Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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68 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Important Historical Document Now Digital, February 16, 2003
This is my revised review, due to the fact that my original review contained comments about the DVD not containing footage from the original VHS release. I got in touch with Warner Bros, and they set me straight. The entire, original VHS release is indeed preserved on the DVD version. I'm not sure how I kept missing this footage (The performance of "The Chicken"), but it IS there. Thanks to Warner for checking into this for me.It's great to see that this important historical document of Jaco Pastorius is now preserved on DVD. The video quality in my opinion could have been cleaned up/sharpened a little bit better, but this is a minor issue. The sound quality is noticeably clearer. This, combined with the random-access ability to go to any section or example make this a great over-all package. It's truly inspirational to watch, and a great learning tool as well. While not exactly for the absolute beginner, it does cover some of the more "basic" elements of playing. I would still encourage any beginner to check this out, as it will definitely keep you inspired! It's pretty much essential viewing for any bass player - or musician for that matter. It's NOT a video of gimmicks, licks, or tricks (and believe me, I've seen enough of those). It's a video about music and possibilities, and THAT'S what it's all about folks. You won't get any "secret short-cuts" or "speed techniques", but what you WILL get is sound, practical, insightful KNOWLEDGE from a true musician and master of his chosen instrument. This video still inspires me after years of viewing the VHS edition. It's great that Warner saw the true value in converting this to digital for future generations to see. Now for the complaints: If any, I would say that the bonus materials are of no value whatsoever. There is a short slapping lesson included (NOT FROM JACO!), that I feel cheapens the true essence of the video, but hey, you don't have to watch this portion if you don't want to! Also, the biography section is weak in not too in-depth. The last bonus section that is supposed to explain a little bit about Jaco's equipment and set-up is nothing more than an advertisement for Fender Jaco clone basses - shameless advertising in my view. In summary, this is an important release both for its historical and educational value. It is true to the orginal VHS release. I'm glad to see the Jaco video has gone digital - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jaco, Scofield and Kenwood Dennard on video - too awesome!!!, June 10, 2004
As for Jaco, the world's self-proclaimed greatest bass player, he probably needs no introduction to anyone who is capable of appreciating him in the first place so I won't say any more to newcomers than that he isn't MERELY the greatest bass player ever; he downright revolutionized the instrument with his seldom imitated and never-duplicated sixteenth-note style of jam.My brother used to take bass lessons and he got this on VHS a long time ago. Although I am a keyboardist, I think I watched this video more than he did, mainly to see the trio's performance of 'The Chicken.' Jaco Pastorius on bass, John Scofield on electric guitar and Kenwood Dennard on the drums. This is one of the best musical acts I've ever seen on video. The music: please, I won't even downgrade it by trying to describe it in words. The performers: Three jazz gems who are as entertaining to watch as anyone I've ever seen. Watch John play that guitar; you can't help but feel the funk eating away at you as much as it does him. He looks likes he's about to burst, but listening to him play, it's easy to see why. Kenwood Dennard is just a MACHINE on the drums. His beats are straight-ahead, but so, so tight and funky. He violently shakes his head from side to side continuously with the same level of entertainment and accuracy executed in his drumming. And then there's Jaco. If his actual bass playing is outlandish, his stage manner one-ups it. This guy is just so uncommonly funky that his strange and somewhat comical facial expressions can be explained by nothing other than that he even stupefies (is that a word?) himself with his cutting-edge musical fare. As for the pedagogical value of this video, I don't play bass, so I'm not in the best place to give an educated opinion on this. I did watch some of the instructional portions, and Jaco's riffs seemed difficult (that's no surprise). My two cents: I reckon that purchasing this video with the hopes of sounding anything like Jaco is tantamount to hoping you'll achieve half the wealth of Bill Gates by purchasing Windows XP. Get this video for the inspiration of watching masters at work; your advancement with any instrument is more a function of your talent, desire and persistent hard work than what you get out of ANY video beyond inspiration. FYI: Although I refer to him in the present, Jaco was murdered in 1987 by a nightclub bouncer who brutally ejected him from the premises and beat him to death. He was even homeless and broke for much of his life. It is unfortunate what this world gave Jaco in return for his genius, but he will never be forgotten by any jazz musician who is worth the instrument he plays on. There a thoroughly excellent biography called 'Jaco' that I read a while back; check this book out if you want to learn more about this incredible musical legend.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mostly For Jaco Fans, May 4, 2005
While this DVD is well worth your couple of hours time, and you're probably going to enjoy watching it more than just once, I wouldn't recommend it to every bass player.
On the bright sides, well, after all, it is Jaco. He does play a couple of cool "Jaco-Sounding" tunes here and there, and you get a nice view of his personality. In addition, Jeremy Jemmott does an excellent job of interviewing Jaco (not surprisingly, since he is a great bass personality of his own).
BUT, As an instructional, it is a fairly lame video. You do get to check out some of Jaco's technique, but not much more. The DVD comes with an exercise booklet (music written in standard bass clef notation ONLY, not "Tabs") that, ironically, looks very much improvised: Watching the video, it really seems like the producers had picked some arbitrary tunes (or scales) Jaco was playing here and there and labeled them as exercises (adding the text "Exercise X" to the video and writing down the notes in the well-edited booklet).
Apart from that, Jaco isn't playing on his trademark fretless fender in this one, but on a fretted model instead. Also, as some other reviewers had already mentioned, this DVD does not show Jaco at his best (meaning that if you're expecting to see amazing performances you're in for a disappointment).
ON THE BOTTOM LINE, owning this DVD myself and watching it a fair number of times, I'd say IT'S FOR YOU IF:
1) You are a bass player and you've got money to spend.
2) Since almost all bass players are into jaco, I'd say you need to be really deep into jaco to think this DVD is actually worth the money.
And I'd say this DVD is really NOT FOR YOU IF:
1) You're considering buying it mainly because of its so called "instructional" nature.
2) You're considering buying it because you're expecting it's got some amazing Jaco music.
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