Saw Jaco on Weather Report's Birdland tour @ the Uptown in KC. At the beginning of his long solo he doodled for a couple of minutes then walked over to these two side by side slave heads that had 2 big knobs each, & while holding a note with his left hand, in one sweeping motion wiped those 4 knobs all the way full. You not only heard it you felt it intensely. Then he proceeded to do his magic on the most incredible solo! So honored to have experienced that.
What a Brilliant Story, Tony! Asking Jaco, if you could play his Bass! Brilliant!😂 Amazing you were only 23, at the time, and fully accomplished! What a Career! I wish you Many More Years of Success! I'm glad RU-vid exists, where we can go and hear these types of stories nearly 40 years on! Cheers!
I saw The Firm in 85 in CT then 86 at Meadowlands. I met you Tony in 89(89) Blue Murder in Poughkeepsie NY- lol you guys were at a Pizza Place and you took the time to talk to fans after playing video games.. Can't wait for the book. Some of your Roy Harper appearance have made their way onto CD unofficially titled " Transmission Impossible- Jimmy Page". Thanks for the info- I have it on cassette!
Thank you for recalling that night for us Tony! Jaco was truly spectacular! I saw you twice with The Firm and you blew me away! I think you are an amazing and very underrated musician!!
Tony. I remember '84-'85 at the Boston gardens (the original venue), I saw you with the firm.you did the purple Haze riff and the audience flipped out! Great show by you, Paul, Chris, and pagey!
Thanks for sharing this story!!! Really enjoy listening to you talk about your adventures. Jimmy and Jaco in a small bar. NOw that is historic!!!! Jimmy was a session player for a few years so he has so much to draw on one forgets. I think you didn't even realize that being a little afraid for Jimmy. He seems to be a humble guy like you!!!
That’s awesome, I saw you guys for my 18th birthday the following day at the Capital Center Largo MD. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen in my life. Great 18th birthday. And who would’ve thought Jimmy played with Jaco the night before😮 wow Jaco jam was 38 years ago today
Thank you for sharing this amazing story! P.S. It's a shame all legendary clubs of NYC, including Lone Star, do not exist anymore... Thou I was lucky to see some amazing acts and unexpected jams there.
Wow! Fantastic orator, I promise to find your book. Blue Murder got me to this, I had no idea what a great singer you are. I played a guitar show with you and Reeves Gabriel in Florida, your article about fearlessness came soon after. I jammed with Jaco @ the Button South in Ft Lauderdale just before his passing, sadly he was in rough shape, I have a video. I loved Jaco and I thank God for you, carrying a torch and continuing an unbelievable career. Huge Blessings! Leroy
Thank you for these amazing words. Much appreciated. Yes it’s incredibly sad what happened to Jaco, but what a legacy and inspiration he gave us. I humbly carry his torch - or a spark of it! I’ve had an incredible journey, which God willing will continue as long as possible. Thanks for being there along the way.
Thank you Tony, for recounting that with so much warmth, grace, and humour. So many Jaco stories miss on those counts, and so many of Jaco's detractors fail to pick up on those qualities in the man and the music. You certainly do not.
I truly appreciate that. I have so much love, reverence and respect for Jaco and his legacy. Its easy to forget how powerful and profound Jaco’s influence was when he first hit the scene. He was and still remains a game changer in my eyes. 🙏🏻❤️
@@FretlessMonster I'm honoured that you would read that and reply! Thanks for keeping the fretless flame alive and bright. Our friend Jaco would certainly approve!
@@FretlessMonster I hope you didn't take it personally. SOME of my instruments......i tell every musician.... "TRY THIS PUPPY!" cuz I want everyone to try my cool instruments. (EX: I play 3/4 cuz full-size makes NO LOGICAL SENSE.) But I have a few instruments where I can't let any other musician play it, and not for sentimental reasons but rather because they're delicate or fragile or some other Practical reason. (Nevermind that other musicians have broken my gear DOZENS of times, sigh.)
I saw The Firm in Dayton Ohio, while partying in the parking lot, a limo drove by and i happened to notice WOW, that was Jimmy Page. Anyhow, he had that same flower shirt on as in the still shot on this video. AWESOME! Rock on !!!!
Wow! What a special moment. I'm sure it was a gift to everyone involved. Jaco knew no boundaries. If it was good he played it. Thank you for your story
Beautiful story , you seeing your bass idol and hooking him up with jimmy on total accident and making Jack’s probably dream come true and seeing how magic it can be , I think it is sweet that you have trouble sharing words , and even asked to touch his bass hehehe . But the best part is that you made a memory that not many will ever have , it’s beautiful beyond words 😊❤
It’s a very special memory. And having come to know the Pastorius family many years later, this was apparently a meaningful moment for Jaco also. None of knew that Jaco was struggling with mental health at the time. He was bipolar, and sadly would be gone just two years later. 🥲
@@FretlessMonster people now days are more understanding than people were than sadly , but the world lost an amazing bassist , ❤️ value and treasure the memories you made and the knowledge you gave him , the memory that he loved sharing with his family
What an amazing story, thank you for sharing! I absolutely loved the Firm! I was fortunate enough to see you play and you guys were amazing! You’re still one of my favorite bass players, Tony. Cheers!
What an absolutely great story! Jaco was from a different dimension - and I mean that in the best of ways. Playing or not playing, that had to be an absolute freakish thing to witness!
Thank you, Tony, for sharing this story and for being instrumental in getting two of my heroes, Jimmy and Jaco together. I only really got to know you and your work about 10 years ago. I love your friendly, genial style and your 'fretless monster' approach.
I agree. Love these war stories. It was fun war. Ha! I think most of we "Boomers" are realizing how lucky we were to grow up when,where and how we did! We simply hit one of history's greatest jackpots!
Thank you for sharing this story. You have genuine chops as a raconteur, I was seeing what you were saying. Still curious about what was played, and if they found some grooves. Jaco played with Jorma Kaukonen around that time, so I could see him adapting to Page and running down some blues songs. The fun you had still shows on your face. Bless you, sir!
I truly appreciate that. These stories are very meaningful to me. As are the people involved. I believe there are bootlegs of the evening, certainly of his jam with Jammy. Plus other sets around that time.
Wonderful! You got the chance to meet Jaco and for you it was surreal. I got to meet you and for me that was surreal. It was at a Thoroughbred Music guitar show in Clearwater Florida. You could not have been more gracious. Watched you play The Rain Song on fretless 5 string and I was mesmerized. Later that day you jammed with Reeves Gabrels. We, months later, had a phone conversation due to your Fender connection and again you were very patient with a fan. There is a saying- "don't meet your heroes", I ,however, have been very fortunate. Now, NEW BLUE MURDER!!!
Tony, I'm glad I stumbled on this video. I've been a Jaco fan for many years but also a Page fan as well. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. Cheers!
What a great story, Tony. I love your playing. The first time I heard The Firm, I'd never heard a bass style like yours. Wish I could play with you sometime.
Thank you Tony for telling us your story. Jaco, Jimmy, you, all influenced me. To hear that you all met, as well as in my own musical influence/experience, is really cool. If that makes any sense.
Thank you for that story Tony. I also love that video of you, David Gilmour and Kate Bush perfoming Running up that hill. 3 icons on stage together. Wow!
Hi Tony. thanks for a lovely story. a story all us bass players would have loved to experienced. Im a 77yr old bassist. been playing since 1962, both fretted and unfretted. The impact Jaco had throughout that time was amazing. Like you I remember hearing he had died and it really hit me so hard. I was in a theatre pit that night and I really had to pull myself together to finish the job. It was all such a sad event for all us players I wonder what he would be playing if still around today.?
Oh wow. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if I was playing at the time! Well done on keeping it together. Who knows. He was a shooting star
I’m glad I watched the whole video. It was truly enlightening as well as entertaining to me. I love those kinda stories man. Thanks for sharing Tony. 😊
Thanks' Tony! I enjoyed all your work on the Bass these past years starting with The Firm. Your the reason I picked up playing fretless! Wish you the best.
As I’ve said, you were awesome on that tour. Best live sound I’ve heard. (Never saw Rush live lol). Cool hearing the bassist who inspired me to go fretless talk about the bassist who inspired him to do the same. I’m a couple of years older than you but I never heard of Jaco until after I bought my fretless and was taking lessons and my teacher said “That’s a Jaco line” when I was doing a solo exercise. Life is funny that way.
i was also there that night , my guitar hero and friend kenny Gwynn was playing guitar with Jaco that night he played with Jaco often and jaco would come to play with Kenny at the inner circle bar on jane and west st in the village , Kenny TOTALLY IMPRESSED jimmy Paige that night as well by the way..he came to jam with kenny another time after that . Jaco was always amazing i got close to him and miss him . Kenny Gwyn Passed around the same time , so did butterfield and Rick Danko who also came to jam with kenny often
Great story, I wish I could have been there to witness the magic of the moment. Jaco used to come round to Berklee College of Muisc where I was going to school at this time. You would see him playing basketball at local playgrounds and also he would often come in and interrupt some ensemble classes, and ask if he could sit in and jam! There were stories of him being high at times. Still the legacy he left is huge and I was grateful to have been around him at this time! Soar on Jaco!
I Got to take a couple of lessons from Jaco in October and November of 85 at the drummers collective in NYC. Jaco was in good mental health at that point. Unfortunately it didn't last too long.
That is so fascinating that Tony didn't have a lot of knowledge of Led Zeppelin, when I started out three of the first songs I learned on bass were Led Zeppelin songs and that was a pretty common experience for most of us back in the mid eighties and worked through a good chunk of the Zeppelin catalog later.
Tony thanks for uploading this. Tony I had a chance to meet Jaco. But I was too scared to talk to him. Jaco and Jimmy two of my biggest musical influences on the stage at once. Mind-blowing!
@@FretlessMonster Jaco was playing at this place called Chuy’s Cho Cho in Tempe, Az. With his Word of Mouth band. It’s a small club. He walked right by my table to get to the stage. This is a place where you could talk to the guys after the gig. I was so close I could touch him. But I was too scared! This was in 1982 😁
What a great story, and very well told! I picked up the bass with Jaco as my inspiration...40 years later I still can't play 😂 However, I do try to introduce others to him to keep his memory alive. Truly one of the greats.
Thanks for sharing Tony your story.just surreal bro.Jaco,Jack Bruce and Stanley Clarke in my knowledge and love are my favourite bassist's ever.... respect 👍 always
Ciao Tony!! Jaco is God. But you.... you are one of my biggest heroes and one of the main reasons why I started to play fretless bass. You own an immense talent and a huge heart. Trive
By this show Jaco was at the end of his rope. The Weather Report didn't want anything to do with him, and he was couch-surfing between playing small gigs. He had run out of people to help him, not that he really wanted help. When he moved back to Florida, that was the end. Unemployable, it was only a matter of time. But I'm grateful for the short amount of time he was here. He certainly left an indelible legacy. Thanks for the story. I saw you with the Firm in Oakland and really enjoyed the show.
Thanks for that. Yes it’s very sad. Little was known about bipolar at that time. I believe he was attempting to escape the dark episodes of his condition with drink and drugs, which of course only made things worse. It’s heartbreaking really. But what a gift he left us! Cool that you saw the Firm. Magical days for me. 🙏🏻😊
@@FretlessMonster Hi Tony, thanks for the reply. Even if he had accepted the treatment he clearly needed, I think the best case scenario is a Syd Barrett-type of existence. Which if you consider it, wasn't that bad for him. Quick story, in 1988 I traveled to Jamaica with my ex and we were approached by a musician looking to sell his original reggae cassettes. The only catch is they were at his house about a 20 minute drive from Ocho Rios. This felt sketchy, but we hired a taxi for the drive to his modest bungalow. When we walked in we were treated to a glorious video of the Caribbean. He put on the cassette and cracked a few beers. But when we went into the main room, on the wall was only a single piece of art, the promotional picture of The Firm in the size of a massive poster. Full color, with all 4 of you. It was hilarious...instead of Bob Marley he chose The Firm! It was a good day!
What a wonderful story! I LOVE that you were the spark of this legendary event! I worked in NYC and used to walk past the Lonestar daily. I have a million memories of the first Firm tour and that MSG gig. In fact I was at the ARMS concert where Jimmy and Paul played Midnight Moonlight for the first time. It was a New York City song for me. The smells the feel was COMPLETELY NYC to this day! It was glorious! Sadly I encountered Jaco in one of his street sickness moments in those months... thank you for this story Tony!
Thanks for that. So cool you were right there at that moment. A unique time for sure. Probably never to return. Midnight Moonlight was the spark that led to The Firm. I have a special place in my heart for that song. Yes Jaco had more than his share of dark days. Very sad. But what a huge legacy he left us. He was a force of nature, a game changer 🙏🏻🤩
@@FretlessMonster indeed Jaco was! Such a seminal time for musical exploration as a fan... I cannot imagine what it was like as a musician! Love your work.
Thank You Tony for this And thank you for the harmonic slide Radioactive As a Guitarist wondering for 35 years (actually a quest ) to find out how that's done - I played a gig with a fretless guy and turned him on to you (picture me jumping up and down when I found out how you did that - I was gonna rip the frets outta one of my geetars Thank you Thank you And as a New Yorka The Lone Star was special
So I had a couple customers come into my framing shop in Sydney last Friday, wanting 42 framed works by Monday. Rock photos. I had no idea until we'd finished the job, but the lady photographer who turned up is Jimmy Page's daughter. My god, her work is truly amazing, and she's really lovely. I bought one, so I'm sort of over the moon this week :)
George!! So great to hear from you! You’re in the book. I’d love to be in contact with you again. Would you please send me a quick message here? fretlessmonster.com/contact
Thank you for this. I feel privileged to have seen you with The Firm. Everyone was playing well, but the concern amongst some of us fans was that Jimmy may have been past his prime (laughable, I know), and the concern only increased during your solo. I remember thinking "how the hell is Jimmy gonna follow this guy with his own solo". Needless to say, we all know Jimmy held his own, but you really blew people out of their seats. You were fantastic then, and you're still fantastic. Thank you, again, for sharing this story.
@@FretlessMonster it means so much that you've read and responded. Thank you. Much like your missed opportunity to tell Jaco your feelings, I didn't think I'd ever be able to tell you how impactful your playing is. After that show I had to do a lot of pre internet research to learn more and I was able to import a copy of "Whatever Happened To Jugula?" to the States a few years later.
@@FretlessMonster FUN FACT! YOU were the first Fretless bassist I ever heard, 1984 or whatever (the Firm), on the radio in Marlboro, Massivetwoshits, USSA! MY EARS heard your bass in the background and went, "WHAT'S GOING ON OVER THERE?? WHY does this bass player sound UNLIKE every other bass player?" I had an amazing FRETLESS RICKENBACKER (i weaponized that shit!) (I played it like RAMBO meets Chris Squire!) (I was melting radically cuz I like my music to disorient you!) --- got it for $450 at that tiny guitar shop on (OLD!) St. Marks in NYC! POLICE STOLE IT FROM ME last year in NH and the press and ACLU are all in bed with the local mobster cops so it was heartbreaking.
I was there too. It was a magical night. Jaco rose to the occasion to play a good show. So did Hiram. Jimmy and Jaco stuck to the blues mostly. I knew Jaco then and my feelings about the gig were different because I knew him.
These moments of your life are priceless man. Seeing legends play and in turn becoming one as well. If only we could video of everything from your brain for all the experiences 😁🎸🎶 Keep telling them!!
I listen this record for the first time 20 years ago when I started bass..as a Jaco and Led zep hardcore fan!! great story!! thank you Tony, youn're great!!
Great story Tony... it's clear to see Jaco meant a lot to you. And to not only see.. but actually get to meet and interact with him in that particularly unique setting, must have been mind blowing! Thank you.
@@FretlessMonster My father suffered from similar mental health ailments as Jaco did, but I didn’t understand the nature of his illness until I was well thirty years old. It’s very hard for people like them to get the help they need, and unfortunately, it’s not rare for them to die young and under tragic circumstances. Absurdly enough, if my father hadn’t been institutionalized for the last twenty years of his life, I’m convinced he would have met a violent and tragic end like Jaco did. Other than that, I love hearing stories about great musicians meeting each other and thoroughly enjoying the encounter, so I’m glad that you and Jimmy got to spend this seriously quality time together.
Great story man! Haha, you're the reason I pulled the frets out of two of my basses back in the day, and I think I played barefoot for a while as well. Great hearing you reminisce about things that happened when I was seeing you the way you saw Jaco. I would have been around 14 at the time this story took place, and can only imagine if I had walked into a little bar and seen you playing.
Great story! I only learned of the genius of Jaco after picking up the bass a few years ago. I'm looking for that Jaco and Jimmy video now. Thanks for posting this!
Great story! Thank you, Tony. You were so lucky to meet Jaco, he was a one-off for sure. FYI you were the first fretless player I ever heard. I was fifteen and had been playing rock bass for about two years. Radioactive came on the TV in the other room and I could hear your bass. I froze thinking what the F is this?? I dropped everything and ran to the TV. I had to see this amazing bass player with the amazing bass sound and style! It was so new and wonderful and fresh and interesting and fun. I watched MTV steady for weeks waiting for that video to come on again to watch you play. Thank you for broadening my musical palate and giving me new things to think about. That bass line is in my all time favorites list. Wouldn't you know it I ended up with spiked, blonde hair for two years. 😉
Amazing story! Thank you, Tony. I was / am a fan of the Firm and I also play bass (poorly). I saw The Firm in Detroit in 1985, I believe. What a great show. I think you have mad skills, great showmanship and taste.
Thanks for recalling that story so vividly of 2 legends jamming. Jaco would often finish his set by singing Fanny Mae but it must have been a special rendition that night!
Thanks for watching. Yes, Jimmy wanted to play a blues based tune and this was probably the closest thing. I didn’t know that Jaco usually closed the set with it. Very cool. An unforgettable evening.
Great story. I was smiling as I was living vicariously through you. What a great life you have lead, especially meeting and hearing Jaco in person - with Jimmy Page no less!!. Tragic story with Jaco's suffering and untimely and brutal ending.. Glad you were able to provide him with such a happy experience on this night. I think only bass players and extreme jazz aficionados really appreciate what a completely unique musician he was.
Thank you for that. You truly caught the spirit of what the video was about. He was a force of nature. A uniquely gifted musician. I was humbled in his presence. His demise was sad indeed, but what a legacy and inspiration he gave us. The real musicians and artists know who he is… as do a lot of the rock players. He was a rock star to us. 🤩🔥
Great story! I'm also very happy that it turned out to be such a great experience, as I understand it was unfortunately not the same for everyone in that stage of his life with all his problems.
