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Hi; I hope you enjoy our page. .
here is some information on yours truly,
and how to contact us for guitar,
banjo and mandolin instruction or for
musicians & entertainers we have available. .
Hi; I hope you enjoy our page. .
here is some information on yours truly,
and how to contact us for guitar,
banjo and mandolin instruction or for
musicians & entertainers we have available. .
They were featured on ABC-TV's Jimmy Dean show (2xs) and Mike Douglas show (2xs), Jazz and Show clubs such as: the Sahara, Las Vegas; Metropole, New York City; London House, Chicago; Theatrical Club, Cleveland; Harvey's, Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Colonial, Toronto. Ravinia Concert Bowl, Chicago, Ohio State Fair and Steel Pier, Atlantic City.
He formed a Bluegrass and Folk band called Truckin' which had many successful engagements at the El Mocambo, Nag's Head, the Golden Nuggett and many other clubs in the GTA [Greater Toronto area].
[band track].Later, he was Tenor banjo lead & soloist with Dermott Dunn and Mick Croly [from Dublin]. Local hit record in Canada and in Ireland; "Mursheen Durkin", RCA records.
As studio musician Don has done 650+ shows on private television plus more than 150 network TV shows, such as: CTV network's "Grand Old Country" (5-String Banjo, backup band, 24 shows), appearing with Ronnie Prophet, Dolly Parton, Mickey Gilley, Charlie Pride, Boots Randolph, Floyd Cramer and others; CBC-TV's "Bob MacLean Show" (featured vocal & guitar);
CTV's "Diamond Lil Show" (backup: tenor banjo, 39 shows); CBC-TV Country Hoedown (lead guitar, backup: 78 shows) with Gordon Lightfoot, Billy Van, Gordie Tapp, Maurice Bolyer, King Ganam, Tommy Common, The Hames Sisters and Tommy Hunter.
He plays seven string instruments, is a very versatile, competent musician and patient teacher for those students who really want to learn, and has a vocal and instrumental trio, quartet or quintet for engagements in the GTA [Greater Toronto Area].
Don has also produced and played guitar and solo tenor banjo on the CD, "Star of the County Down" by Annie McLean, featuring her most popular Irish and Scots songs that were requested at Dooley's Show club in Toronto. CLICK ON Star of the County Down
Robert J. Allen, freelance music writer
"The ultimate studio musician". Tom Shilstra: owner and producer, Maple Records
[backup on record sessions: 5-string banjo, lead guitar and bass guitar]
"His licks made the show". Brian McKay: lead actor, Stage West, Mississauga.
[backup on lead guitar and simulated steel guitar]
"The poet of the banjo". Duke Niles: owner and producer
Village Stompers, New York City
[rhythm and featured soloist on tenor banjo and guitar]
"The best guitarist I ever heard". Jeff Healy: blues guitarist, vocalist,
bandleader, recording star, Toronto
Don L says:
My Instrumental Styles are: Bluegrass, Folk, Blues, Jazz, and Classical:
On Acoustic [solo] and Electric Guitars;
and on Plectrum, Tenor and 5-String
[solo] Banjos and Mandolin.
I have had many wonderful years in the music business playing
many different styles of music and to pass on my experience I teach private lessons, one hour, once per week.
My studio is located in the South-West part of Toronto [Etobicoke].
It is easy to get to, even by public transportation, just one bus [#76], south from the Bloor subway, Royal York station.
-- Call or Email me for further information.
Guitar: pick and/or finger style [Folk and Country Travis style or Flat picking; Classical, Jazz, Bossa Nova, Delta and Jazz Blues];
Banjo: [5-String Bluegrass; Earl Scruggs style, Bill Keith "melodic" style and Jazz.] Tenor or Plectrum [Dixie, Jazz, Ragtime, Oldies, Celtic]
Mandolin: flat pick style [Bluegrass, Irish and Scots fiddle tunes, Folk, Swing and Jazz improvisation]
Vocal Styles: [with Guitar, Banjo or Mandolin accompanment only]- Folk, Bluegrass, Blues, Jazz Standards and '50's,'60's,'70's Rock and Pop.
Our Entertainment Company
is called "Steele Musical Services" We book Bands and Musicians [Trios, Quartets]; Christmas Carollers, Musical Shows and other types of entertainment. .
Considered by some musicians as one of the most versatile banjo and guitar players in Canada, Don plays from Bluegrass to
Blues and Jazz to Bach. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, he started singing at age 6, in school and at the family gatherings
with his older cousin Harold Wood on piano. Around age 9 he started playing guitar with friends and with his father Fred who
played the octophone [8 strings, like a 4 string guitar, double stringed]. Fred was a pioneer radio entertainer and had an early radio show
on CFCY Charlottetown (later taken over by Don Messer and his Islanders).
Don started jamming, learning from records and busking the streets. Age 17 he was hired to play lead guitar with the Wilf Carter show,
[continuing with Smilin' Earnie Lindell], travelling across Canada, from Ontario to the Alaska Highway.
He started playing the 5-string banjo but was hired as lead guitarist on CHCH-TV, Channel 11, Hamilton,
Ontario "Jamboree" show and CHML Radio "Main Street Jamboree" where he worked with and was greatly influenced by
tenor banjo virtuoso, Maurice Bolyer and violinist Wally Traggott. In his twenties he started singing again and later studied
voice with Charles Jordan. Other musical influences include:
Classical guitarists: Andreas Segovia, Christopher Parkening and John Williams.
5-String Banjo soloists: Earl Scruggs, Bill Keith, Bella Fleck, Don Reno and Eric Weisberg [Dueling Banjos].
Finger style guitarists: Merle Travis, Chet Atkins. Jazz guitarists: Django Reinhardt, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Ed Bickert, Johnny Smith and the Beadles George Harrison.
Other prominent Jazz artists: Ray Brown, Oscar Peterson, Antonio Carlos Jobim and singers: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett.
Singers: James Taylor, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, John Allan Cameron, Pete Seeger, the Weavers and many others.
Instruction and Studies:
Classic guitar- Eli Kassner, RCM. Theory and harmony- Frank Gay, Art Snider, Tony Bradan
and Hank Monis. Voice- Charles Jordan
Banjo: 5-String, Tenor, Plectrum- Studies of technique from recordings, books and observation of the great players I had the
good fortune to play with or see in person especially when there was a lot of TV, Radio, Recording studio gigs,
Jamming and steady club work, six nights a week.
I have finished a CD of my favorite songs and previous recordings, featuring vocals and instrumentals.
The CD is called "Eclectic Steele". The instruments are: 1st and 2nd guitars, bass guitar, drum computer and vocal track.
On tracks [1], [2], [4], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12] and [13] I play all instruments and program the drum computer.
The tunes are:
[1] Accentuate the Positive
Lyrics & music by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, 1944. Mercer recorded the
tune in 1944 with Paul Weston.
It was on the Billboard chart [13 weeks] reaching #2.
Also recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters.
I recorded the rhythm guitar with the drum computer, I added
the bass track then vocal track then lead solo guitar.
[2] Blue Monk
Music by Thelonius Monk, 1948; Recorded by Sonny Rollins, Wes Mongomery, Oscar Peterson and many others.
The tracks were recorded the same as [1] minus the vocal track.
[3] Bye Bye Blues
Lyrics & music by Hamm, Bennett, Lown, Gray, 1925; Hit by Les Paul & Mary Ford [1952]. Recorded by many others.
Tenor banjo solo I played with Frank Hubbell and the Village Stompers. Live at Old Orchard Centre, Chicago, 1965.
[4] Come Rain or Come Shine
Lyrics & music by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, 1946; Recorded by hundreds of Artists including:
Tommy Dorsey, Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra and Margaret Whiting. I used the same track recording setup as [1].
[5] Romance [Antigua[
Traditional [composer unknown]. This was one of the first classical compositions I learned from my teacher
Eli Kassner when he taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music. .
I recorded this around 1970 on a Korting two-track stereo tape recorder.
First I recorded the rhythm guitar then I dubbed in the solo guitar. I added the bass track in 2007.
[6] Sunshine
Lyrics & Music by Don L. Steele, 1975; Recorded at Sound Canada, 1975:
Lead Vocal, Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Don L Steele;
Bass, Don Paveling; Drums, Ted Rosnick; Piano, Matt Pines; Backup Vocals; Marianne Smith and Doris Goode.
[7] Our Love is Here to Stay
Music & Lyrics
by George and Ira Gershwin, 1938; Recorded by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,
Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and many other artists.
Same recording setup as [1].
[8] I Got Rhythm / Cottontail
[9] Teach Me Tonight
[10] The Preacher
[11] Try to Remember
[12] Smile
[13] What Kind of Fool am I
[14] Lord You Were There
To Order CD
Music by George Gershwin / Duke Ellington, [1930's];
I Got Rhythm: Hit for Judy Garland; Recorded by many others.
Duke Ellington's instrumental Cottontail was based on the same harmonic
changes. Recording setup as [1];
Music by Gene DePaul, Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, 1953; Hit by the
DeCastro Sisters in 1954; Sammy Davis Jr. 1965,
Frank Sinatra,
Ella Fitzgerald, the Mcguire Sisters, Ronnie Milsap and others. . Same recording setup as [1].
Music by Horace Silver; A favorite, standard instrumental
for both Modern Jazz, Bebop and Dixieland.
I use the same recording setup as [1].
Music: Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics: Tom Jones, 1960; From the
Broadway show "The Fantastiks" sung in the show by
Jerry Orbach [TV's "Law and Order"] Recorded by Barbra Streisand, Jerry Vale, Harry Belafonte and many more. .
Again using the same recording setup as [1].
Music by Charlie Chaplin, Lyrics by John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons, 1954;
Recorded by Nat King Cole,
Billboard chart #10 in 1954. Also recorded
in 1962 by Ferrante and Teicher. Same recording setup as [1].
Lyrics & music by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, 1962;
A major hit by Sammy Davis Jr.,1962.
Recorded by Frank Sinatra,
Marvin Gaye and many others. One of my favorite ballads. . Same recording setup as [1].
Lyrics & Music by Don L. Steele, 1975;
Recorded at Sound Canada; Vocal, Lead, Rhythm Guitar, Don L Steele;
Bass, Don Paveling; Drums, Ted Rosnick; Piano, Matt Pines;
Backup Vocals, Marianne Smith and Doris Goode.
$16.00 plus $3.50 Shipping and Handling
to: Don L Steele, Faylou Records
122 Wheatfield Road,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M8V 2P8
For More Information Email:
CD in the near future: DON
L'S
SOLO
BANJO
A selection of instrumentals from Gershwin, Kern, Porter, Berlin and the other great composers;
Scott Joplin ragtime and Stephen Foster compositions
arranged for Plectrum and Tenor Banjos. .
Produced by
Don L Steele for Faylou Records
Born in Belfast, Ireland she was featured with her father Peter Kelly in
the show at the now departed and sadly missed, Irish Supper and Show Club, "Dooley's"
(formerly on Bloor St. just east of Yonge St.,Toronto). She gained much experience
as a member of the Canadian Opera Company chorus and every time she sang at "Dooley's",
she brought the house down. .
Annie will bring a tear to a glass eye and balm to a hungry heart
with her lovely and poignant Celtic songs and ballads like the 'Spanish Lady', 'Asthoreen Baun', 'My Ain Folk',
'Annie Laurie' and the title song from her new CD on Faylou Records, 'Star Of The County Down'. . .
"Beautiful singing". Tony Bennett
This CD is not available in stores or any other Internet site
CD "Star of the County Down"
1. Asthoreen Baun
2. Star of the County Down
3. Annie Laurie
4. Gortnamona
5. Castle of Dromore
6. Whistling Gypsy Rover
7. Lark in the Clear Air
8. Ye Banks and Braes
9. Spanish Lady
10. My Ain Folk
11. Eriskay Love Lilt
12. Charlie is My Darling / Bonnie Charlie [medley]
$15.00 plus $3.50 Shipping and Handling
to: Don L Steele, Faylou Records
122 Wheatfield Road,
Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
M8V 2P8
IRISH DAN COSTELLO
Dan Costello sings the traditional old Irish favorites like Whiskey In The Jar, Orange and the Green, The Wild Rover, The Black Velvet Band, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya. Plays jigs and reels on the banjo. Tells some jokes and has a great old time. He has appeared with Dermitt Dunn and Mick Croley of Dublin fame, has jammed with
Will Millar and the Irish Rovers and also worked with the Carleton Show band on the popular CTV network
TV shows in Canada, "Pig and Whistle" and "Diamond Lil".
He does a one hour show as a single or as a duo with his piano player.
For bookings: Don L Steele, Steele Musical Services, Toronto [416] 251-5198.
Email Steele Musical Services:
Born in Belfast, Ireland she was featured with her father Peter Kelly in
the show at the now departed and sadly missed, Irish Supper and Show Club, "Dooley's"
(formerly on Bloor St. just east of Yonge St.,Toronto). She gained much experience
as a member of the Canadian Opera Company chorus and every time she sang at "Dooley's",
she brought the house down. .
Annie will bring a tear to a glass eye and balm to a hungry heart
with her lovely and poignant Celtic songs and ballads like the 'Spanish Lady', 'Asthoreen Baun', 'My Ain Folk',
'Annie Laurie' and the title song from her new CD on Faylou Records, 'Star Of The County Down'. . .
This CD is not available in stores or any other Internet site
CD "Star of the County Down"
-
1. Asthoreen Baun
2. Star of the County Down
3. Annie Laurie
4. Gortnamona
5. Castle of Dromore
6. Whistling Gypsy Rover
7. Lark in the Clear Air
8. Ye Banks and Braes
9. Spanish Lady
10. My Ain Folk
11. Eriskay Love Lilt
12. Charlie is My Darling / Bonnie Charlie [medley]
Dan Costello sings the traditional old Irish favorites like Whiskey In The Jar, Orange and the Green, The Wild Rover, The Black Velvet Band, Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya. Plays jigs and reels on the banjo. Tells some jokes and has a great old time. He has appeared with Dermitt Dunn and Mick Croley of Dublin fame, has jammed with
Will Millar and the Irish Rovers and also worked with the Carleton Show band on the popular CTV network
TV shows in Canada, "Pig and Whistle" and "Diamond Lil". He does a one hour show as a single or as a duo with his piano player.
For bookings: Don L Steele, Steele Musical Services, Toronto [416] 251-5198.