Pastorius on a beautiful five stringer

[Michele C.]

Felix Pastorius, that is. Here with Yellow Jackets, yesterday night at the Blue Note in Milano. I enjoyed his playing but it was the drummer who really impressed me.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8153/7273804904_61ea8a2e50.jpg

 

Which bass is this? Looks so solid an balanced. More pictures and more sizes at

[JBFLA]

I saw him down here in S.FLA a few times but haven't seen him in a while. Good reason - he's anywhere but here.

[Michele C.]

Anyone knows which bass is that? The body looks like a Fodera, but the headstock has some different logo, I think.

By the way, it was somewhat emotional seeing this tall young man with long hands and curvy thumbs. And I think he does justice to his last name.

The same bass is featured in this video where the logo is well visible, albeit not readable

 

[video:youtube]

[Nicklab]

That is indeed a Fodera. He's listed on the Fodera website as one of the artists using their basses. He also clips a tuner to his headstock, so you can't always see the inlaid Fodera butterfly.

[SteveC]

It's a Fodera.

 

I'm curious as to your impressions. I saw a few You Tube clips of the band with him and I was completely unimpressed. Didn't know the tunes and I didn't care for his tone or solos at all.

 

He's got some big shoes to fill and needs to step it up - in my humble opinion.

[EddiePlaysBass]

Steve, were you unimpressed because of his last name / legacy or because of his playing in itself? I have not listened to the sound clips but I am just curious. In my opinion he's got no other shoes to fill than his own. What if he'd become a guitarist, or a carpenter or painter?

[Nicklab]

Steve, were you unimpressed because of his last name / legacy or because of his playing in itself? I have not listened to the sound clips but I am just curious. In my opinion he's got no other shoes to fill than his own. What if he'd become a guitarist, or a carpenter or painter?

 

That's great on your part, David. But when you're a Jazz bass player with the surname Pastorius, a lot of people are going to place some incredibly high expectations on you. Is that fair? No, absolutely not. But it's something that Felix is probably going to have to deal with for his whole career.

 

Stepping into a gig like the Yellowjackets brings along it's own challenges. Jimmy Haslip established himself in that gig for a long time. And people are bound to compare Felix with Jimmy, too.

 

As for the reality of it all? He's a young guy who will garner some attention because of his name. But ultimately he's going to need to establish his own voice with the material if he's going to move forward as an artist. I just hope that he doesn't get inundated with people at gigs who think he's his father reincarnate.

[EddiePlaysBass]

As for the reality of it all? He's a young guy who will garner some attention because of his name. But ultimately he's going to need to establish his own voice with the material if he's going to move forward as an artist. I just hope that he doesn't get inundated with people at gigs who think he's his father reincarnate.

 

I agree that his surname is both a blessing and a curse. He did ultimately choose the bass as his instrument, and because of his name he will probably get into places and gigs quicker than perhaps you and I would. But like you said, he will ultimately have to prove himself as a player. And that's what I was getting at: he should be judged based on his merits, not his name.

 

Purely for the record: not saying that SteveC judged him based on his family name.

[Nicklab]

Agreed. There are definite positives and negatives that are going to face Felix. He's probably going to get some opportunities that wouldn't present themselves to other people. But that's going to be balanced out by some very unfair expectations and comparisons.

 

If you look at some "legacy" players, for lack of a better term, some have done alright. But very often it's a mixed bag. Matthew Garrison has made a name for himself in the current scene. And his father, Jimmy Garrison, established himself with John Coltrane. That was a BIG GIG. But was it as high profile as Jaco? Not so much.

[Michele C.]

I have been to see the Jackets the night after having seen Jimmy Haslip in trio with Allan Holdsworth. I was also in company with a friend who took keyboard lessons from Pasqua while his friend was sitting with Jimmy Haslip.

He came home with a lefty six stringer like the one that jimmy uses.

They had a lot to chat about and I was blessed with a very close encounter with Haslip even though we exchanged short and casual conversation.

I found Jimmy Haslip absolutely unbelievable with regards to speed and phrasing, but I am not too much into that kind of fusion and I prefer the parts that are written, with a singable melody.

I was relatively unimpressed by Pastorius the night after. I think this is not because of his lack of chops, since he has got plenty to show, and I had the feeling that he can play anything, but is still finding his place in that band.

The player that sent me real oohh that night was the drummer.

I found some videos on youtube where Felix Pastorius experiments a little more with new sounds that look promising.

I think he is one of the best players I have seen, anyway.

He reminds me of his father in more than one way, but probably will not have a chance to invent a new language, because it has already been invented.

In other words, as a player I think he has nothing left to prove. As a musician he will flourish in his own ground.

[SteveC]

I am not a big Jaco fan, but my impressions were based solely on Felix's playing on the clips I saw/heard. I am a big Jimmy fan, so I admit my opinion is not without bias, but most people's opinions are so I don't feel too bad.

 

Jimmy has been (it's a hiatus, not a departure - I certainly hope that is the case) with the Jackets since the beginning with Russ. To step into those shoes is HUGE no matter what your last name is. Fans about went nuts when Will Kennedy (the current drummer who is amazing) left for 10 years. I've heard Will and Jimmy a couple times and they are amazing together.

 

I have a lesson with Jimmy in a couple weeks in North Carolina. Obviously I won't ask ask about this, but it would be interesting to hear his thoughts.

[jcadmus]

Semi-OT question: who HASN'T Allan Holdsworth played with? He seems to be all over the road. A short list from memory of who I've heard him with:

Jean-Luc Ponty

Bill Bruford

Soft Machine

Tony Williams

UK

Level 42

Jimmy Haslip

 

Must be nice to be that eclectic.

[jeremy c]

I enjoyed Felix's track, but it seemed to me that he was playing around with the music, not really actually just playing.

 

Jaco Pastorius and Jimmy Haslip are two players who were always right on it from note one and no matter how complex or outside, they got, the time was more solid than most of us mere mortals can imagine.

[SteveC]

I saw more recent clip - more time with he band and music - and it was better. I still prefer Jimmy with the band, but I guess I'll cut Felix some slack. Who am I to say anyway, right?