While Metal Allegiance jammed at their practice space the night before their Fallen Heroes gig in Anaheim, Calif., we had the chance to speak with legendary bassist Billy Sheehan. During our chat, we found out Sheehan had once jammed with bass icon Jaco Pastorius back in 1985.

Pastorius is Billy Sheehan’s pick for the greatest bassist of all time. A number of famous four-stringers would agree with the Mr. Big / The Winery Dogs musician, including Metallica’s Robert Trujillo, who co-produced the acclaimed Jaco documentary. After speaking about how Jaco made the fretless bass cool, Sheehan spoke about playing with Pastorius even before landing on the map as a member of David Lee Roth’s band.

“I was onstage with Jeff Berlin and Jaco Pastorius, we took a photo together,” Sheehan begins. “Me, Tim Bogert from Vanilla Fudge — another amazing bass player — Jaco, Jeff… the four of us together. It was like the first week I came to L.A. too, the summer of ’85. It was an outside show and we hung out, he was a wonderful guy too.”

Sheehan also gave slight criticism of the Jaco documentary’s direction. “I think, maybe, it might have concentrated on some eccentricities a little bit more than it could have, but then again, I couldn’t make a movie, so I think in the end it was a wonderful film, a great tribute to Jaco.”

Check out our chat with Billy Sheehan in the clip above. Check out the playlist below to watch Metal Allegiance’s Fallen Heroes gig in Anaheim!

Metal Allegiance’s Tribute to Fallen Heroes Live in Anaheim

See Billy Sheehan in the Top 66 Hard Rock + Metal Bassists of All Time

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