Quote:
Originally Posted by Gavin B.
Scott LaFaro was amazing. He was only 25 years old when he died and he played with many of the jazz greats of his generation: Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Art Pepper, Cal Tjander, Larry Corryell and Cannonball Adderly. Although his performing career lasted only six years, LaFaro's innovative approach to the bass redefined jazz playing, bringing an "emancipation" introducing "so many diverse possibilities as would have been thought impossible for the bass only a short time before", and inspiring a generation of bassists who followed him.
According to Scott's website:
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What I got from LaFaro as a bassist was his use of thirds when soloing. He did things with thirds I never even gave any thought to. To me, thirds were exercises for warming up. I did not realize how useful they were for soloing until LaFaro showed me how. He also added in passing notes to his thirds to fill them out a little and that also taught me something about how to use the bass. When most people listen to him, they just groove on what he's doing whereas I'm listening intently to hear how he ascends and descends in thirds, adds in the passing notes, carries it WAY out there in both melody and timing and then slowly works his way back in and resolves just before Evans joins back in. It's just music to most people, it's invaluable lessons to me.