RIP Jeff. Big Fan here. One of my favorite guitarists.
I actually got into his Jazz Fusion material first in 1976 when I was in high school. I was into that type of music at the time. Wired was my first album, then the earlier album Blow by Blow, then his other albums after that into the 80s and 90s.
I saw him live a couple of times. First with the "British are Coming" tour in 1983 with Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Paul Rodgers etc. Great great show at the Reunion Arena in Dallas. Later on with SRV in 1989, also a fantastic show. That was memorable. I didn't really listen to his early stuff till much later.