Jeff Healey died yesterday. Loss is too meagre a word to describe the great hole that's opened in my musicscape. I happen to be one of those like Jeff who didn't just like but loved the jazz between 1920 and 1940,its infectious spirit and lack of pretension, its sense of fun and delight in life, all attributes that have been eroded in the modern era. I always jotted down his playlists so I could try and track down some of gems he owned himself. Apart from Jeff's own ineffable style which brought back to life long past performers and tracks, his personal collection is what made My Kinda Jazz on 91 Jazz FM unique. And alas, like Jeff, irreplaceable.

Jeff let us know how ill he was over the past year in a casual rather offhand way. I guess I didn't really believe he was going to go until yesterday morning - i always listened to My Kinda Jazz at dawn on Sunday -- when he described some of the punk effects of the drugs he was taking. But it was soon swept aside by the music -- the program was like tracking the progress of a balloon -- first he had the music firmly in hand and then the joyful sexy beat got away from him and it soared into the stratosphere.

A dissonant note. The obits today gave Jeff's gig on 91 Jazz FM short shrift. The CBC which once broadcast My Kinda Jazz never mentioned that the show was going strong on 91 Jazz FM when he died. How incredibly meanspirited. And what a smallminded way to treat a great Canadian musician and his fans.

The little Flemish town of Geraardsbergen was founded in 1068 and its residents are proud of its traditions which include an annual rite of swallowing tiny live fish in red wine. Now the animal rights activists which place the health of fish over the health and culture of people is trying to stop it......for full story go to....

ihthttp://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/02/europe/fish.php