If you’re a bassist, this is a must-watch! Thoughts on the much-talked-about music film “JACO.”
To all bassists living near Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya: have you already gone to see “JACO”!?
Except for Cinemart Shinjuku in Tokyo, the screenings have already ended...
The film opened in Japan on December 3, 2016.The documentary film “JACO” about Jaco PastoriusBut as I declared, I went to see it too.
I don’t usually watch that many movies, and I’ve never been particularly into documentaries, but to be honest, my reaction was, “I’m really glad I went to see it!”
This time, I’d like to talk about my thoughts on it and so on.
In some regions it hasn’t been released yet, so if you’re planning to see it, please read with caution due to potential spoilers.
Ciné Libre Umeda
I went to see it on Sunday, December 11, at the Cine Libre Umeda movie theater in Umeda, Osaka.
I was actually planning to go see it on the opening day in Osaka, but since it was my first time going to that theater, I got lost, and by the time I arrived, the screening had already started…
I hesitated about jumping in partway through, but in the end I decided to come back the next day.
The next day, I somehow managed to arrive before showtime and was able to watch it without any problems.
Before going, I looked up Cine Libre Umeda online and found posts saying it’s not a very large theater and the seating isn’t very steep, so if you sit toward the back, the heads of people in front can be distracting and make it hard to focus on the movie. So I watched from the very center of the front row.
Ciné Libre Umeda has two floors, the 3rd and 4th, and JACO was screened on the 3rd floor.
I think the capacity of the 3rd floor is just over 100 people.
In the end, about one-third of the seats were unoccupied.
The audience skewed older, and there seemed to be many people who came alone.
Speaking of the gender ratio, I believe it was around 7:3.
Screening Schedule | Cine Libre Umeda | Theatre Cinema Group
Jaco’s personality was different from his image.
Honestly, until I watched this movieJaco PastoriusI had misunderstood what kind of person they are.
Though he was called a genius and continues to influence many people even today, I figured he must have been a somewhat unhinged person who, at a young age, fell into alcohol and drugs and ultimately lost his life in a brawl.
It might be because I had the preconceived notion that people who are called geniuses are usually a bit strange in some way.
Probably in the playMetallicaI think it was Robert Trujillo who said, 'Jaco is a punk.'
So, are they essentially the Sid Vicious of the jazz and fusion world?
I was watching and felt the same—on stage, Jaco was pure punk.
After the show, they tossed the bass guitar high up into the air... (lol).
But that’s just how he is on stage; watching him, I felt that in everyday life he’s a warm-hearted person who cares about his family and friends.
During his early years, when he was rarely home because of touring, Jaco would always order the cheapest item at restaurants on the road, and he supposedly stashed whatever was left of his pay in the soles of his shoes to save it for his family.
It is said that with his first wife, Tracy, they deliberately had a child when she was a senior in high school.
Because Jaco’s father, Jacques, was a playboy, he rarely came home, and it was almost like a single-mother household.
Precisely because he grew up in such a family environment, Jaco may have longed for a warm home and wanted to build one of his own as soon as possible.
There was also a heartwarming scene of Jaco playfully and innocently spending time with the children.
An artist who lacked a supportive environment
As the movie progresses into the second half, Jaco’s eyes gradually change.
His eyes were clearly becoming strange—no longer normal.
It documents how Jaco’s eccentric behavior began to escalate, and watching it made me feel sad.
I think Robert Trujillo said something like this in the film as well, but I went ahead and said something along the lines of: “Jaco was an artist, and the bass was simply the means he used to express himself.”
Jaco, having lost the place to express himself as an artist, must have suffered considerably.
It may be his own responsibility that he succumbed to the pressure around him and turned to alcohol and drugs, but if someone nearby had noticed the signs and reached out, his life might have turned out differently.
I forget who said it, but someone said something like, "Jaco wasn’t blessed with the people around him."
A simple question that came to mind while watching
In some interview in a movie, when asked why he converted his Jazz Bass to a fretless, he said it was because his upright bass broke and he didn’t have the money to replace it. But didn’t he swap the upright for the black 1960 Jazz Bass owned by his best friend, Bob Bobing? That’s what I started wondering.
I’ve seen online that what Jaco said seems to vary quite a bit depending on the time, and I was really curious whether, when he was interviewed, he just answered with whatever came to mind, or whether he actually owned other upright basses besides the one he traded.
In conclusion
Personally, I felt it was a work you can enjoy even if you're not a die-hard Jaco Pastorius fan.
Even if you’re a bassist who thinks you’re not that into Jaco or fusion, why not give this a try without writing it off?
Of course, I thought it would be great to recommend it not only to bassists but also to artists and creators.
Personally, I found the footage of Trujillo using the “Bass of Doom” at a Metallica live show near the end of the movie extremely impressive.