Silly Little Country

Jeff Healey's Roadhouse

I had the excellent fortune to be invited as a guest to the opening party for Jeff Healey's Roadhouse (the webpage is somewhat lacking at this point).
Now the name is a bit of a contradiction, in that Jeff Healey is best known for excellent jazz, and roadhouses are known for somewhat simpler music in general (forgetting the complication that Jeff Healey features in the movie 'Road House').
The gathering featured standard hors d'oeuvres and drinks, and some music. The opening act was a country performer I did not know, and I found it almost impossible to understand a single word she sang. Much of the audience were nonetheless entirely happy.

I do not like this - I am a diction fanatic, one of the reasons I think Karen Carpenter is one of the greatest singers I have ever heard. I thought it was the sound system, which seemed unlikely in a place with Jeff Healey's name on it, and I was able to ask one of the sound guys, standing right next to me, whether he could do anything with the amazing collection of controls in front of him,

that would make me able to make any sense of what the performer was doing. He shrugged, which I found discouraging. My belief in the technical source of the problem vanished when a guest artist was invited on stage and sang Ewan McColl's great 'Dirty Old Town', and every word he sang could be heard clearly.
In any case, there came a time finally in this gathering when Jeff Healey and the Jazz Wizards (was that their name) got up and started playing

and it was a magical change - what complete energetic and joyful music! I could listen for hours. (Well, I did not as I had to get to bed at a decent hour....)
Along the way our Mayorship had to make an appearance


- for some reason people from the stage referred to him as "our Mayor", with a bizarre emphasis on the "our". Well, he fooled me once but not twice and I certainly won't ever vote for him again, barring his undergoing a conversion like that of St. Paul. So the "our" goes only so far. But unlike Miller, Healey is a great ambassador for Toronto, and Richard Flohil,


a key player in this enterprise, looking thoughtful above, is a man I would cheer for!

UPDATE From Jeff Healey's Team:

Jeff Healey recovers from latest round of cancer surgery
Toronto guitarist, singer, bandleader, musicologist and radio host Jeff Healey is recovering well from major surgery to remove cancerous tissue from both lungs, which he underwent last week at a Toronto hospital.
Healey is no stranger to the disease, having gone under the knife no less than four times for cancer - first in his eyes as a child, in his left leg twice in the past 18
months, and now in his lungs.
His doctors, however, report a successful operation, catching the disease early as a result of diligent and regular testing.
Healey is expected to make a full recovery and will be back on his feet hosting his radio show on Monday nights at 91.1 Jazz FM in Toronto again in February. He also plans on getting back on stage at his brand new live music club, Jeff Healey's Roadhouse, which relocated in mid-December larger, more accessible premises at 56 Blue Jays Way, in the heart of downtown's entertainment area.
The internationally known musician has surprised doctors with his tenacity and speed of recovery after previous operations and fully intends to do so this time. "I'm stretching the definition of the word indestructible," quipped Jeff from his hospital bed three days after the operation.

posted by Alan Adamson @ 9:43 PM