Jeff Ament     Jeff Ament’s (the brilliant bassist for Pearl Jam), arrival on the music scene began sometime before the formation of Pearl Jam.  Born in Missoula, Montana, on March 10, 1963, he spent much of his young life, preparing for a career in music.  He discovered the wonder of electric guitars at just 5, listening to collections of his uncle’s Santana & Beatles records, before building a collection of his own.  He grew fond of R&B and Motown hits, thus persuading his father to buy him a bass guitar. Music wasn’t Jeff’s only talent.  At High School, he was quite the basketballer, with quite a knack for shooting hoops.  Talented as he was, for a while it looked as though he may even consider pursuing a career in professional basketball.    But then he discovered Iron Maiden, which changed everything.   He became intrigued by  bassist Steve Harris, & listening to his playing quickly made him pick up his old guitar, & start over. He pursued an art degree at the Univeristy of Montana & was all set to use his creative skills for a design career.  However, his need for self-expression conflicted with that of his teachers, so he dropped out of uni, leaving him free to pursue his love of music.  In 1982, he upped & headed for none other than the infamous home of grunge, Seattle.  It was there, he supported his musical aspirations by working in a coffee house. He put his talent to good use with a garage band called Deranged Diction for a while, before joining the newly formed Green River, which would begin his prosperous career in music.  A mixture of punk-metal & Bohemian lyricism, led by Mark Arm they soon permiated themselves into the local club scene, followed by the release of their debut recording on the compilation album Deep Six.  Soon after, the band acquired a new addition, a lead guitarist - enter - Stone Gossard. With Stone, Jeff  found his perfect musical companion or soulmate. Though  Stone had a very different background, coming from a wealthy family, they both harboured a love for music of the late 70’s,  and also classic R&B.  They formed a remarkable working relationship, sparking wonderful creativeness and brilliant chemistry. Soon after Stone joined the band, they scored a record deal which led to the release of their EP come On Down.  The released further material under the record label Sub Pop. As many internal contradictions regarding ethics and idea clashes occurred within the band, they soon split in early 1988. Jeff, with Stone began a new project, Mother love Bone, which included Jeff, Stone, Bruce Fairweather, Greg Gilmore and the infamous singer Andrew Wood.  They were likened to Gun’s ‘n’ Roses, but their vibe was a little different.  They quickly caught the attention of major record labels, and released the EP Shine, before beginning work for their next album. Tragically, a week before the album release, Wood died of a heroin overdose at 24.  This threw the band members into a state of shock & chaos.  In June 1990,  Jeff joined Stone & Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell  & Matt Cameron, and Stone’s old school friend Mike McCready in recording a tribute to Andrew Wood, which led to the recording of Temple of the Dog. Jeff, Stone, Mike & new recruit dave Krusen began lying down some of their own demo’s, and were looking for a singer, which they were fortunate enough to find - enter - Eddie Vedder, which laid the foundations for the formation of Pearl Jam.