Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards

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JEFF HEALEY - BIO



Jeff Healey: An unusual, passionate, committed musician



Okay, two simple facts first:



Jeff Healey is arguably one of the most distinctive guitar players of our time.

The man who sold millions of hard blues/rock recordings is equally at ease, and always enthusiastic, playing the infectious, joyful pop music of the ’20s and ’30s that’s usually described as “traditional” or classic jazz.



Which means the Toronto-based musician has two bands, two musical lives — but not a trace of split personality! Now he has released a new CD, It‘s Tight Like That, on Canada’s internationally distributed label, Stony Plain.



A life in music: A quick summary



Healey’s story has been told before — but here’s the quick version:



Blind since early childhood, he picked up his first guitar when he was three, and began to play it flat across his lap, “accidentally” devising the revolutionary technique that became his signature style.



His parents — he was adopted at an early age — encouraged him in every way possible, and helped him discover the joy and the depth of early American music. He played his first gigs when he was six, and by his teens had played a variety of music in a number of different bands.



He had also begun to amass a formidable record collection — he now has well over 30,000 78-rpm records, in addition to thousands of CDs and tapes. He later created a CBC Radio show, which he named “My Kinda Jazz.” (The programme still continues today on Toronto’s 91.1 JazzFM station).



By 1985 he was playing — and singing — electric blues at Grossman’s, a happily seedy bar near Toronto’s Chinatown. Within two years, he was joining B.B. King on stage at a festival in Vancouver, had become friends with Stevie Ray Vaughan, made a series of demo recordings, and cut a deal with the Arista label, headed by the legendary Clive Davis.



The first record, See the Light, was released in 1988, and a starring-role in the movie Road House (opposite Patrick Swayze) gave his career an international lift. The first record also had one other element: A smash hit single — the John Hiatt/Fred Koller song “Angel Eyes,” (also covered by such hardcore country groups as New Grass Revival), marked by excellent and expressive vocals.



Two years later, a second album, Hell to Pay, was released, and this one featured guest appearances by two other great guitarists, George Harrison and Mark Knopfler. Alas, a third album, seen as a “new beginning” by Healey’s American record company was the beginning of the end of the Jeff Healey Band’s run, at least as far as recording was concerned.



Developing a new musical direction:



It was not, however, anywhere near the end of this determined artist’s recording career.



Working hard, he had learned a new instrument and became an accomplished trumpet player, modeling himself on his all-time musical hero, Louis Armstrong. Two superb traditional jazz albums followed: Among Friends was released in 2002 and Adventures in Jazzland came two years after. Both featured Jeff on guitar, trumpet, and valve trombone — and many of the musicians who came together to be renamed Jeff Healey and the Jazz Wizards. Both CDs were released independently and achieved modest distribution.



While forging a new musical direction, Healey took on other challenges, including the creation of a downtown Toronto club, Healeys, that has since presented hundreds of international and local artists, and which continues as one of the best live music venues in the city. Along the way he was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Letters degree by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.



The Jazz Wizards play at Healey’s every Saturday afternoon (unless they’re on the road) and each Thursday Jeff himself holds an informal jam with a variety of special guests. Usually (but by no means always) the musical menu is the sort of blues-based rock that initially gave Healey an international reputation.



And while Jeff’s musical focus with the Jazz Wizards is to bring the music of the past into the present, he is still asked to assemble bands to recreate the powerhouse blues to which he remains sentimentally attached. He undertakes tours in Europe two or three times a year, but he limits his road work for personal reasons. A family man with a one-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter he prefers to stay close to home. “I’ve traveled widely before — been there and done that,” he says, determined to avoid the lengthy, exhausting tours that marked his life in his twenties and early thirties.



Musically, his two lives seem to work well — if only because he has never been happier, or more enthusiastic about the music he loves. On stage, he remains a charismatic figure, at ease and always ready with a laugh, and his musical skills have matured in a way that he could not have imagined when he started his musical career.



A fascinating artist to watch — whether singing, playing guitar or trumpet — he’s at ease with his life, his audiences, and his music. Twenty years into his career, he does see a future, and it’s full of memorable music.



To Order Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards Merchandise



To mail order any of the following HealeyOphonic Records titles, please follow the instructions below:



Mail a cheque or money order in Canadian dollars for the appropriate amount made out to Jeff Healey at:



94 Castlefield Avenue, 3



Toronto, ON M4R 1G4



Canada



JEFF HEALEY - AMONG FRIENDS (2002)



JEFF HEALEY - ADVENTURES IN JAZZLAND (2004)



JEFF HEALEY & THE JAZZ WIZARDS - IT'S TIGHT LIKE THAT, featuring Chris Barber (2006)



JEFF HEALEY BAND - LIVE AT MONTREUX CD (recorded 1999, released 2006)



JEFF HEALEY BAND - LIVE AT MONTREUX DVD (recorded 1999, released 2006)



(for the DVD, we only have the North American system in stock but you may order European system copies online through HMV in England)



Please clearly indicate in your letter which album you are ordering along with your name, mailing address and a contact email address.



CDs are $20.00 CAD plus add in the following shipping and handling charges:



1 to 3 CDs within Canada: add $2.00 CAD



4 CDs or more within Canada: add $5.00 CAD



1 to 3 CDs within USA: add $4.00 CAD



4 CDs or more within USA: add $6.00 CAD



1 to 3 CDs anywhere outside US or Canada: add $5.00 CAD



4 CDs of more outside US or Canada: add $7.00 CAD