Tom 1960 Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Just found this sad news in my inbox : Jeff Healey, arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time, died today (Sunday March 2) in St. Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto. He was 41, and leaves his wife, Cristie, daughter Rachel (13) and son Derek (three), as well as his father and step-mother, Bud and Rose Healey, and sisters Laura and Linda. Funeral and memorial arrangements are pending. Robbed of his sight as a baby due to a rare form of cancer, retino blastoma, and he started to play guitar when he was three, holding the instrument unconventionally across his lap. He formed his first band at 17, but soon formed a trio which was named the Jeff Healey Band. After his appearance in the movie Road House, he was signed to Arista records, and in 1988 released the Grammy-nominated album See the Light, which included a major hit single, Angel Eyes. He earned a Juno Award in 1990 as Entertainer of the Year. Two more albums emerged on Arista, with lessening success as the ’90s passed. Various “best-of” and live packages were released, and he recorded two more rock albums, before turning to his real love, classic American jazz from the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s. By then, however, Healey was an internationally-known star who had played with dozens of musicians, including B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and recorded with George Harrison. Mark Knopfler and the late blues legend, Jimmy Rogers. A family man with a three-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter he preferred to stay close to home. “I’ve traveled widely before — been there and done that,” he told friends, determined to avoid the lengthy, exhausting tours that marked his life in his twenties and early thirties. A long-running CBC Radio series saw him in the role of disc jockey — My Kinda Jazz was a staple for a while, but in recent years he had hosted a programme with a similar name on Jazz-FM in Toronto. A highlight of his broadcasts was always the use of rare — and rarely heard — music from his 30,000-plus collection of 78-rpm records. As his rock career wound down as the millennium came, he recorded a series of three album of early jazz, playing trumpet as well as acoustic guitar in a band he called Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards. The most recent was It’s Tight Like That, recorded live at Hugh’s Room in Toronto in 2005, with British jazz legend Chris Barber as guest star. At the time of his death he was about to see the release of his first rock/blues album in eight years, Mess of Blues, which is being released in Europe on March 20, and in Canada and the U.S. on April 22. The album was the result of a joint agreement between the German label, Ruf Records, and Stony Plain, the independent Edmonton-based label that has released his three jazz CDs. Mess of Blues was recorded in studios in Toronto, with two cuts recorded at the Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse in Toronto and two at a concert in London England. The backup group on the upcoming CD — the Healey’s House Band — played with him regularly at the downtown Roadhouse, and at a previous club bearing his name in the Queen-Bathurst area. Early last year, Healey underwent surgery to remove cancerous tissue from his legs, and later from both lungs; aggressive radiation treatments and chemotherapy, however, failed to halt the spread of the disease. Despite his battle with cancer, he undertook frequent tours across Canada with both his blues-based band and his jazz group; he was set for a major tour in Germany and the U.K. and was to be a guest on the BBC’s famed Jools Holland Show in April. Remembered by his musicians — and his audiences — for his wry sense of humour as well as his musical playfulness, Healey was a unique musician who bridged different genres with ease and assurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Did not even know that he was sick, i saw him play trumpet on a outside venue at the Jazz fest few years ago, loved his version of the John Hiatt song, very sad indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Jesus Christ. That's awful news. Rest in peace, Jeff. I think the first time I encountered him was a video of him playing some nifty laptop blues guitar which was in heavy rotation on MuchMusic. But he's most familiar to me for his radio work, as a conoisseur of early jazz & blues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Sad to hear, Jeff was far too young. Rest in Peace. Sad for his children to lose their father while they're so young as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow, that is sad! Leaving behind a family like that breaks my heart. Never heard of his jazz band or records. Anyone else hear them and have opinions? RIP regardless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Jazz wise i heard him once and i can't say that i was really impressed by his skills on the trumpet, gotta say he just started doing that stuff maybe he improved as he worked on it, imo he was a very fine blues guitar player, however he seemed to have a ball playing this stuff and in the end it's all that matters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregK Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow. I had no idea he was that sick. I spent the first money I earned (in high school, painting part of a girlfriend's parents' house) on that first record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Saw this posted on another board, but it's worth repeating: SRV and Jeff Healey - Look at Little Sister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quincy Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Fucking cancer. Thanks for the link Aggie, one hell of a tribute. R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregN Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBBCJ68mC4c He was a pistol of a blues rock player. RIP Jeff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 (edited) Tragic news - I also wasn't aware he was ill and had read about those up-coming tour plans. Lets not forget also the great work he's done assisting Mosaic Records with his collection of 78s and expertise on some of the early jazz box sets (for sure, a real expert when it came to early jazz). He will be missed - RIP. Edited March 3, 2008 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Globe and Mail obituary Jeff Healey RIP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Another Jazz Oracle Records partner gone, way too early. Damn. RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Odd that that Globe & Mail (really, Canadian Press) obit goes out of its way to avoid naming JAZZ-FM. Maybe there's a story there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted O'Reilly Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Odd that that Globe & Mail (really, Canadian Press) obit goes out of its way to avoid naming JAZZ-FM. Maybe there's a story there... And what do you think that story might be, Nate? Something 'content-oriented', perhaps? Jeff's passing is a sad loss for his family, friends and fans. And losing his knowledge is like watching a library burn down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 ..... Jeff's passing is a sad loss for his family, friends and fans. And losing his knowledge is like watching a library burn down. You got that right... I had no idea he was sick!!! Damn, a 13 year old and a 3 year old left behind! I really enjoyed the few cds that were put out on his Sensation label. They started with Vol. 5 on Annette Hanshaw, but only got to vol 7....God, can't believe those came out in 2000/2001!!! Just checked on Amazon, and you can't get them new or used right now. Rest in Peace Jeff..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 This is sad news. I knew he was sick again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Odd that that Globe & Mail (really, Canadian Press) obit goes out of its way to avoid naming JAZZ-FM. Maybe there's a story there... And what do you think that story might be, Nate? Something 'content-oriented', perhaps? Jeff's passing is a sad loss for his family, friends and fans. And losing his knowledge is like watching a library burn down. Hm, maybe if the article were signed I'd have a better idea what's going on there.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 this is a GREAT album!!! one of those that you keep playing over and over! here's the amazon.com review: Amazon.com Long before Jeff Healey burst onto the '80s blues-rock scene with an unorthodox lap-steel-like approach to conventional guitar and a flair for radio-friendly pop songs like "See the Light" and "Angel Eyes," he had a deep jones for 1920s and '30s jazz. His first major release in that vein, a live recording with his eight-piece Wizards and British jazz revivalist/trombonist Chris Barber as his guest, takes Louis Armstrong's historic Hot Five recordings and Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club band as its swinging twin axis of influences. Sure, the results aren't groundbreaking, yet they're authentic and fun, thanks to spirited performances and a selection of mostly playful uptempo chestnuts, including "Sing You Sinners," Georgia Tom Dorsey's suggestive title track, and Bessie Smith's "Keep It to Yourself." Barber's trombone solos are hale and raucous, but Healey's his own ringer, fretting elegant, classic guitar lines and pulling boisterous double duty on ebulliently squawking trumpet. --Ted Drozdowski here's the line-up: 1. Bugle Call Rag 2. Sing You Sinners 3. Basin Street Blues 4. Little Girl 5. Someday Sweetheart 6. Darktown Strutters Ball 7. Confessin' 8. Keep It To Yourself 9. Sheik Of Araby 10. Goin' Up The River 11. It's Tight Like That/Wipe 'Em Off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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