September 21, 1987

It was about 25 years ago that we lost Jaco.  All I have to do to bring tears to my eyes - 25 years later - is think about Jaco or hear his music in my head.  My eyes sting with tears as I write this.

It is one of the most shameful facts regarding the place in which we live and the society that we have formed and tolerate, that Jaco - one of the most beautiful, revered, original and influential jazz players and composers of the last century - was beat to death outside a bar in Florida by a bouncer.

For that reason alone, I will detest Florida for the rest of my life.  No, it doesn't have to make sense.

Jaco changed everything.  For bass players, of course.  But for jazz, too.  His ability to propel music was extraordinary.  His raw emotion came through in each note played.  For perhaps the first time in any music form, the bass was a solo, up front instrument - and not just for a few bars near the end of the song.  Every note was a revelation.  His deep musical knowledge and breathtaking skills made him stand out in any group of musicians.  Equal to the saxes and trumpets in melodic ability and like the keyboard in being able to evolve complex chordal passages.  Lovely, ringing chords.  Full of lush complexity.  But his compositions may eventually be what people remember most.  They need to be played more.  Original and beautiful, each one like a jewel.

But really, is it possible to describe what Jaco means to jazz and to me?  No.  Of course not.  Not even close.  Not even if I go on for pages.  Not even if I had a Ph.D. in Jaco.  Really, you just need to hear him play.  Like right now.  It's easy to recall the growl of his fretless notes and crystalline chords and driving rhythms.  And I can feel the tears start up again.

Stars in my Eyes

Since Joe Sabin sent me a 6" mirror and Ross and I built it into a modest Newtonian Reflector telescope, I have been fooling around with the things here and there.  Finally, Craigslist provided me with the opportunity to snap up a modern, computerized GoTo telescope.  This is a Celestron C8 (Nexstar).  The tripod is around here somewhere...  It's primary mirror is 8" and it produces amazing images of the Moon, Planets, Stars, Nebula, Galaxies, Clusters, Binary Stars &c.  Since I live 2 blocks from Chicago, most nights I can only see the brighter of the possible objects.  But when I can get this out to a dark site, the light gathered by this instrument and conveyed to my eye will have been traveling for many millions of years.  Please say that last part slowly.  Traveling (at the speed of light) for Millions of Years.  Millions...

Dreamer Easy in the Chair that Really Fits You

All of the braces are  exactly 1/4" thick.  The X-brace will be exactly 0.600" tall at the joint.  Above, I am using my scraper plane to make the braces planed perfectly smooth - no rough spots to collect dust.  Also, I can creep up on the thickness easily.  Below, I am sanding one of the X-braces to a radius of 28'.  The top will have a slight dome, one that is flatter than the 16' radius of the back.  The dome makes the instrument stronger (think of the arch shape) and thus, better able to cope with changes in humidity and temperature.  The top won't cave in on the first humid day.  Stronger also means I can build lighter.  And lighter is louder and more responsive.

Now, classic guitars do not have an X-brace.  And since the classic guitar has lighter strings (nylon vs. steel) they are built with more delicate braces so as to be as efficient as possible.  It's all about using the power of the strings to drive the top - evenly across the frequency range of the instrument.  The lighter the braces are, the more the top can move, and thus move air.  However, if the braces are too light, the top cannot withstand the pull of the strings. 

 The above is something only I do, as far as I can tell.  Sanding always produces a curved surface.  After I sand in the radius, I take a short plane (a block plane is short enough to follow the curve) and make the gluing surface perfectly square and flat from side to side.  I want the entire brace to glue to the soundboard, not just some of it.

Here is the X-brace joint.  Perfect.  No wiggle.  This might be the most important joint on the whole instrument.  It is believed that the integrity of this joint dictates how sound propagates across the sound board.

The Chair in the Shadows

Marshall leaned over toward me and held out a photograph of a place outside of town.  The photograph looked new but the corners were a little ragged.  “Look,” he said, “and tell me what you see.”

“Well, there’s a chair on a patio.  It looks comfortable.  And it’s underneath a big rosebush or something.  Sorry, I don’t know about plants.”

“What else.”

“There is a stone wall, and a garden.  And it seems late in the day because of the colors and because the sun is low.”

“Good,” said Marshall.  “Keep going.”

“The shadows are long,” I said.  “Hey look.  The shadows.”

“Right.  The shadows.”

“They are going the wrong direction.”

Marshall said quietly, “Have you ever sat in that chair?  For any length of time?”

“No, I've got no reason to.”

“Well, don’t,” he said.  “Don’t do it.  It’s not for you out there.  In the shadows.”

“But they’re just shadows,” I said skeptically.  “Maybe they are some kind of reflection.  Or the picture is backwards.”

“Listen to yourself,” said Marshall, “that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Sometimes things don’t make sense,” I said.  “In fact, nothing makes sense, and you are at the top of the list.  Sheesh.”

Marshall just shook his head and pursed his lips.

“Besides," I said, "that farmer that sits out there seems to own the place.  I don’t want to bother him or anything.”

“Farmer?  What farmer?”

“You know, the old guy with the old-time sideburns.  I see him out there in the garden sometimes.”

Marshall looked at me steadily.  “There is no farmer.  Nobody lives near there.  Nobody tends the garden.  Not for all of the years I have been here.”

“What do you mean?  I saw the guy just two days ago with a big pair of clippers.  I remember, because he wouldn’t wave back at me when I passed by!”

“That garden belongs to the Satine sisters,” said Marshall slowly.  “They have owned that land for a long time and they live in town.  They never go out there.  They never get out of bed, see, because of the fever that came through town in '63.”  Marshall seemed to make up his mind about something and said quickly, “You listen to me, if you know what’s good for you, don’t go out there and don’t sit in the shadows.”  Then Marshall picked up and walked off like he was in a hurry and he never looked back.

“Honest officer, that is the last thing he said to me, word for word.  Now are you going to tell me where you found him or what?”



(Photo: Bob Drake)