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Jeff Healey: Seeing With The Eyes of Music!

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Blues guitarist Jeff Healey has overcome visual difficulties and demonstrated himself and his audience that his music transcends time, space and sight. He is a Canadian singer, born in Toronto, March 25, 1966. He lost his sight being just a baby, due to Retinoblastoma, a type of cancer that affected both of his eyes.

His father, an honorable firefighter, bought Jeff his first guitar at age three; this was the beginning of his path through the development of a unique style of playing the guitar and harmonizing it with the security of his voice. As a nice anecdote, Jeff Healey was never told how to manipulate or hold the guitar; in other words, he figured it out totally alone and this is how he increased his skills with it.

At age seventeen, Healey decided to form his own band; the members of this band, called “Blue Direction” at that time were: second guitar and schoolmate Rob Quail and bassist Ian McIntyre. They usually played covers at local bars and clubs in Toronto.

Soon, the band increased its popularity and Jeff was introduced to two new musicians and then colleagues: drummer Tom Stephen and bassist Joe Rockman; at this opportunity, Healey decided to form a trio next to them. Their first public performances were in a place called “The Robin’s Nest” and other prominent clubs in Toronto. Arista Records offered them to sign a contract in 1988 and they prepared to release the album “See The Light”.

Among the nominations and recognition for their work, it is worth mentioning the song “Hideaway”, nominated as the “best instrumental” for Grammy Award, in the year 1990.

Besides his works with the band and his colleagues, Healey always dreamt of releasing an album full of the taste and sounds of the golden American jazz era, 20’s and 30’s. Therefore, Jeff recorded two CDs where he brings together the magic of those years with his unique style.

Jeff Healey represents The Canadian National Institute for the Blind since 1993 and participates actively in the charity activities held by this important institution.




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