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.