Global Bass Online June 2002
Global Bass Online June 2002
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transcription by Lucas Pickford The uniting of Joni Mitchell and Jaco
Pastorius was truly a wonderful moment in modern music. Jaco recorded with Joni
when he was at the height of his powers in 1976. It was a banner year for Jaco
having recorded with Weather Report on their Black Market record as well as
having released his milestone debut album. Joni recorded her album Hejira in the
summer of 1976, with many of the same musicians she'd used since 1973, but the
sound she wanted this time was more subdued and moody.
When she'd completed recording the 9 tracks that comprise the Hejira
album, a friend told her about a bass player she should hear who was creating a
stir with his unusual playing style. Joni met Jaco Pastorious and immediately
connected with the way he played his bass. Joni had been trying for years to
find a certain sound on the bottom end of the bass, and Jaco's playing was a
dream come true for her music. She overdubbed his bass parts on 4 of the songs
on Hejira, and the album was readied for release in late November. Joni said,
“Jaco was doing something I was dreaming of at the time that I came to work
with him. I kept asking bass players to do certain things and they'd say ‘the
bass doesn't do that.’ Then I'd say ‘why not?’ And they'd say ‘because
it doesn't!’ Jaco is one of those exceptional musicians, even if what
he did seemed crazy, you would join in and go along with it - just to see what
would happen. Indeed it was only this way of his that made the ’Mingus’
album possible." This tune, God Must Be A Boogie Man, is from the CD called Mingus. It’s a great example of how Jaco would play bass, harmonics, melodies, solos all while supporting Joni’s voice and her sometime tricky, out of time, guitar comping. Although the Mingus album was panned by many reviewers, I feel it’s a must have for any serious Jaco fans out there. Jaco the accompanist is a side of Jaco we should all pay closer attention to. Enjoy.
Thanks to Chrys Legros for helping with the chart. You can thank him too. Thank you, too.
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Lucas
Pickford's new CD, Blown
Fuse, is now available from 