Randy Bachman shared a genuine affinity with the late, great Toronto guitarist Jeff Healey, who passed away March 2 at the age of 41 after battling cancer.

Particularly since the two rock guitarists -- Bachman famously with The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive; Healey a blind prodigy who taught himself to play with the guitar on his lap -- ventured into jazz later in their careers.

"I just kind of fell in love with his exuberance for life and music and playing guitars and then later on we discovered we both had a hidden love of jazz," said Bachman, 64, who is honoured to be part of tonight's all-star rock and blues tribute to Healey at the Sound Academy leading up to a second show, a jazz tribute, tomorrow afternoon at Healey's Roadhouse.

"He did his Jazz Wizards and I did my Jazz Thing. We both had radio shows where we were doing that just for the love of doing it and really connected on that level."

In fact, Healey filled in for one of the missing members of New Guitar Summit, who recorded 2007's Jazz Thing II with Bachman, during a few warmup gigs at the Gibson Guitar showroom in Toronto and at Massey Hall last May. Both were recorded live for Bachman's Vinyl Tap CBC-radio show.

"When Jeff took his turn and did his songs he stole the show," said Bachman. "I would be sitting there with Jeff warming up and you play your little licks and he would play the same licks except he's playing it flat on his lap and he can't see and he's doing the same thing. You'd think, 'I've just discovered this lick and it's so fabulous,' and he plays it like he's been playing it for 20 years, you know what I mean? He knew he was good but he wasn't pompous about it. He knew he had this gift and this blessing and he just lived it all the time."

Bachman met up with Healey again at a London concert at the Carling Academy last June that was also recorded live.

"All through this time of him playing on my show, and my playing on his, I knew he had this health issue problem but he never complained, he never moaned, and groaned about it. He just exuded positiveness and joy until the very end. He was a wonderful guy."

In fact, Bachman has about three or four nights of recorded music with Healey that he would love to release it along with the Carling Academy performance with the proceeds going to the Healey family and their established cancer fund.

When they weren't playing the odd show together, the two musicians primarily kept in touch via e-mail, with Bachman based on Saltspring Island, B.C.

"We really liked each other, (it was) like a brotherhood thing between us," said Bachman, who said he and his wife were reduced to tears upon hearing the news of Healey's death of CBC radio. "I feel such a void. He was a real wonderful spirit."

Bachman initially wanted to perform at both Healey tribute concerts this weekend but so many people were vying to be on each bill that he was selected for the rock show.

Also playing tonight is Jeff Healey's Jazz Wizards and Jeff Healey's Blues Band, the latter backing the likes of Bachman, Alan Frew, Alannah Myles, Blue Rodeo, Colin James, David Wilcox, Jack Bruce of Cream, Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, and followed by an all-star finale.

"When I played with Jeff, I would go wanting to play the blues and he'd say, 'No, no, no. I want to play American Woman. I want to play Takin' Care Of Business. I want Ain't Seen Nothing Yet. Even his bandleader e-mailed me and said, ''Jeff would really want you to come and be Randy Bachman and play your songs, so come and play your milestone songs.' So that's what I'm going to be doing."

HEALEY HIGHLIGHTS

* Jeff Healey was only three years old when he started to play guitar.

* At 17, Healey put together a four-piece band, the Blue Direction, and was playing cover tunes in clubs around Toronto. Later, he met bassist Joe Rockman and drummer Tom Stephen, forming the Jeff Healey Band. Regular gigs at Grossman's Tavern and the famed blues club Albert's Hall, where Healey was spotted by the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert Collins, led to even bigger success.

* The Jeff Healey Band signed to Arista Records in 1988, releasing it's first album, See The Light, which featured the hit single Angel Eyes and a cover of the Freddie King blues classic Hideaway, which was nominated for a best-instrumental Grammy Award.

* At the same time, the band was also filming and recording for the soundtrack of the 1989 Patrick Swayze film Road House, a huge career booster. In 1990 the band won the entertainer of the year Juno Award.

* The Jeff Healey Band was a sellout act across Canada and sold over a million albums in the U.S. market. Hits included How Long Can a Man Be Strong and a cover of The Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps, with George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on backing vocals and acoustic guitar.

* Healey sat in and toured with many legendary performers, including SRV, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton and Ian Gillan.

* Later in his career, Healey branched into jazz, especially from the golden era of the 1920s and '30s. Healey played trumpet during live performances and released several jazz CDs.

* He hosted the CBC Radio program My Kind of Jazz, playing songs from his vast vintage jazz collection of some 25,000 78 rpm records. Healey also hosted a similar program on Toronto's CJRT-FM.

* At the time of Healey's death, his band The Jazz Wizards, had been planning to perform a series of shows in Britain, Germany and Holland in April 2008.