Jazz: Friends Paying Tribute on the Low
Victor Bailey (March 27, 196 — November 11, 2016) was a jazz bassist who succeeded virtuoso Jaco Pastorius in his bass chair role for Weather Report. Victor passed away today after years of suffering from terrible Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. I’ve never met him and don’t know any stories about him, but he penned lyrics to one of Jaco’s instrumental songs note-for-note, even Jaco’s improvised solo.
Victor first heard the news of Jaco’s death before boarding a plane in 1987. On that flight, he thought about his friend and musical hero, and wrote poetry to the musical notes of his friend’s instrumental classic “Continuum” that he had both learned and seared into his memory. He called his tribute “Do You Know Who (Jaco Was?)”.
It’s a touching and sentimental piece of art. Jazz is largely about new and improvised music, but it’s also about paying homage to those who’ve come before us in the art. Victor was a model student and artist of jazz, having done his homework and completed exhaustive transcriptions and studies of jazz titans like John Coltrane and Jaco.
Victor’s raw talent rebreathed life into notes lifted off a page of transcription. His heartbeat propels the rhythm, and his respect and generosity to his a fellow jazz musician is captured in the ethereal harmonies of Jaco’s lydian-saturated composition.
A frighteningly technically proficient musician, Victor could blaze lightening-fast Coltrane lines on his bass guitar with great precision — even when bound to his motorized scooter.
I want to share with you this live solo performance of “Do You Know Who (Jaco Was?)” because it captures Victor’s talent and wonderful nature in a way that any decent person could admire and aspire towards in their own unique way. Handicapped and sitting on a barstool, unable to stand and walk properly, Victor performs with talent and energy lightyears ahead of the contemporary famous artists the general public would recognize today.
The vocalizing of the angular melody is whimsical, and the authentic lyrics are a traipse through this wonderful artist’s memory and feelings for his late friend. I should warn you that Victor holds nothing back as he belts out a plethora of Jaco solo licks, and it’s fun. After shredding through the furious solo section, Victor returns to the melody and then fades out with a controlled, tender falsetto note blended with the warm harmonic overtones of his Fender bass — then he’s engulfed in roar of applause from an appreciative audience. Thank you, Victor.
Enjoy!
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Ilove sharing fascinating ideas, new and old. When I’m not busy enjoying life as a newlywed or designing and building web applications, you can find me playing electric bass at church or trying new restaurants. Recommend, subscribe, comment, and share. Let me know if there’s something I can write about that would help you. Thanks for reading!
