There are hundreds of eulogies going out to Jeff Healey today and rightly so. The guy was a marvel. Now only did he learn how to play incredible guitar - including Hendrix - he did it while he was blind and on a guitar played on his lap. I know there have been many blind guitarists but his was an incredible feat. Jeff died of cancer yesterday at the age of 41, too young by any standards.
In addition Jeff could sing and write songs. Angel Eyes is still one of the greatest love songs ever written, a song which made him a superstar in Canada. However, it took a Patrick Swayze movie, Road House, to endear him to Americans. No one who ever saw the movie could forget him playing behind a chicken-wire barricade while a brawl was going on below him.
Many people didn’t know he was a great jazz aficionados one of my favorite radio programs was Jeff’s My Kind of Jazz where he interviewed jazz greats and introduced us to selections from his 35,000+ collection of 78 rpm jazz records going back to the rare original acetates. He said on one of his shows that, next to the guitar, the trumpet was his favorite 
instrument - and he could play that too.
But how did he start? It is said that he taught himself to play at age 4, a year after he lost his sight to retinoblastoma. Sitting with his guitar across his thighs he played more like a virtuoso piano player than a guitarist running his fingers like two spiders along the whole length of the guitar from bridge to machine head. In 1982, the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughn saw him playing in a Toronto club and that was his big break.
He never lived to see the release of his new album, Mess of Blues, which is due out later this month. It will be a welcome addition to my stack.
Hi Kim,
I like what you wrote about Jeff. He was truly special. I saw him a long time ago (some time in the 90’s, can’t place the exact year) at a Canada Day show in Ottawa. Incredible.
I finally had a chance to come and see your blog today. I was chatting with James (Men with Pens) tonight about a bunch of stuff, and had thought back to his post about Tom Cochrane’s “Big League”.
There is a lot of music out there that speaks to me about life, and I’ll likely write a post or three soon about some songs I like and how we can learn from them. I’ll link back to the Tom Cochrane post, and I’ll probably link to your page too.
I remembered that you said you had twin boys, and that’s kind of cool that one of them has the same name as me.
Anyway - thanks for some great words.
Brett
Hey Kim, I had no idea that Jeff had passed from cancer, or that he was such a jazz afficionado.
It is sad that he was taken from us at such an early age.
One thing I find interesting, however, it that so many accomplished rock musicians have roots based in Jazz. So many rock fans may not be into the genre, but guy like Neil Peart, and Carter Beauford are all jazz guys.
Anyway, nice post, and keep up the great writing.
Mike
Hi Mike,
Jeff was also fond of the cornet, now a mostly overlooked brass instrument.
BTW: Nice drum site!