JACO OR ANYBODY ELSE.
A Contemplation.
It's been quite some years, almost t wenty since I ast saw Jaco and played with him. I continually have emails and websites sent to me to ead about Jaco
and people's experiences, thoughts and judgments a bout him. It really amazes me that so many people want to quantize this man and try to understand
him. Good luck. For me, the relationship t hat we had encompassed the whole spectrum of his being, and I firsthand got a taste of Jaco 360. We shared
many levels of riendship, and all types of experiences, and they were all ours and ours only. We all know that he played great bass and was an extraordinary
musician and composer. But to me, there was a much larger idea in his life that had to do with a message. Maybe not so much about the obvious, such as music,
but about life and death, and understanding and looking into the depths of our existence. We all tend to emphasize people a
bit more who were large in any field and tend to magnify their importance more than the less fortunate, or someone not in the limelight etc. I've read
where musicians and friends and family only want people to remember him as they would like us to remember him, and that is OK. You know the great period,
the creative period. What nonsense. Then the downfall, Jesus? Take the whole pie, not just the sweet stuff. People ask: "Did he do this or not, and
is it a yes or a no," and so on and so on. Let it and him be. Who really knows, except the person himself. A person's life i ncludes everything from their
birth until their death.Only Jaco could tell you what was really important to him, and why he did what he did, regardless of anyone's critique if it was good
or bad or right or wrong, as for all of us. To me this is a very small and limited view of anybody and especially of artist of such magnitude. My personal feeling
is that Jaco came with a message of Love and that was manifested through his music. His music has a powerful and healing quality to it. That is a gift from The
Creator. He was a beautiful instrument himself. But he also brought us a message of suffering and exposing many of the world tragedies that most people are
afraid to confront. Sages like Pantanjali who wrote the yoga sutra and Buddha and Christ and a host of others confronted these issues already in detail. Every
thing that a person does is part of their book, and all of us know that our book has many hidden chapters that only we will ever
truly know. How dares anyone make a judgment on someone's character. That's a large order, but we can send love and compassion and understanding in their
direction. Can you imagine your own movie being shown second by second, would there be some embarrassing or questionable moments? I feel that most
people get s o attached to their experiences and beliefs that this overshadows the true light shining, on any being or subject matter. All the experiences and
acts of an individual make an imprint on their soul. So every different aspect and phase of any person's life is theirs and theirs only, even
if it has an external effect on t he whole as well. As George Harrison said: " Within You Without You". A very good question is: why are we here? And for what
purpose? As for Jaco or anyone else, does it matter if you made great music one day and on another day slept in a park or did something against the
establishment, or somebody's moral code. We all have done so many things and have had so many thoughts that are impossible for anyone but the
individual to understand. My God, what did The Beatles do or Mozart or The Grateful Dead or Miles, Bird or Trane, or like Picasso or Edgar Allan Poe, and
the list goes on and on and on and a thousand others in all fields in history over time. Drugs-alcohol-disease, sex or whatever vice is only a part of a story, but it is
a part of the whole if that was in someone's story. Is this not taking place everywhere you look? It must be here to learn from. Everybody picks a story or
experience or has a judgment to what is meaningful or not. This is a bit limiting, I feel. Just let it be what ever it was. It's not anyone's job to figure out
anybody else's life and decisions. You can help and give suggestions, but most of us are attached to our ways and want the outcome to suit our desires. I
know most of us would not like being judged for one thing or another. It is part of us and that is i t. Cause and effect. We are all accountable for ourselves. It's
really not an easy subject to comprehend and this is why different philosophies, metaphysics, religions and science exist. Everyone wants THE QUESTION
answered. And even if they could answer such a question, what good would it do? An important point is to work on yourself and get your music which is your
being and soul in tune so it can spread through the invsible borders. As Buddha suggested, we must have compassion for ALL sentient beings, especially our
enemies. Also the idea of love your neighbor as yourself, s still around. There are so many ways to approach this subject regarding beliefs and faiths, but again
you must explore this turf and find your place, and if you don't, that's OK.If something cannot be changed there is
no sense to worry, and if something can be changed, there is no sense to worry either. Just think if you were standing on the moon looking down on Earth.
You would see no movement at all and it would look just fine and in harmony with itself. With everything that you could and could not possibly imagine going
on
l at once. Would that b e OK? So the idea of this writing or contemplation came from things I have read or seen printed on Jaco recently, but my point is
whether it is Jaco or yourself, it is what it is. We must deal with the moment. Everyone has an importance in this world. As Gandhi said: "Be the change you
wish to see in the world". Peace and Light. Brian Melvin. Oct. 17, 2005.
