Sass Jordan recalls her rare opportunity to attend an intimate Tom Petty show

Sass Jordan always considered Tom Petty a huge musical influence, so she jumped at the chance to watch him rehearse back in the mid-1990s.

The husky-voiced Canadian rocker was invited by Howie Epstein, Petty’s late bass player, to swing by a cavernous Los Angeles soundstage where Petty and his band the Heartbreakers were banging out tour plans.

There with his friends and entourage, she listened as Petty charged through several songs.

“It was fascinating to watch the man I idolized conduct the band as he did,’’ Jordan recalled Tuesday after learning of Petty’s sudden death at the age of 66.

“He was one of the people that was lucky enough to speak for the common man — like Bruce Springsteen or Bob Dylan.’’

Tributes to Petty poured in following confirmation of his death Monday after suffering cardiac arrest at his Malibu home.

The singer of hits like “Refugee’’ and “Won’t Back Down’’ was credited with crossing the rock boundaries by winning approval from both music aficionados and casual FM radio listeners.

His uncanny ability to bridge both worlds always fascinated Jordan, but she never actually met him on that fateful rehearsal day. It’s left her to ruminate on some of his techniques.

“I don’t know how the guy came up with so many variations on three chords and made them all sound fresh, brilliant and new,’’ Jordan said.

“Simplicity is the most challenging ... the heart speaks through simplicity. In simplicity you have some of the most complex emotion.’’

Ewan Currie, lead singer of Saskatchewan band the Sheepdogs, sees Petty as an “effortless statesman’’ of rock music with rare mass appeal. He credited Petty’s ability to merge 1970s rock with a bit of the early 1980s punk spirit as one of his most admirable traits.

“There are certain artists where they’re not cult, they’re mass appeal yet everyone respects them at the same time,’’ he said.

“It seemed like it came very easy to Tom Petty.’’

While Petty is known almost exclusively for rock music, he played within those confines with a particular zeal.

Aside from his toe-tappers with the Heartbreakers, he also dabbled in an angsty duet “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’’ with Stevie Nicks and was a member of the Traveling Wilburys alongside Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

Petty recently played a number of Canadian shows as part of his band’s 40th anniversary tour, stopping in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa over the summer.