Рокко ЛаФаро: Жизнь и творчество джазового контрабасиста

American bassist (1936–1961)

Rocco Scott LaFaro (April 3, 1936 – July 6, 1961) was an American jazz double bassist known for his work with the Bill Evans Trio. LaFaro broke new ground on the instrument, developing a countermelodic style of accompaniment rather than playing traditional walking basslines, as well as virtuosity that was practically unmatched by any of his contemporaries. Despite his short career, he remains one of the most influential jazz bassists, and was ranked number 16 on Bass Player magazine's top 100 bass players of all time.

Lafaro was born in Newark, New Jersey, He took up double bass at 18 before entering college because learning a string instrument was required of music education majors. After three months at Ithaca College, he concentrated on bass. on State Street in downtown Ithaca.

Beginning in 1955, he was a member of the Buddy Morrow big band. He left that organization to work in Los Angeles. LaFaro spent most of his days practicing his instrument. He practiced from sheet music for the higher pitched clarinet to improve his facility with the upper register for bass. Fellow bassist Red Mitchell taught him how to pluck strings with both the index and middle fingers independently. For much of 1958, LaFaro was with pianist/vibraphonist Victor Feldman's band. In 1959, after working with trumpeter Chet Baker, bandleader Stan Kenton, vibraphonist Cal Tjader, and clarinetist Benny Goodman, LaFaro returned east and joined Bill Evans, who had recently left the Miles Davis Sextet. In June 1961, the Bill Evans trio began two weeks of performances at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The trio attracted attention for its style. The last day was recorded for two albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby.

LaFaro died in an automobile accident on July 6, 1961, in Seneca, New York, four days after accompanying Stan Getz at the Newport Jazz Festival. According to Paul Motian, the death of LaFaro left Bill Evans "numb with grief", "in a state of shock", and "like a ghost". Obsessively he played "I Loves You Porgy", a tune that had become synonymous with him and LaFaro. Evans stopped performing for several months.

LaFaro started his professional career playing a German made Mittenwald double bass but it was stolen in the spring of 1958. Shortly after, he acquired a bass made in 1825 in Concord, New Hampshire, by Abraham Prescott. The top of the instrument is a three piece plate of slab cut fir; the back is a two piece plate of moderately flamed maple with an ebony inlay at the center joint; the sides are made of matching maple. It has rolled corners on the bottom and very sloped shoulders on the top, making it easier to get in and out of thumb position. LaFaro continued to play this bass until his death. The bass was badly damaged in the automobile accident that killed him, but was eventually restored and is sporadically used in performance to honor LaFaro. Bill Evans said of LaFaro's Prescott bass: "It had a marvelous sustaining and resonating quality. He would be playing in the hotel room and hit a quadruple stop that was a harmonious sound, and then set the bass on its side and it seemed the sound just rang and rang for so long."

In 1988, Insights label of RVC Corporation in Japan released Memories for Scotty. The album included five tracks recorded in New York City during 1961 with pianist Don Friedman and drummer Pete LaRoca. In 2009, Resonance Records reissued five tracks from Memories for Scotty on Pieces of Jade, together with twenty two minutes of LaFaro and Bill Evans practising "My Foolish Heart" during a rehearsal in 1960. Also in 2009, Helene LaFaro Fernandez' biography of her brother Scott, titled Jade Visions, was published by the University of North Texas Press, with an extensive discography.