You have probably noticed that I don't post much that resembles rock/pop/whatever. Most of it bores me. There are, however, a few vaguely-rock-type musicians who interest me. They are generally either virtuoso musicians (rare in rock), weirdos, or both. One who fits the bill is Les Claypool. Here he is, playing with an outfit he dubbed "Bastard Jazz," hence my inclusion in the Friday music series. Of course, there is more going on here. My Claypool fascination goes back many years. He is, in addition to being a Zappa-esque nutjob, one of the truly great bass players in the history of rock, and among the few rock bassists who can be considered good enough to be thought of as on a level with serious jazz bassists. He's astonishingly good. It's just that he's such a weirdo that people sometimes focus more on the weirdness than the virtuosity.
His rise to semi-prominence in the music industry, and the level of fame that got him the spot doing the theme to my beloved South Park, was with a band called "Primus." If you were a Primus fan in the 1990s, a real Primus fan... like, the kind who went to a show and knew the music, you would chant, "Primus sucks!" Why? It was an ironic in-joke. It was the 1990s. We were all assholes then. I just never grew out of it.
The thing is, those of us who chanted, "Primus sucks!," loved Primus. Beware of those who use the phrase, "CNN sucks!" That should go without saying.
Anyway, here's Les. I know, it's not really jazz, but what are you gonna do?