Beyond what made most people take notice of Jeff Healey back in 1988 — a blind guitarist that played with the instrument flat on his lap in an unusual overhand fretting style — is the fact that he was simply a fabulous player. Though his earliest and most successful albums, See The Light and Hell To Pay, tempered his blues core with glossier, pop friendly production and writing, his deep bucket of soul was obvious from the get go. But it seemed that he beat the blues revival to the punch, in a way, because as soon as people started trading in their pointy Jackson shredder guitars for Fender Stratocasters and vintage amps, as soon as the “Blues Fests” and “Blues Cruises” were gaining steam, Healey (of his own accord) was already quietly stepping out of the spotlight.

Mess Of Blues, Jeff Healey’s return to fire-breathing blues form after an almost decade long hiatus pursuing his love of early jazz, is both an inspiring and melancholy listening experience. Hearing a player as generally underappreciated as Healey tearing things up in this raw, mostly live setting is a pleasure for sure; but the fact that just days prior to the release of Mess Of Blues he lost his long battle with cancer inevitably puts things in a somewhat different light. The hallmarks of his style — fat overdriven tone, elastic bends and remarkable intensity — are all right there and in your face from the downbeat of “I’m Tore Down.” Obviously the time he’d spent playing trumpet with The Jazz Wizards didn’t do a bit of damage to his formidable guitar chops.

There’s none of the aforementioned glossiness to be found on Mess Of Blues, either. Healey’s backup band here was formed as the “house band” for his club in Toronto, and his goal to be “the best bar band one could possibly ask for” was obviously achieved by the time of the album’s recording. Bassist Alec Fraser takes the vocals on Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya,” and keyboardist Dave Murphy (who shines on most tracks with tasty, pocketed playing) leads his original tune, “It’s Only Money,” proving that Healey had no problem stepping back and supporting the players that supported him.

It’s the four live tracks here that stand out the most — two recorded in London at The Islington Academy and two from Jeff Healey’s Roadhouse. His tone on Neil Young’s “Like A Hurricane,” or any of the live tunes for that matter, is just on the verge of complete meltdown, crackling, corpulent and downright explosive. Hearing him reaching for notes that aren’t there near the end of the solo is a lesson in glorious, reckless abandon. “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” follows, with Healey craftily building his lines dynamically until all hell breaks loose, much to the delight of the audience lucky enough to have witnessed this gig up close and personal.

Mess Of Blues is a fitting closing statement and fine cross-section of the guitar-oriented part of Jeff Healey’s career, encompassing blues, rock, rockabilly and more into an all-too-short 51-minute running time. And I don’t think it’s just nostalgia or the sudden loss of such a talent that makes me want to spin the album several more times — I had just begun to play guitar when I first heard Healey, and even with my newbie ears I could tell there was something truly special in his playing. Whether his passing ignites a wave of new interest in his talents and body work or not, Mess Of Blues paints a vivid portrait of a musician joyously doing what he did best with a band that he loved, and that’s a beautiful thing in and of itself.

(Chris Cooper of Sylva plays and teaches guitar. He can be reached at thumpick43@yahoo.com.)