Haydain Neale: an appreciation
Matthew Kruk
November 24, 2009
Haydain Neale: an appreciation
By Brad Wheeler
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Brad Wheeler remembers the late Jacksoul frontman as a charismatic,
smiling guy with a flawless sense of direction
"Can anybody feel me at all," wondered Haydain Neale on his breakthrough
hit from the summer of 2000. It was a legitimate question. Can't Stop
was a slinky, sweeping anthem about an all-consuming love and an
inevitability - "Feel like my soul's just constantly marching forward" -
from an artist just on the cusp of finding his audience. Did we feel
Neale and his band Jacksoul? Yes we did: The graceful soul singer was on
the radio, the album Sleepless won a Juno Award for the year's top R&B
recording, and his career was in clear ascent.
On Monday he died of lung cancer, his death a stunning bit of news for
those who knew only that he had recovered from a devastating traffic
accident in 2007 enough that a new album, SOULmate , is set for release
on Dec. 1. "It takes me more time now," he said recently, when asked
about his abilities in the studio, "but I still orchestrate the room."
Anybody who had seen Neale onstage was well aware of the man's ability
to do just that. He and Jacksoul toured with the bombastic James Brown
in the summer of 2004, and Neale took on a bit of that kind of big
style. At the launch of the album Resurrected earlier that year at
Toronto's Mod Club Theatre, the presentation was snazzy, energized and
sharp-suited. I caught him though two years later at a more laidback
performance at the open-air Harbourfront Centre stage, which he
commanded with a more relaxed charisma. He smiled often. For a 2006 show
at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre stage, Neale presented material from
mySoul , a collection of classics and pop tunes done with a soulful
approach. With a voice that was limber and sand-dry, he elegantly
rendered Blue Rodeo's Try and Radiohead's High & Dry . He did his
earlier hits too, unapologetically in the style of his heroes Al Green,
Teddy Pendergrass and Sam Cooke. "I just happen to be a brother from
Hamilton, and when it comes out of my mouth, I don't try to fight it,"
he once told Bravo! TV's Live at the Rehearsal Hall , explaining his
old-school predisposition.
Neale's current single, Lonesome Highway , is victorious acoustic soul.
"Once I thought our roads were leading nowhere," he sings, "now it's
like the perfect journey has just begun." The dude's upbeat sense of
direction was flawless to the end.