(Toronto, ON) – This year would have marked the 50th birthday of guitar great Jeff Healey. The blues community gathered to celebrate his life and to raise money to support cancer research. Local musicians, as well as people from abroad, came to the legendary Massey Hall to honor his memory and share their personal stories of Healey.
The night started off with the talents of Philip Sayce, a welsh guitarist who played with Healey for four years. He started off the evening performing as a solo artist, then later accompanied by a bassist and drummer. Technical difficulties with the bass arose, and Sayce was forced to improvise while the situation got rectified. He joked about how he blew his amp during soundcheck, then started jamming on his own. He displayed enthusiasm and heartfelt soul into every note that he played. The crowd stood to their feet on numerous occasions based on his performance. Sayce was later accompanied by the Healey Alumni Band.
Changing the tone of the evening was award winning jazz / blues singer / songstress Shakura S’Aida. She filled the room with her incredibly booming voice. A performance filled with passion and feel, she delivered a top notch vocal performance.
Performing next was The Trews. Little did I know they were the house band at the club that Jeff Healey owned called Healey’s . Although the crowd did appreciate The Trews, I felt like they may have been a bit too current for the crowd in attendance, garnishing less enthusiasm from the audience. After their performance, bassist Jack Syperek could be seen in the audience watching the others perform.
Sonny Landreth, whom I personally wasn’t familiar with, really had me in awe with his interesting and diverse way of playing. I thoroughly appreciated his talent and the way he made his guitar sing.
New Jersey born blues rocker Walter Trout was next up. His animated playing, couple with his many facial expressions to accompany his songs made for an interesting performance.
The surprise guest for the evening was Randy Bachman. He opened his portion of the set with his hit song Taking Care of Business. A stand out moment for me came at this portion of the show. Bachman spoke about wanting to record a song, but have a guitar solo track performed by the late Healey overdubbed onto the song. At this point Jeff Healey’s personal guitar was brought forward to center stage and the band started the performance. As Healey’s guitar solo came to the forefront, the band stopped playing and gathered around the guitar and bowed down. It was a chilling moment revisiting the talents put forth by such a great guitarist gone to soon. Having the guitar there was sort of like having Healey’s spirit in the room, enjoying the party.
Guitarist Albert Lee traveled a long ways to play this show. Traversing the ocean from the UK to perform that night. He is known for this hybrid picking technique and finger style. He joked about performing last due to his age. Albert brought a country feel to his set.
Lastly, all the musicians gathered on stage to perform in unison, each taking a brief last moment to showcase their talents.
All photography is courtesy of on site photographer Mark Gommer. ©2016 Do NOT use without consent.
