Jazz bassist who blew them all away

July 15, 2008 1:03 AM

In July of 1961, the bass genius Scott LaFaro, perished in a fiery car crash after visiting family and friends in upstate NY, just ten days after doing the last gigs he would ever do with the great Bill Evans's trio (which became the legendary live recordings from the Vanguard) . He was only 24 years old. But he was also developing as a fine writer as well, as this Evans trio track - a mystical ballad in 9/4, shows.

LaFaro, one jazz' greatest innovators, blazed a trail in only six short years with Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Hampton Hawes, Victor Feldman (once Miles Davis' pianist, and a Steely Dan studio regular), Freddie Hubbard and many others. But he is still best known for his revolutionary contributions to that classic Evans trio. (previously). After this rendering of "Jade Visions", Evans never played it again anywhere. (Though he did do LaFaro's "Gloria's Step" frequently in the 70s.)

posted by Seekerofsplendor (20 comments total)

Yes, it's really quite a tragedy that LaFaro died so young.

Thanks for the post.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:15 AM on July 15, 2008

But, seekerofsplendor, links to amazon.com and cdUniverse pages are really not especially helpful or recommended. You can do better than that.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:18 AM on July 15, 2008

But, seekerofsplendor, links to amazon.com and cdUniverse pages are really not especially helpful or recommended. You can do better than that.

I can appreciate that, flapjax. However, I wanted to point the reader as directly as possible to those particular albums that LaFaro appears on. You may notice I also linked to his complete discography which has it all there as well. But thanks for the reminder anyway.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 1:26 AM on July 15, 2008

The capsule bio on this Scott LaFaro MySpace page is worth a read. And though they're crazy short, these little clips of LaFaro playing (very rare) should probably be seen, as they would appear to be the only film clips of him playing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:28 AM on July 15, 2008

I wanted to point the reader as directly as possible to those particular albums that LaFaro appears on.

Heard! No sweat, seeker.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:29 AM on July 15, 2008

In his life, the only bassists comparable might have been Charles Mingus and Charlie Haden.

So what makes LaFaro "one jazz' greatest innovators" on the same scale as Mingus?
posted by three blind mice at 3:56 AM on July 15, 2008

I think LaFaro had the potential to become one of the great jazz musicians. Even in his short career, he displayed brilliance. But I think "greatest innovators" is perhaps overused, especially for such a short career and so few documents as a leader.

LaFaro is worth an FPP, but I don't think I'd dial the hype up to that level.
posted by beelzbubba at 4:12 AM on July 15, 2008

Well he's not on the same scale as Mingus because he wasn't a bandleader or a composer in the same way that Mingus was. But I don't think that there's much doubt that LaFaro influences a shedload of contemporary players - Marc Johnson and Eddie Gomez (who both played with Evans) are pretty obvious examples. I think in some way he's probably responsible for those bassists who seem more interested in playing hemisemidemiquavers at stupid tempos as high up the neck as possible rather than actually playing bass lines, but that's just me. Fantastic technique, great taste but gimme Mingus or William Parker or Harry Miller anyday...
posted by peterkins at 5:34 AM on July 15, 2008

I dunno if he blew Paul Chambers away. That was about the roundest and best shaped sound around at the time.

I have the feeling I have never heard a decent phonographic representation of LaFaro's work. Sounds sort of light and squiggly to me. I would say Eddie Gomez is his most obvious inheritor in his left hand style, but Gomez gets the thick liquorice tone I love from the right hand. If I could play a quarter as well as LaFaro could I would be fairly proud, though.

Also, you know, Ron Carter.

Yeah, yeah, I play the bass. Let's see what Sourwookie has to say about this.
posted by Wolof at 5:45 AM on July 15, 2008

On non-preview, I see peterkins also has an informed opinion.

Cheers!
posted by Wolof at 5:46 AM on July 15, 2008

So what makes LaFaro "one jazz' greatest innovators" on the same scale as Mingus?

The comparison isn't quite fair as Mingus is better known as a composer, arranger and band leader than for his distinctive stylings on his chosen axe. A later Ellington.

I'm not keen on who's-the-best-ever type comparisons of instrumentalists. There's room in my record collection for anyone with something to say. But LaFaro had a couple things going for him -- near 100% spot-on intonation, and melodic invention. Listen to him on Ornette's Free Jazz. (One of the key benefits of the digital age for me is the opportunity to hear Free Jazz uninterrupted. My favourite headache music.)

And yeah, Charlie Haden and Dave Holland. Maybe if he'd lived, LaFaro would have calmed down some and found a role more like these more balanced bassists. Or maybe he'd've done a Jaco.

Maybe the excesses of later fusion players wouldn't have happened without him, maybe they would've come anyway. But don't lay that at LaFaro's door.

Another potentially great voice silenced far too soon. Let's dig the cat on his own terms.
posted by Herodios at 8:04 AM on July 15, 2008

For my money, LaFaro deserves all the hype he gets 'cuz he sounds like no one else, and people after him who played that way automatically brought him to mind. Had he not happened, would that style of playing still developed? Probably. But that doesn't diminish his contribution. Timing is part of genius, in addition to skill, perseverance, so many other things. He had 'em all.
posted by fingers_of_fire at 8:26 AM on July 15, 2008

fingers_of_fire's comment says exactly what I wanted to say. "Actual" bass lines are alright, but that quarter note thumping gets old after a while. It's not LaFaro's fault that not every bassist who followed him had the taste to be as melodically free while still fulfilling the responsibilities of the post.
posted by invitapriore at 9:04 AM on July 15, 2008

I'm not suggesting that LaFaro's contribution is any the less merely because a lot of his followers don't have his intonation skills or dexterity or melodic invention. Jaco (who I will admit I never much liked meself) suffered the same problem. And LaFaro was able to play like he did because of amplification and his use of steel strings (and Paul Motian wasn't exactly the loudest drummer around) - he didn't have to do the old quarter note thumping just to be heard. It's all context innit...

PS I've got nowt against quarter note thumping - listen to 'Mingus at Carnegie Hall' - he does nearly 25 minutes of exactly that and (imho) it's bliss.
posted by peterkins at 9:53 AM on July 15, 2008

Let's dig the cat on his own terms.

I'm totally down with that Herodios. I didn't mean to diminish LaFaro in any way. I just wanted to know what would qualify him as one of the "greatest innovators."

Jaco (who I will admit I never much liked meself) suffered the same problem.

Don't think Jaco Pastorius suffered from much of anything - other than a bad temper. But that was also what Mingus was known for.
posted by three blind mice at 10:16 AM on July 15, 2008

I've got nothing against it either. I've also got nothing against early Renaissance vocal music, but sometimes you just got to try something new, you dig?
posted by invitapriore at 10:44 AM on July 15, 2008

Don't think Jaco Pastorius suffered from much of anything

Just schizophrenia and concomitant self-medication. But that's not what we're here to talk about.

The problem, if it is one, is that Jaco's success at balancing melodic improvisation and the traditional role of the bassist, like LaFaro's a decade or so earlier, inspired less gifted bassists to emulate the superficial aspects of their innovations -- stepping out, playing high, and playing fast. The results are not always edifying.

I just wanted to know what would qualify him as one of the "greatest innovators."

Here's a good LaFaro link.
Hear some good LaFaro links:
with the Bill Evans Trio: Bill Evans - piano, Paul Motian - drums
Nardis
Elsa
Waltz for Debby
with Stan Getz/Cal Tjader: Getz - sax, Tjader - vibes, Vince Guaraldi - piano, Eddie Duran - guitar, Billy Higgins - drums
Crow's Nest

Each of these has a bass solo spot. What's important is how good he is at what he does, and how few bassists were doing this in 1955 - 1961.

I'm sorry there's no clip of Free Jazz on YT. Anyone with an interest in jazz history should hear it at least once. Borrow the CD from the library and plug in.

BTW, Nothing wrong with quarter-note thumpin' at all. Quarter-note thumpin' in the name of swing is a noble cause -- and is its own reward.
posted by Herodios at 11:17 AM on July 15, 2008

Herodios, thanks for posting these vids for others to hear more of Bill and Scotty (and Motian, of course) . However, the "Waltz For Debby" you linked to is with Chuck Israels on bass; Larry Bunker is the drummer. It was recorded in London for the program "JAZZ 625" in March of 1965. Most of the show is on YouTube in various segments.
posted by Seekerofsplendor at 11:42 AM on July 15, 2008

"Waltz For Debby" you linked to is with Chuck Israels on bass

Hmm, yup, right you are. Well that's what happens when you try to move too fast. Thanks for catching that.

So, Seeker, since you're back why don't you give three blind mice some specifics on what makes LaFaro so great?
posted by Herodios at 1:47 PM on July 15, 2008

One of the things that made LeFaro great wasn't his bass playing at all - it was the relationship he forged with Bill Evans. Evans was deeply into heroin by then, and LeFaro was one of the few people Evans really connected with in that period, on a personal level. Evans' interest in LeFaro, and the simple desire to play music with him, probably kept Evans from going deeper into his addiction for some time, and at LeFaro's death, many feared for Evans himself, as Evans took the news very hard.

In that early post-bebop time, a lot of people dismissed the Evans-LeFaro-Motian Trio as "dinner jazz," but I think that in retrospect, most people have come to recognize that the music they produced was as much an outgrowth of their personalities, their respect for one another's talent, and a desire to avoid the frenetic and sometimes autocratic "front lining" of harder jazz, as each had experienced it with other groups. It was a conscious decision not to shred in favor of exploring lighter colors, that was born in an artistic friendship, and that became a means of expressing and developing that friendship. Evans was, by later Motian accounts, glad to have someone he could share the melodic improvisation with, and that relief by Evans exactly complemented LeFaro's interest in doing so, and created the artistic space LeFaro needed to develop his style. They were right for each other artistically because of their friendship, and because of each other, they achieved more in friendship than either would have, with others in that time.
posted by paulsc at 5:33 PM on July 15, 2008 [2 favorites]