Rest in Peace, Jeff Healey. We shall miss you.

Well, the news is not new , but it took me and my brother by storm - Jeff Healey died on March 2nd.
I only read it now, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but that gives you guys an indication of how fucked up our country here is, we don't even see the passing of one of blues's legendary guitarists on the fucking news.

Rest in peace, my man. May you find your sight finally...

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Healey was raised in the city's west end. He was adopted as an infant^[2]; his adoptive father was a firefighter. Healey lost his sight when he was eight months old, due to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. His eyes had to be surgically removed, and he was given artificial replacements. After living cancer-free for 38 years, he subsequently developed sarcoma (an unrelated cancer) in his legs; despite surgery for this, the sarcoma spread to his lungs and ultimately killed him. He began playing guitar when he was three, developing his unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap.

When he was 17 he formed the band Blue Direction, a four-piece band which primarily played bar-band cover tunes. Among the other musicians were bassist Jeremy Littler, drummer Graydon Chapman, and a schoolmate, Rob Quail on second guitar. This band played various local clubs in Toronto, including the Colonial Tavern.

Shortly thereafter he was introduced to two musicians, bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen, with whom he formed a trio and made their first public appearance at The Birds Nest, located upstairs at Chicago's Diner on Queen Street West in Toronto. The new band received a write-up in Toronto's NOW magazine, and quickly were playing almost nightly in local clubs such as Grossman's Tavern and the famed blues club Albert's Hall (where Jeff Healey was discovered by guitar virtuosos Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins).

After being signed to Arista Records in 1988, the band released the album See The Light, featuring the hit single "Angel Eyes" and the song "Hideaway", which was nominated for a "Best Instrumental" Grammy Award. While the band was recording See The Light, they were also filming (and recording for the soundtrack of) the Patrick Swayze film Road House (1989 film). In 1990 the band won the "Entertainer of the Year" Juno Award. Other hits have included "How Long Can a Man Be Strong" and a cover of The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which also featured George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on acoustic guitar).

By the release of the 2000 album, "Get Me Some", Healey had grown weary of the world of rock music, and began to concentrate his considerable talents in a direction closer to his heart, hot jazz.

He went on to release three CDs of music from this true passion, traditional American jazz from the 1920s and 1930s. He was an avid record collector and amassed a collection of well over 30,000 78 rpm records and he had been sitting in with traditional jazz bands around Toronto since the beginning of his music career. Though known primarily as a guitarist, Healey also played trumpet and clarinet during live performances.

Healey had, from time to time, hosted a CBC Radio program entitled My Kind of Jazz, in which he played records from his vast vintage jazz collection. He hosted a program of the same name on Toronto station CJRT-FM, also known as JAZZ.FM91.

He had also been touring with his other group, 'The Jazz Wizards', playing the afore mentioned American 'hot' jazz. At the time of his death, they had been planning to perform a series of shows in Britain, Germany and Holland in April 2008.

For many years Healey performed at his club, Healey's on Bathurst Street in Toronto, where he played with a rock band on Thursday nights, and with his jazz group, on Saturday afternoons. The club moved to a bigger location at 56 Blue Jays Way and it was rechristened Jeff Healey's Roadhouse. (Though he had lent his name and often played there, Jeff Healey did not own or manage the bar.)

Over the years he toured and sat-in with many legendary performers, including, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, BB King, ZZ Top, Steve Lukather, Eric Clapton and many, many more. In 2006, Healey appeared on Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan's CD/DVD Gillan's Inn.

Healey discovered and helped develop the careers of other artists, including Amanda Marshall and Terra Hazelton.

On January 11, 2007, Healey underwent surgery to remove metastatic tissue from both lungs. In the previous eighteen months he had two sarcomas removed from his legs.

Healey was married to his wife Cristie with two children.

n March 2, 2008 Healey died of cancer at St. Joseph's Health Centre in his home town of Toronto; he was 41.

His death came a month before the release of his new album, Mess of Blues, which will be his first rock album in 8 years.

Discography


(1988) See the Light
Download [SOA] [45MB]



(1990) Hell to Pay
Download [SOA] [93MB]



(1992) Feel This
Download [SOA] [61MB]



(1995) Cover to Cover
Download [SOA] [45MB]



(2000) Get Me Some
Download [SOA] [49MB]



(2002) Among Friends
Download [SOA] [59MB]



(2004) Adventures in Jazzland
Download [SOA] [60MB]



(2006) It's Tight Like That [with Jazz Wizards]
Download [SOA] [62MB]



(2005) Live at Montreux - 1999
Download [SOA] [70MB]



(2008) Mess Of Blues
Download [BD] [119MB] by Marcelo (obrigado)

OU (link alternativo)
Download Part 1 [SB] [95MB]
Download Part 2 [SB] [16MB]


EXTRAS


Jeff Healey (1990) Live in Concert
Download [SOA] [65MB] by Miguelito, El Gran Chihuahua
Download [SOA] [56MB]


(1990) Live At The Electric Ladyland
Download [SOA] [42MB] by Miguelito, El Gran Chihuahua



(1990) Sound Barrier
Download [SOA] [71,7MB] by Miguelito, El Gran Chihuahua



VA (1989) Road House [soundtrack] NEW
Download [SOA] [57MB] by Bon Scott [a.k.a. The Nice Angel



(1991) Live at New York City [bootleg] NEW
Download [SB] [42MB] by Miguelito, El Gran Chihuahua