this tune will pop up again and become one of his most famous ever... also also, it was at around this time he met his first wife, Tracy. he later made a song about her, and it's the most beautiful thing i ever fucking heard. it'll be playing in this blog, if i can figure out how to get it to play... oh well.

when he was 17, he made a change and picked up the acoustic bass for that sweet, round fretless feel and tone. but florida struck. the humidity was fucking up his bass, and he mentioned in an interview that one morning, he woke up to his upright, which he saved for YEARS to get, absolutely busted. annoyed, jaco decided he would yank the frets out of his fender, a decision which was defining of his sound, as well as the rest of his career. now, i'm jumping forward a bit here, but he went on to tour the world, play in a bunch of great bands, namely Weather Report, and really just leave his print on the jazz scene (and music as a whole) for eternity. seriously, it's an understatement to say this cat revolutionized the way we play the bass guitar.

the man died from injuries he caught due to a rough beating outside of a nightclub in florida. before that, he experienced an insane come down from drug abuse and mental health issues, which left him homeless for most of his final years on this earth and eventually led to his demise. he died september 21st of 1987, at the INSAANEELY ripe age of 37 years old. 37. wow. rest in peace!

all right, enough about the history. let's get to the meat and bones: his technique. Jaco is known for his extremely fast pentatonic runs (listen for the lick at the start of the song!) and sweet, melodic solos (although regarded by some as "random" and ultimately not very technical. fuck those guys though), as well as his insane groove. in an interview, he said his crazy endurance came from gigging almost every night since he was a kid, playing for several hours a night and repeating the ritual the next day. his lines are a mix of the pentatonic and triads. so. many. triads. since his dad was always on the road, he frequently gave him tasks to keep Jaco busy when he was away. one of those tasks was to know, study and get aaaalll the triads up and down the neck under his fingers. which he did... and you can hear it. if you wanna get there, im sorry to say this but... you have to learn the theory. yeah, yeah, i know it sucks sometimes. you just want to play cool songs on the bass and you have to listen to some shit telling you what triad to play over what chord, the circle of fifths and blah, blah, blah. but. if you want to learn how to improvise, this is so so so so so important. seriously. learn some theory! it'll do you good.

his tone is also very characteristic: fender jazz bass, fully on the bottom pickup for that Jaco snark, stressing the dynamics (playing hard and soft) and the tone on about 25% usually gets the job done, in my experience.

THREE SONGS I THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO!

this is where it gets fun. 

the infamous bass only song, Portrait of Tracy. the song that's currently playing on this blog post. hopefully. what can i say about it? i genuinely almost cried the first time i heard this... :p

The Chicken! this is the song i mentioned aaaalll the way back there. if you stuck around, thank you ^^ it's fun, it's hip, its groovy as fuck and the arrangement is beautiful. if you don't like this, hey! it's cool. i won't be a dick about it. buuuut you have to admit: Jaco was one cool cat.

Kuru/Speak Like A Child. holy. shit. try playing that first fucking riff for more than a minute at a time. your fingers will explode, i assure you. this is the endurance i was talking about... also, his smooth, soulful accompaniment in Speak Like A Child is great. i love the duality of this track.

ALSO, A RECORDING I FOUND:

seriously, listen to this. what an insane band. Brian melvin, Jon Davis and Jaco. just three dudes taking the piss and absolutely crushing some smooth tunes. this is my fav Jaco recording to this day. not even joking! he even walks the bass a bit in there, which is not very characteristic of his style. but damn, he walks that bitch. just great, man. that second track is really a punch in the gut. so pretty!

welp. that's it for Jaco, i guess. his life's story is kind of insane, i recommend looking into a bit deeper. i just half assed it a bit. it's my first time blogging, give me a break :p

EDIT: ok, how the FUCK did i forget this???? when i first heard this my little bassist brain just fucking exploded... his dexterity is INSANE in this song. if you're not a musician you might not enjoy this as much as i do, but damn... Donna Lee

i hope you guys like it though. if you know any bands with sick bassists, leave them in the comments. i love music recs, and I DONT ONLY LISTEN TO JAZZ. seriously. send me anything. 

shoutout to livelobotomy (https://spacehey.com/livelobotomy) for the code for putting music in a blog. thanks! x3

with peace, with love, yours truly, skanktilyoudie ;p