The Jeff Healey Band
See The Light

Sometimes the obstacles in life seem insurmountable, yet there are people who have the strength to fight to achieve their goals and to outdo themselves. This can certainly be said of Jeff Healy.

Jeff Healey was an excellent guitarist who fired off blues solos non-stop, and who later discovered the allure of the trumpet and jazz. Nothing strange, you might say, yet Jeff was different from others, as at just one year old, the musician fell ill and had to have his eyes removed, leaving him completely blind. But Jeff had an enormous willpower from a young age, so much so that at three, he picked up a guitar for the first time, becoming so fascinated by it that three years later he was already able to play in front of an audience. By seventeen, Healey was playing in almost every venue in his hometown of Toronto, shady places from which he managed to reel in a drummer, Tom Stephen, and a bassist, Joe Rockman, and formed his band, which gradually became more and more well-known in the area. In 1988, the Jeff Healey Band was discovered by none other than Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose bloody blues was a point of extreme inspiration for Healey & Co. From that moment, the career began to take off, recording the first album "See The Light" on behalf of a small record label.

Jeff Healey's technique was very particular: he laid the guitar on his knees and played it with the fingers of both hands, creating a very surprising and astonishing effect, especially to the eyes of those who see his videos for the first time.

Listening to the albums from this splendid "See The Light", you would never say that Jeff was not able to see what he played; the album, dated 1988, is a unique sequence of strong sounds, an overwhelming parade of notes played with grit to make his blues scratchy. A perfect example of this grit is "Nice Problem to Have", a legendary instrumental double-guitar blues, and the historic cover of John Mayall's "Hideaway", rearranged in a slightly more modern key. And if Jeff’s guitar riffs give you goosebumps, his voice is no less. Warm, deep, and delicately husky, a right combination capable of moving anyone when heard in songs like "River Of No Return" or the intense, tear-jerking, and charged "Angel Eyes".

The Jeff Healey Band gives its best with the more compact pieces, where guitar, bass, drums, and voice intersect naturally to create a determined bluesy rock: "Someday Someway", "Confidence Man", "My Little Girl" are the most characteristic. A separate note must also be made on the title track, as "See The Light" is the absolute best and most fast-paced track on the album, one of those songs that should be remembered when making charts or compilations, and which gets systematically forgotten. Jeff's ability to make his six-string sing and cry is impressive.

Unfortunately, on March 8th of this year, Jeff Healey left this world, his fans, and his family following the reappearance of the cancer that had made him blind in his childhood years. "...Can You See The Light?" he sang of the light without being able to see it, making it shine only through his immense talent.