It's happened to lots of artists when they got older, and not just in the 80s. But I can't think of any that made me sadder.
Whereas his trios are probably my favorite jazz music of any stripe. In that recording, yes; but later there were Chuck Israels, Eddie Gomez, and Marc Johnson. And yeah, the LaFaro/Motian trio was a gift; but those last recordings he did with Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera, not long before he died, were pretty wonderful too. Well, a car crash. Clifford Brown and Richie Powell went together in a car crash, too. As ways to go, though, it doesn't touch the long list of those taken by drugs. Including, for all intents and purposes, Evans.
And for a very brief period, Paul Warburton, who's still alive and posting on Talkbass. All true, but my guess is Mike was referring to Scotty. That's the trio where the musicianship was shared the most among the three, IMO. Yeah, a crash, and now that I look back on what I've read, I think he was killed on impact before the fire consumed him. His bass (heavily damaged in the fire) was restored a few decades ago. I honestly don't think I'd want to own it, knowing that it might still have some burnt flesh somewhere in the crevices and whatnot. Folks used to get seriously killed in car wrecks back then. I marvel at the fact that I know folks who've been shot to death, died of smoke inhalation, died of cancer, been struck by a car as a pedestrian and died, threw a blood clot, but no one I know has died in a car wreck.
(emphasis added) I did not know that. On an off-topic note, I've been thinking I should join that forum, because I bought a bass (no, not a double bass; one of these) a few months ago and want to start the necessarily slow process of developing some rudimentary capability (not to be self-deprecating -- just that my free time is limited *and* it's not my main instrument). I just want to be able to do some simple things to accompany myself in home recording, and figured that maybe there might be some good advice for the dilettante there. But I've been worried that I'd come across like I was suggesting that one can play the bass well without giving it significant effort, which I know is not true. Oh, I didn't know there was a fire, too. If so, I withdraw my attempt at pedantry. Jesus. That's also something I didn't know. I wish I didn't.
The slab (solidbody) side of that site is full of people who glorify the players in their favorite bands, rather than people who can play. Sometimes there's overlap, sometimes there isn't. If you're looking for advice, you're going to have to sift through a lot of that and a lot of gear talk. A lot of associating greatness with fame... I suspect there are g****r sites like that as well. A result of the educational system not addressing fretted stringed instruments as much as they could, that's the only conclusion I can draw. If I had a dollar for every time I've had to tell someone that very few people would go buy a French horn or an oboe and ask where the tablature is for (insert composition here ___________ ), I'd have a lot of dollars. People who seem to think more about getting the next gig and pleasing a musically illiterate audience than the bigger picture of how they can create music that makes mofos sit down and listen/think, if they have the capacity. The double bass side is a lot more focused on musicianship. The posters there are more mature, and immersed in jazz, and also classical. You'd do well to lurk there for your theory and spend a bit of time on the slab side for the technique of a bass guitar. I will say that I've dealt with attempts at snobbery on a couple of occasions because I have some familiarity with more than one kind of bass. What's your main instrument? I just told you there was. Don't go all Trump-y on me. Yeah, it was in the car with him. Story I've heard is, he didn't indulge in drug usage, not even weed, let alone harder stuff like alcohol or heroin. But he liked to drive fast. I kinda get that. Dude was 25 or so...
He was a baaad man. Shame his head wasn't quite right... I wish Esperanza Spalding would put away the electric bass, step tf away from the vocal mic, and finally put her time in as a bebop player, but it would cost her some money.
I'd suggest Joni Mitchell from when she released Ladies of The Canyon or Blue spanning to Hejira. Prince definitely has a shout as well starting at 1999 and ending at Sign O The Times.
Deviating a little bit from Jazz to bring to attention this song " Tomorrow" by Salif Keita, rightly called the golden voice of Africa, and, with Cesaria Ever and Ali Farka Toure, my favorite African musician. This song never fails to hit me deeply and gives me goosebumps. It is in Maninka (Malian Dialect), iirc. But the lyrics are simply as powerful as the song itself. I have added the English translation below. Tomorrow Where ya gonna be tomorrow? How ya gonna face the sorrow? Where ya gonna be when you die? ' Cause nothing's gonna last forever And things they change like the weather They're gone in the blink of an eye Just look at yourself, can you see where you are? Look at yourself, now you can't hide the scars Just look at yourself 'cause there's nowhere to go And you know Tomorrow You're gonna have to live with the things you say Tomorrow You'll have to cross bridges that you burned today Tomorrow... And everything you do, it's coming back for you You'll never outrun what waits for you Tomorrow. And are you terrified by sadness And have you given into madness You're running out of places to hide 'Cause everybody's got a reason To justify how they're feelin' Maybe you should open your eyes Just look at yourself, do you like what you see? Look at yourself, is this how it should be? Just look at yourself, 'cause there's nowhere to go And you'll know Tomorrow You're gonna have to live with the things you say Tomorrow You'll have to cross bridges that you burned today Tomorrow... And everything you do, it's coming back for you You'll never outrun what waits for you Tomorrow. Are you waiting for the reason to change? Are you waiting for the end, has it came? Nothing's gonna stand in your way... Just look at yourself, do you like what you see? Look at yourself, is this how it should be? T omorrow You're gonna have to live with the things you say Tomorrow You'll have to cross bridges that you burned today Tomorrow... And everything you do, it's coming back for you You'll never outrun what waits for you Tomorrow.
Y'all may know Shelia Escovedo as Shelia E and what she's done with Prince, but her and her pops do not mess around. Related note, I love that 70s bass sound.
Those albums are good, but that period from 1999 to Sign O The Times is just a full blown supernova and then some. Especially Purple Rain. I think him and Joni have the best multi album runs. Each offering something different but brilliant with each album.
I like PR okay, but I can't shake that "tweaked for content and production until it appealed to as many people as possible" feeling when I hear it today. Same with Synchronicity. And it was a soundtrack, too, which helped push it over the top. There was no "Head", "Conrtoversy", "All The Critics Love U In New York" "Do Me, Baby" "Jack U Off" on it. Sanitized for the PG-13 crowd... Nothing on it that bumps like Hot Thing (one of my fave tunes by him), either.
There's a DJ to start. Just go to 30:00 and press play. That's what I did, five minutes ago. From there to 39:13 is pretty damn aewesome