My music playlist for today (July 10, 2012 edition)

Posted on July 10, 2012 by

I’m turning this into a bit of a “renegade week” for my playlist, with the reason why becoming more clear in a couple of days.  It’s a week to note some of the groups or musicians that have “danced to their own beat,” creating a sound that blows away boundaries and becomes so unique you can identify the tunes and/or who’s playing them very easily.

English: Jaco Pastorius, Amsterdam, 1980

English: Jaco Pastorius, Amsterdam, 1980 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, for jazz-fusion, it’s the late Jaco Pastorius.

Jaco was one of those bass players who influenced many, whether it was in the groups he played with like Weather Report, session work with the likes of Joni Mitchell, or in his own solo work.

Jaco made the bass guitar sing with a voice all its own.

Jaco was human — very much so.  He was dealt some pretty tough cards to play with, having bipolar disorder that wasn’t diagnosed until close to five years before his death in 1987 from brain injuries suffered in a violent brawl that was perhaps brought about by his behavioral problems.

It’s one of those sad twists of fate — the condition that helped contribute to his genius as a musician, the intense creativity that he showed, also helped to bring about his downfall.

Jaco left way too soon.  His music will always live on.  Today, we’ll go outside of his work with Weather Report (already featured in a previous playlist here) to more of the work of Jaco on his own.

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About A View From The Middle (Class)

Hi, my name's John. I've thought about this blogging stuff for a number of years now. I got into it for real on November 10, 2011, after suddenly losing my job in late October. I've been blogging ever since, and I kept it up over a period of a year and four months of being unemployed or under-employed, to try and paint a picture of what being jobless with a family to support can be like. Finally, on February 28, 2013, I got a better job that puts us back into the "middle class." I won't stop blogging, though. Who knows, maybe I can actually turn this blogging stuff into a way to earn a living someday! If you go to my blog at http://viewfrommiddleclass.wordpress.com/ and click on my About page, it'll tell you a lot about me -- maybe more than you ever wanted to know. I'm just your average, laid-back guy who's GOING TO MAKE IT IN THIS WORLD, despite all the roadblocks thrown in the way. I also launched a "niche" blog on music at http://thecrossovermusicchannel.blogspot.com/ that I'm very excited about because of the popularity of music playlist articles here. Also, check out and "Like" this blog's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/daddysangbassdude2 for instant updates. Look forward to seeing y'all around!
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2 Responses to My music playlist for today (July 10, 2012 edition)

  1. S Eve Jaskot says:
    July 10, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    Loved that man! Great choice, John!

    Reply

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