Soothe The Savage Beast

 

 

Back to music and away from insane media. ("Music hath charms to soothe a savage beast.")

In the days and weeks after 9/11 people would escape to the pleasures of the former world. For me, it's old Weather Report performances.

Recently, I re-watched Weather Report's performance at the 1976 Montreux Jazz Festival. The audio is nicely mastered in this particular version of it, with a nice round, full bass sound. This was Jaco at his finest; he approached everything bottom-up, even though he explored (sometimes trespassed into) other ranges in the music. 

I know music is cohesive when I can't tell which pitches are coming from which instrument(s). In certain passages, Zawinul's lines meld nicely with Jaco's lines. I see this as "democracy" working optimally, regardless of the fights that might break out outside of performances. (Can you argue while you're playing?)

I am of two minds of whether bass, or any instrument, can be any other instrument. Jaco parrots keyboards, horns, percussion (especially the muted 16-note figures suggesting the playing hand percussion). Those "calls" (or "steals") sometimes show up in musical improvisations. This makes sense because improvisation involves close listening and imitation with cohesion as the ultimate goal.

From the book The Singing Neanderthals on group cohesion:

"...making music together is the key method for creation of group identity."   

3/4/2023: RIP Wayne Shorter