Now, I am not really here to mourn the loss of this organization. I like to think I can follow various events in the jazz world, but until I came across this particular article I had never even heard of the IAJE. This, of course, may be exactly the problem. They were an organization with a goal of promoting jazz music across the country and I had never heard of them. Obviously they weren’t doing something right.

The article indicates that a major mistake seems to have been moving the organization back to Toronto from its location in New York. This reduced the audiences for their various sponsored events by more than half. They also apparently launched several ill-conceived campaigns that never really took off or succeeded on even a basic level.

I find that sort of sad. Jazz can be a very hard sell to people, especially the younger people of today. I know it was for me until I reached college. I think there is a lot of music out there that can be taught to young people and, in particular, aspiring young musicians. An organization that can promote and educate those people would be perfect. It would just be nice to have one that was run correctly.

I don’t exactly have an answer to the problem. The organization has filed for bankruptcy and the assets of the organization have been parceled to a trustee. What will become of the IAJE after that is unknown, but it seems likely to be gone forever. That means one less advocate or group of advocates for an important genre of music.

That’s never a good thing.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge

Jeff was born in Toronto to a firefighter father and he lost his eyes when he was only one.  Jeff had the rare eye cancer known as retinoblastoma.  This cost him to lose both eyes and be fitted with prosthetics.  Despite this, he soon took to playing the guitar.  He started playing at the tender age of three and developed his style, which would become his trademark, even then.

Jeff played the guitar by placing it across his lap.  So, even his acoustic guitar would be like a lap-steel slide guitar.  Jeff was a musical prodigy and formed his band Blue Direction at the age of 17. 

Jeff had released rock and roll albums, but his true hearts was in playing classic jazz.  He was known to sit in with various jazz bands in his hometown of Toronto.  His band even showed up in the movie “Road House.”  Shortly after that he signed with Arista Records and released the album “See the Light” with the hit “Angel Eyes” and the album won numerous awards.

Healey eventually released CDs in the traditional jazz genre he so loved.  He also amassed a collection of over 25,000 78 rpm records.  Although known as a guitar player he also played trumpet and clarinet.  He also hosted a radio show for the Canadian Broadcasting Company called “My Kind of Jazz.”  He was planning on releasing his newest album “Mess of Blues” later this year.  Of course, the album will still be released, but with a pall of sadness now.

Jeff was hospitalized at St. Joseph’s Health Center in Toronto.  He died Sunday from the cancer that he had been battling since the age of one, the cancer having moved to other parts of his body.

So, the musical world is a little bit empiter out there.  Rest in peace Jeff Healey.

Post from: Jazz & Blues Lounge