Jump to content

R.I.P. Jeff Healey


T-BONE

Recommended Posts

I loved this guy's playing! Huge loss to the blues rock world :o:(:crying:

 

 

 

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/AL...L9AsG0uWAoimxOg

 

 

 

jeff20healey20e1llvale6.jpg

 

 

 

Despite long battle with cancer, Jeff Healey's death still shocking, bandmate

 

 

TORONTO — Acclaimed jazz and rock guitarist Jeff Healey was remembered Sunday as a musician of rare ability who had a wicked sense of humour and a generous nature as fans and bandmates mourned his death at age 41, following a battle with cancer.

 

Bandmates of Canadian rock and jazz legend Jeff Healey were among those shocked by the news of his death Sunday.

 

Healey died Sunday evening in a Toronto hospital surrounded by family and a bandmate, Colin Bray.

 

Bray, the bass player with Jeff Healey's jazz Wizards and the frontman's long-time friend, said he and many others expected the guitarist to rally from this latest illness.

 

"I don't think any of us thought this was going to happen," Bray said in a telephone interview. "We just thought he was going to bounce back as he always does."

 

Healey had battled with cancer since the age of one when a rare form of retinal cancer known as Retinoblastoma claimed his eyesight.

 

Bray said Healey had been hospitalized for a week and that his advanced lung cancer made his final hours difficult.

 

Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumours from his lungs and leg.

 

Bray and fellow bandmate Gary Scriven remembered their frontman as not only a world-class musician but an incredibly strong person with the capacity to motivate those he worked with.

 

Scriven called Healey inspirational and praised the boundless enthusiasm that allowed him to continue performing live only four weeks before his death.

 

"He drew his strength from somewhere, I don't know where, but it spread among the band and flowed into the audience," Scriven said.

 

Healey rose to stardom as the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, a rock-oriented trio that garnered a Juno award, international acclaim and platinum record sales with the 1988 album "See the Light."

 

But Bray and Scriven said Healey's true love was jazz, the genre that dominated his last three albums with the Jazz Wizards.

 

Healey's guitar prowess was characterized by a unique playing-style that saw him lay the instrument across his lap.

 

It led him to share stages with such rock luminaries as George Harrison, Stevie Ray Vaughan and B.B. King, but Bray said jazz allowed him to exercise his other instrumental talents such as trumpet and drums.

 

Healey's love of jazz also led him to host radio shows on the CBC and a local Toronto station where he spun long-forgotten numbers from his personal collection of over 30,000 vinyl records.

 

But Bray said his "best friend" saw himself first and foremost as an entertainer and said Healey seemed to derive therapeutic benefits from playing live shows.

 

Recalling Healey's weakened condition at his final performance on Feb. 2 in Sarnia, Ont., Bray said Healey seemed to draw strength as the set progressed.

 

"At the end of it, I can't believe how much better he looked. It was like blood to him."

 

Healey's death came weeks before the release of his first rock album in eight years.

 

"Mess of Blues" is slated for a North American release on April 22.

 

Healey is backed on the album by the resident band at Jeff Healey's Roadhouse, the blues club he founded and named after a 1989 Patrick Swayze movie in which he appeared.

 

The album features two live tracks recorded in the last few months of his life.

 

The Grammy-nominated musician is survived by his wife Christie and two children; daughter Rachel, 13 and son Derek, 3.

 

Funeral and memorial arrangements have not yet been announced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a great loss. He will be missed. R.I.P. :crying: :crying:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew he had had a long fight with the big 'C', but I'm Shocked here - damn great guitarist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is very sad news !! His version of "While my Guitar gently weeps" is one of my alltime favourites.

 

You will be missed, R.I.P., Jeff !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That sucks! I just saw "Road House" on TV a couple of weeks ago... one of my fave movies... R.I.P. Jeff!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well respected and adored here in Canada. A true legend has passed on. He can now see how much he was loved and will be missed

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That sucks! I just saw "Road House" on TV a couple of weeks ago... one of my fave movies... R.I.P. Jeff!

 

 

I agree Man.. I have Roadhouse on DVD.. One of My all time favorite movies, and I did enjoy Him playing in that movie..

 

This does indeed suck......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • 2024 HH Donation Drive

    Please support Heavy Harmonies! The donations goal is the out-of-pocket expenses to run the main site and this board for calendar year 2024.



    26% of donation goal reached.
    Donate Sidebar by DevFuse
  • Posts

    • I was a pretty big fan. Nature Of The Beast is a killer song. Saw them with Dave Gleeson from the Screaming Jets singing and he did an amazing job, but pretty sure they have a new singer now  I recently went through the two most recent albums before this one and there were a couple of ok tracks, but mostly mid. Fun fact: I saw the Angels a couple of years before Doc died at the Middle hotel in Ferntree Gully and they seemed to hate each other. Pretty sure Doc said nothing to the crowd all night. Fun fact 2: when they were building the transit bar in Melbourne, a mate and I found a service elevator that went to the roof, which was under construction. After peeing off the roof, which is always fun, we realised that we could clearly hear the music 5 or 6 floors below from a DJ I think. He was playing Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again. We started yelling down the No Way Get Fucked, Fuck Off bit thinking we were hilarious. Then soon we noticed people looking up, and for some reason they seemed to be clearly hearing us. Another mate then called us to tell us security were on the way up the stairs so we took the service elevator down and managed to laugh it off. Stoopid drunk story I guess, but fun days.
    • Cheeky, getting your artwork in there. I wonder how you did that.  I like the vocal track on #1 and that'd be my pick. I personally don't dig the female versions of songs, because I'm not a female (yet?) and as these are songs written by ourselves I personally feel the best interpretation is an AI dude voice taking the place of your dude voice. 
    • Yeah, that's great but this is obviously an accomplished musician probably completely in control of this output... not done with Suno, I'd bet. There's definitely dudes out there who are perfectly capable of doing their own music, like this dude, but for whatever reason might not be able to put a project together, again, for whatever reason... but this definitely feels a lot more like AI feeling in the missing gaps for someone otherwise in complete control of what he wants.  Either way, it is very cool indeed.  As Darkstone says, I'm not sure paying is the way to get the best results. I'm also not saying it isn't, especially with other platforms that are not Suno. I think already knowing what you're doing, musically, is the best way to get best results, personally. Suno, for example, is just perfect for someone who might enjoy writing lyrics but is not in any way shape or form an accomplished (or even adequate, lol) musician.  But yeah, it's pretty cool for some fun. I'm not sure if you checked out my links above. Keeping them pretty quiet due to lyrical content, lol, but you might dig some of the stuff in my links. 'As the moment passes by' and 'I'll wait for you' are two of my personal faves. Along with 'Faith to fall.'
    • Yeah, musically it's what you want, but vocally... Maybe Alex should take some vocal lessons from Ken Tamplin. ;}
    • Your Eyes - Darkstone (2024) Two versions of my song number 6     https://suno.com/song/e8c1e85b-21ee-4d35-a64b-e786f00944d2   https://suno.com/song/9144c77a-bd7c-49c1-9508-f724d0832fdb
    • Yep, although I was never a massive fan.
    • Yes, celebrating their fifty years. There only two original members left in the band. Dusty might agree with me the Angels died when the original singer passed away.
    • It's just not the same without the Doc though...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.