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Trad to the bone >> Can-con icon Jeff Healey trumpets the virtues of his Jazz Wizards
Mirror: So
what can people expect? Jeff Healey:
They can expect traditional jazz and pop music, played in a traditional
jazz vein. Kind of late ’20s, ’30s and early ’40s type
stuff. M: You’re
playing trumpet as well as guitar in this band. Are people surprised
to see you yank out a horn? JH: Anybody
who’s worth their salt as a musician is able to dabble around with
instruments other than their main instrument. Music is music, no matter
what instrument it’s played on, and it’s good to have a concept
of how other instruments work. M: Does
your trumpet playing offer a different perspective on the way you approach
guitar, and vise versa? JH: Neither,
I’m a musician that just likes listening to good music. I play
piano, bass, harmonica, drums and some other brass but they don’t
really help each other. They’re just part of my musical interests. M: Are you
doing any original material? JH: No, when you have a catalogue of songs that numbers into the thousands from the time period we concentrate on, there is a ton of stuff you can do. I carry around about a thousand charts for different songs, so we just pick songs when we feel like playing them. We don’t have a standard set list. It’s not done to be analyzed and categorized, it’s made to be enjoyed and get the people up and dancing and just give people a good time. : At Upstairs
on Friday and Saturday, March 8–9, 10pm, $40
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Jeff
Healey’s name usually conjures up the image of guitar hero or Can-con
balladeer, but regular listeners of his CBC radio show know different.
A longtime collector of dusty, rare, traditional jazz records with a
wealth of knowledge on the subject, Healey is ready to show Montreal
the other side of his musical character, namely his Jazz Wizards project.
Armed with a revolving set list of traditional jazz songs, Healey’s
hoping to turn some people on to these standards and keeping his fingers
crossed that nobody in the audience screams out “Angel Eyes!”