Best known for his work with the veteran jazz group Yellowjackets, the left-handed Jimmy Haslip discovered the bass guitar in high school, bought a standard right-handed bass, flipped it over, and immersed himself in learning the instrument while continuing to explore every great bass album he could get his hands on.
It wasn’t long before his growing interest in jazz and fusion sparked him to new levels, leading to a life-changing period when he met the great Jaco Pastorius.
“I was rehearsing in Frank Zappa's studio with a band that was being managed by Cavallo, Ruffalo and Fargnoli, who also managed Weather Report,” Haslip told Bass Player back in June 2002. “I was a huge fan of Weather Report who happened to be rehearsing next door.”
“I went to listen and was expecting to see Alphonso Johnson, but when I got there I saw this tall, skinny guy playing keys and I knew it wasn't Joe Zawinul. Wayne Shorter was warming up on the side. Alex Acuna was on drums with Manolo Bandrena on percussion, jamming with the guy on piano.
“Then Zawinul walked in and the tall skinny guy went over to the bass that was laying on the floor and they started rehearsing Black Market. I sat there with my jaw open – I'd never heard anything like it!”
“We hung out in his hotel room 'til about seven in the morning, just jamming and talking about music. We talked about Bach and Charlie Parker, bebop, ethnic music, Cuban music. I got to hear his first solo album which hadn't been released yet. He put on Donna Lee – I couldn't believe it!
“I hung out with him for a couple of weeks. He had some nice things to say about my playing which gave me a thousand confidence points at that stage in my life. I was a changed person from that point on. I started studying his shit like mad and many years later I got the courage to pick up a fretless!”
The hours of practice all paid off, as Haslip’s technique and harmonic knowledge grew by leaps and bounds over the coming years.
“One thing he told me was to play things like a horn player, with that kind of expression and feeling. I remember trying to learn this one little thing he was showing me and I couldn’t quite get it. Then he said, ‘Well, just sing it.’ So I sang what he played and he said, ‘Good, if you can sing it, then you can play it.’
“That made a lot of sense to me and that’s how I’ve learnt a lot of things when I’m having a problem with something, phrasing-wise – I just try to sing it first. Once you’ve got that, then you can kind of sing along and try to emulate that.”
“I ran into Jaco many times, and I always felt he was my friend. He did so much for all musicians, not just bass players. He had a special place in my heart.”
