The richness of Jeff Healey's life is celebrated this weekend with the who's who of musicians performing razor sharp blues and timeless melodies of vintage jazz.
I have a feeling that Jeff is somewhere swaying, swinging and grinning along.
I first Jeff at age 21 backstage after one his great live rock and blues shows.
We talked about a possible interview for the Canadian music industry magazine The Music Scene. Knowing Jeff was a jazz enthusiast I told him I had recently acquired a Fletcher Henderson record at a flea market but couldn’t recall the title. Jeff was immediately curious to know what this title was.
The next day a warm dulcet tone graced my answering machine.
“Hi Coral. Jeff Healey here. I am not feeling so great. I wanted to take the train up and meet you somewhere in town because I like Kitchener, but I don’t think I will be able to make it. Would it be all right to do the interview at my place? Then you can see the rest of my jazz collection. Talk to you soon.”
That chat resulted in my first national cover story called Blues Power: At the Crossroads with Clive.
1988 was a banner year for The Jeff Healey Band. They signed with Clive Davis’ (Whitney Houston, Sly Stone, Janis Joplin) American record label Arista Records landing the deal of deals including complete control over any music released under Healey’s own RCA records deal in Canada.
The world will remember Jeff as one of the music’s finest guitar virtuosos touring the world with The Jeff Healey Band or in later years pursuing his great passion for of 20 and 30s jazz with his band The Jazz Wizards.
But I remember Jeff Healey as a soft spoken musicologist with a rampant wit, wise beyond his years. For a man who had been blind since the age of three, Jeff Healey had tremendous insight into music and life.
