a name every bassist should know

and every musician, for that matter: Jaco Pastorius. Now, i'm far from a jazz bassist (though i love jazz, i've always had rock in my heart, and would never call myself a jazz artist), but Jaco Pastorius makes any bassist tip his hat in respect.

earlier this year, for a jazz appreciation class, i wrote a report on the progression of the role of electric bass guitar in jazz; well, this report may as well have been on jaco pastorius; he is the history of electric jazz bass guitar.

the following link is to a video of pastorius playing solo; all the music you're about to here was made on a bass, even the percussion-esque slap noise (you'll see what i mean).

unfortunately, pastorius is no longer alive, and therefore no longer making music. i'm sure that if he had lived into old age, he would still be playing fantastic bass guitar.

>> a brief side-note - the bass that pastorius is playing in the following video was the only bass he ever performed with. it's a "custom" fender jazz bass; i say custom because he de-fretted it himself, and smoothed the fretboard with wood putty and sandpaper. after his death, the bass went missing for many years, but was recently recovered, and is now considered a famous relic of the genre.

Surrealistic Pillow

The Jefferson Airplane album Surrealistic Pillow was huge. In 1967. people today recognize the singles ("somebody to love," and "white rabbit"), but few know about the rest of the tracks, which weren't sung by grace slick, but by marty balin, the other vocalist, original founder, and lead songwriter of Jefferson Airplane. These other tracks are soooo good; they revolve around so many different themes and emotions, it's incredible. There are songs about love, about falling out of love, about society, and technology too.

But an element of the album that is worth focusing on is the very melodic bass performances by Jack Casady. According to casady, he was stifled as an artist in the other bands that he had been in, but the airplane was so spontaneous and experimental, his bandmates encouraged him to delevop a more melodic style. also, the band setup allowed him to step away from the rhythm section (jefferson airplane had both a lead and a rhythm guitarist).

listen to "d.c.b.a. -25," "my best friend," and "she has funny cars." you'll find them thought-provoking, i'm sure.

Sol District

early in november i visited the Whiskey a go go to hear a friend's band play (they're called Verna Beware), and i was fortunate enough to hear some other bands before them. regarding bass, the band right before Verna Beware was tops. They're called Sol District, and their bassist was fantastic. They're a five part, latin-influenced rock band. In many of their songs, bass really was their lead instrument. He was playing a fender bass (which isn't my favorite make, but he seemed to be really comfortable and aware of it).

it was refreshing to hear strong, lead bass from an unsigned band. so many of those bands are all about flashy guitar and vocals.

check out their songs "ER" and "5 Miles" on their page: Sol District

"The Library"

My woman-friend "L" took me yesterday to this coffeeshoppe here in Long Beach called the Library. I assume that they call it that because they have shelves of books that anyone can just pick out and read. It was, by far, the best coffeeshoppe i've ever been to in my life. It epitomized the word "bohemian." L wants to work there next semester, and it would be perfect for her.

background

In order to paint a more vivid picture, i'll tell you some things about myself. my name is tylor M, and i live in Long Beach, CA. i've been going to college here for a few years now. before then, i went to high school in the inland empire in california. before then i lived in the high desert in california, and before then i lived in europe for three years (half in germany, half in england). Originally, though, i'm from the midwest.

I've been playing bass for some time now, and i feel that it is one of the most underrated instruments in rock n roll. granted, a lot of progress has been made over the past 45 years regarding its role as a lead instrument, but a lot of the great lead bassists have died, stopped playing, or fallen out of popularity. However, there remain several bands with strong bassists that keep the spirit of the instrument alive. to mention a few, there's RHCP, the Bravery, Muse, etc.

When you listen to your music, remember that there's more to hear than guitar and vocals.