Jane Elizabeth Vasey (October 16, 1949 – July 7, 1982) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

player, best known for her years playing with the

Downchild Blues Band The Downchild Blues Band is a Canadian blues band, described by one reviewer as "the premier blues band in Canada". The band is still commonly known as the Downchild Blues Band, though the actual band name was shortened to "Downchild" in the ea ...

. Vasey played with the band from 1973 until her death, from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, on July 6, 1982.

Biography

Prior to joining the Downchild Blues Band, Vasey earned a Master's degree in Music from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924 or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician, whom many consider to be the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Miss ...

; one of her first recordings with the Downchild Blues Band was Otis Spann's "Must Have Been The Devil".Richard Flohill
Remembering Jane Vasey
. Toronto Blues Society newsletter, October, 1986, as reprinted by the Toronto Blues Society, 2000; www.torontobluessociety.com. Her song, "Trying To Keep Her 88s Straight" was considered to be a minor Canadian

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

in 1980. Vasey played on all of the singles released by the band. One of Vasey's last engagements was in January 1982, supporting

Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson (born Edward L. Vinson Jr.; December 18, 1917 – July 2, 1988) was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in which his hair was ...

, playing three sets per night over the course of a week at Toronto's Albert's Hall (above the Brunswick House Tavern), despite being weakened by illness. Vinson later described her as "one of the good ones". After her death, The Jane Vasey Memorial Scholarship was established at

Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrollment of 3375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon Co ...

, to sponsor

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

students. The scholarship fund was established by Vasey's late parents, Ross and Dorothy Vasey, as well as The Downchild Blues Band, and each year distributes scholarships to students in piano performance. The initial benefit performance in support of the scholarship fund occurred at the Brunswick Tavern, within weeks of her death. In addition to the Downchild Blues Band, such artists as

Sunnyland Slim Albert Luandrew (September 5, 1906March 17, 1995), "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give t ...

, John Hammond and David Wilcox appeared in support of the fund. The Downchild Blues Band continues to fund the scholarship through benefit performances. Vasey is buried at Brookside Cemetery, in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Discography (with Downchild Blues Band)

Singles

* 1973 "Flip, Flop And Fly" (#35 Can.) * 1974 "Flip, Flop And Fly" e-issue(Special) * 1974 "I've Got Everything I Need" (Almost) * 1974 "Tell Your Mother" (Special) (#54 Can.) * 1975 "Goin' Dancin" * 1976 "Old Ma Belle" (#67 Can.) * 1980 "I've Been A Fool" (

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

) * 1980 "Tryin' to Keep Her 88's Straight"/"Oh Oh" (Attic) (#71 Can.) * 1981 "Hey Hey Little Girl"/"Drivin' Blues" (Attic) * 1981 "Blood Run Hot"/"Coulda Had All Your Loving" (Attic)

Albums

* 1973 ''Straight Up ''(Special) * 1974 ''Dancin (Special) * 1975 ''Ready To Go'' (Special) * 1977 ''So Far'' (Posterity) * 1979 ''We Deliver'' (

) * 1980 ''Road Fever'' (Attic) * 1980 ''Double Header'' (Attic) * 1981 ''Blood Run Hot'' (with

Spencer Davis Spencer Davis (born Spencer David Nelson Davies; 17 July 193919 October 2020) was a Welsh singer and musician. He founded The Spencer Davis Group, a band that had several hits in the 1960s including "Keep On Running", "Gimme Some Lovin'", and ...

) (Attic) * 1982 ''Dancin e-issue(Attic) * 1982 ''Straight Up'' e-issueAttic) * 1992 ''Dancin'/Road Fever'' ouble album re-issue(Attic) * 1997 ''Ready To Go'' e-issue, with ''It's Been So Long'' (1987)(Stony Plain) * 1998 ''A Case Of The Blues - The Best Of Downchild'' (Attic) * 2000 ''A Matter Of Time - The Downchild Collection'' (Blue Wave - US) * 2003 ''Body Of Work - The Downchild Collection Volume 2'' (Blue Wave - US) * 2004 ''Blood Run Hot'' e-issue(Unidisc) * 2004 ''Road Fever'' e-issue(Unidisc) * 2004 ''We Deliver'' e-issue(Unidisc) * 2004 ''Straight Up'' e-issue(Unidisc)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasey, Jane Canadian blues pianists Canadian women pianists 1949 births 1982 deaths Deaths from leukemia 20th-century Canadian pianists 20th-century Canadian women musicians University of Manitoba alumni 20th-century women pianists