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So we went down to the Lone Star and started hanging out with him and his
band. But when Jaco would start to swing in the depression mode, he got really
self-destructive. Sometimes the depressive valleys would last for years. He had
his real high moments, but at the end of his life, he was in a really deep valley.
They tried togive him medications forit, butsufferers ofthis disease at that time
were self-medicating. They might drink tons of alcohol, which he was doing.
But he was pretty lucid when I met him in the guitar store. He was doing
these gigs, these legendary gigs at the Lone Star. He did four or five shows in a
row, advertised only by word of mouth, and they sold out big time. But the jazz
musicianswerealwaysintococaine,andwhenJacostarteddoingcokeanddrink-
ing a lot of booze, that started his decline, the out-of-control wild man thing was
common for him.
He was thirty-two when I met him. This was two years before he hit bottom
anddiedatthirty-four.SoIwitnessedhisdecline.Sowestartedhangingout,and
therewasalotofcocaineandalcoholaround.Hehadhisgirlfriend,thisGerman-
Japanese girl who was just as crazy as he was. He was not doing well financially
and he ended up getting thrown out of his room at the Chelsea and staying in my
room, sleeping on the floor!
One night, we went to see Paul Butterfield with Jaco. He got up and played
withthePaulButterfieldBluesBand.TheyplayedthisHendrixmedley.Jacowas
better than Hendrix, but had the same kind of strong hands and physicality with
the instrument that Hendrix had—only Jaco had it with the electric bass, an even
bigger instrument.
WhenIlistenedtothemplaythisHendrixmedley,Ithought,“MyGod,
that's
what a genius does!” I gained a wealth of knowledge from being around him and
understanding what it is that makes somebody that good.
Once I was giving a guitar lesson in my room, 220, and Jaco burst in, inter-
rupting the lesson. The guy I was giving the lesson to had never been around this
kind of whirlwind person. He said, “Listen, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later.”
Jaco felt really bad about screwing up the lesson. He'd been drinking and
was kind of crazy at the time. “I ruined your lesson. The least I can do is give
you a guitar lesson.” Not a bass lesson, but a guitar lesson. And he showed me
two songs. This is sort of the tradition with other musicians, we exchange songs.
You say, “Here's a song I know. You show me a song
you've
learned.” You learn
a lot about music that way. The two songs he taught me were “Blackbird” and
“Changes” by Buddy Miles. His technique and smoothness really had a major
impact on me and affected my playing for the rest of my life.
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