The Beautiful, Magical
Spell Of The Bass:
Jaco Pastorius × Thundercat
The bass was never meant to be present. It lived underneath, carrying the song while everyone else took stage.
Jaco Pastorius changed that. He pulled the bass into the foreground, making it restless, melodic and impossible to ignore. The instrument stopped simply holding everything together and began speaking with a voice of its own.
Four decades later, Thundercat took that freedom somewhere stranger, folding virtuosity into funk, soul and heartbreak. The language had changed, but the possibility Jaco opened remained.
This session places those two bass worlds in the same room. Not as a straight line of influence, but as two different answers to the same question: what happens when an instrument that used to sit at the back of the band decides to break loose?
We will listen from there.
What is a Softerfields listening session like?
Small, seated and intentionally intimate. We usually work with rooms where the music can sit close to the people inside them, with just enough context before each section and very little interruption once the record begins.
You may notice that there are not many photographs from past sessions. That is deliberate. We prefer to document lightly and let most of the evening remain with the people who were actually there. A few images sometimes surface online, but the room comes first.
Do I need to know the music beforehand?
No. Some people arrive knowing the records well, others arrive with almost no context at all. Both are useful positions. The session is designed to open a way into the music rather than test how much you already know.
Can I come alone?
Yes. Many people do. There is no expectation to arrive with someone, introduce yourself to the room or perform socially. Come in, find a seat and stay as quiet or as open as you like.
Will there be talking throughout?
Very little. We introduce the context around the records and the ideas connecting them, but once the music begins, the room is allowed to settle into the listening.
The talking is there to open the door, not to fill the silence.
What should I expect from the room?
Low light, focused sound and a slower pace than most events. We try to keep the room relaxed and unforced.
Phones are fine before and after the programme, but during playback we prefer the room to stay mostly with the record.