In September of 2006, I attended a concert honoring jazz historian Richard Sudhalter with Jeff Healey on the bill, only vaguely aware of Healey's pop music history and ignorant of his lifelong fascination with jazz performers of the 1920s and 1930s. His remarkable laptop guitar playing (strongly influenced by Eddie Lang and other early jazz masters) and heartfelt singing of Tin Pan Alley hits made me an instant Jeff Healey fan; seeing him pick up a trumpet and blowing Louis Armstrong-inspired choruses only added to my amazement.

Beautiful Noise was taped earlier that year for a Canadian TV program, and captures a live set by Healey and his working octet of jazz players. Reeman Christopher Plock's booming bass saxophone recalls the sound of '20s jazz ensembles; he has a striking Roland Kirk-esque moment on "Sugar Blues," simutaneously playing soprano and alto sax. Other highlights include violinist Drew Jurecka recalling Joe Venuti on "Wild Cat," performed in duo with the leader; Terra Hazelton, the band's blues diva, lays the double entendres thick on "Long John;" and, ofcourse, Healey demonstrating his multiple talents. He excels as a vocal balladeer on "If I Had You," which also contains an inspired trumpet solo. Healey's premature death, barely two years after this performance, was a tragedy for all lovers of swing.

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Where his albums with the Jazz Wizards were sometimes more enthusiastic than authentic, this disc – recorded mostly with Healey overdubbing himself on guitars, trumpet and voice – gets the details precisely right, from his perfectly shaded crooning in Time on My Hands to the exquisitely swinging rhythm guitar underpinning I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. And while Ross Wooldridge’s piano cameos are occasionally too florid for my taste, the contributions of the album’s other guest, violinist Drew Jurecka, are time-machine perfect. (less)

CD review: Jeff Healey's guitar legacy shines through in Songs From The Road

Jeff Healey wore many musical hats during his brief life - band leader, singer, radio DJ, nightclub owner, trumpeter and clarinetist.

But the blind musician will be remembered best for playing searing guitar on his lap, looking like a pedal steel guitar man gone mad. 

Songs from the Road (Stony Plain Records) captures Healey's gift for energizing rock and blues tunes with powerful, sometimes blistering guitar work.

It's a talent that occasionally sneaks up on the listener.

Songs like his cover of the Beatles' Come Together and his own hit Angel Eyes start off sounding a little staid. Then the songs build, with the payoff of strong guitar solos.

Also deceptive are Healey's vocals, which occasionally sound a little tame. However, his voice booms out nicely on blues classics like (view Muddy Waters version) Hoochie Coochie Man  and  (view Rolling Stones/Robert Cray version) Stop Breaking Down.

There's also great harmonica work from Dave Murphy and fine guitar interplay with Dan Noordemeer and Healey on the latter song.

The two extra musicians also chip in vocals, with Murphy being particularly strong on Come Together. Adding to Healey's original trio format definitely helps throughout the CD. Guest guitarist Randy Bachman gives some extra jolt to Hoochie Coochie Man.

Other highlights are a powerful version of the Allman Brothers' Whipping Post and some great 'wah-wah' guitar on their take of Cream's White Room.

Drummer Al Webster and bassist Alec Fraser, who deserves credit for producing a fine array of songs. They were from concerts in Norway, London, England and Toronto.

Material somewhat resembles Healey's early career successes, which incuded millions in sales, two Grammy nominations and performing with stars like B.B. King and George Harrison.

The ex-Beatle sang backing vocals and played acoustic guitar when Healey covered his hit While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Healey even appeared in the Patrick Swayze movie Roadhouse. Four of his band's tunes made the soundtrack, including a cover of the Doors' Roadhouse Blues. He later had a Toronto night spot named Jeff Healey's Roadhouse.

He eventually changed direction, recording three albums with Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards. Instead of guitar, Healey played trumpet and clarinet.

Healey owned between 25,000 and 35,000 78-rpm jazz records, using them for his program on JAZZ-FM.91.

Unfortunately, the cancer that blinded him (retinoblastoma) took Healey's life in March, 2008. He was 41.

Fans might find a little consolation in two albums released posthumously. Besides Songs from the Road, Mess of Blues was released last year.

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Jeff Healey's recent passing caused great sadness in the blues world and around the world. We were, perhaps, too used to having him around to appreciate his talents.

I saw him first in Toronto in 1985, when he was still unknown outside his home city. They brought him up on stage to play for a flabbergasted Albert Collins. It wasn't just his unique style, playing the guitar on his lap with a combination of pulling and plucking the strings, that surprised so many. It was also the fact that he was so good at it. My last encounter with Jeff was as the emcee for his show at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, leading his greatest love, his pre-Second World War era jazz band. He made it look so easy, and was so unassuming, you had to remind yourself of how good he was.

Recent years saw Healey move away from the blues for lengthy stretches of jazz, but he never stayed away for long. It remained his bread and butter, as concert requests continued to come in overseas and at home.

Plus, he had his Toronto namesake bar, which thrived when its famous owner was onstage. Healey put together a crack bar band for those gigs and figured he should document it on disc, as well. The result, planned long before his lost battle to cancer, is Mess Of Blues (Stony Plain).

Part live, mostly studio, it's made up of tracks Healey's group would wow the crowds with, playing for the fun of it and showing off a little, too. Much of the disc is party-trick material, familiar songs that make a bar crowd happy, especially with the new and exciting takes the group brings to them. You get a little Elvis, with Mess O' Blues, an old classic in Sittin' On Top Of The World, foot-stompin' fun with Jambalaya and Shake, Rattle & Roll, and curveball Canadian covers with Neil Young's Like a Hurricane and The Band's The Weight.

The album is what it was meant to be, a great night at the best roadhouse around. But Healey is gone. And what stands out for me is that I won't see this group, which was scheduled to play the Harvest this September, do these songs. Hearing them now, hearing him, I realize what I always took for granted: He is that good. Here are some of the most soaring live electric guitar solos you will ever need. They match the best players working today or in the past. His signature style may have been how he played the guitar, but what he played was amazing, too.

This last album will no doubt be my favourite blues album by Healey. Not bad, considering blues wasn't even his favourite music.

Bob Mersereau is a music writer and the arts reporter for CBC in New Brunswick.

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