Date - 07/25/83

Venue - Word of Mouth Band, Idrettens Hus, Moldeee, Norway

The concert was at a place called Idrettens Hus which is a sports hall.  This concert with Jaco was the first concert the Molde Jazz festival ever had at this place. They have used it ever since.  In 1984 Miles Davis had a legendary concert there and in 1989 and 1999 Joe Zawinul had  outstanding concerts there too.

I remember this concert with Jaco very well.  The show started with a dark stage and Jaco standing alone at the front of the stage so you could hardly see him.  They started the show with Invitation and the sound system almost broke down. There was a lot of feedback and sound problems at the start, and after a couple of songs Jaco had a problem with his bass.  He took a screwdriver and bent the truss rod so the strings and the bridge fell off the instrument.  Jaco ran off the stage and the rest of the band stood there not knowing what to do.  Then Don Elias and the drummer took some percussion instruments and ran out to the audience and gave the audience instruments.  They made a real party together with the audience.  In later years after reading the book about Jaco, I think this stunt from Don Elias and Kenwood Dennard saved the concert.  After about 20 minutes, Jaco returned to the stage and the concert really took off and the rest of the concert was one of the best I have ever heard.  I met him some minutes after the concert and he gave me the strings that he used.  I still have the strings hanging on the wall besides my bass amp in my music room.