London Big Bands - Veel Rita

Due to Covid 19 band performances and rehearsals are on hold

Rita Veel

Many thanks to Rita Veel for her biography:

Looking back on my singing career, I realize how lucky I was to meet and work with the people who made this part of my life interesting and fun. It started in the Netherlands where my uncle had a band and encouraged me to sing. One of my biggest thrills was, when this uncle came to Canada many years later and played trumpet, with the excellent Ron Shadbolt orchestra at 401 plaza, where I was the featured vocalist.

I was 15 years old when I came to Canada with my parents and brother. To learn a new language and, if I wanted to sing professionally, losing my Dutch accent was a tough challenge. Fortunately that was when I met Frank and Meg Daniels.In the early 60S they were a well traveled and pretty exotic couple in the conservative City of London Ontario.

Frank had studied in Italy with the Rome Opera Company and was an extraordinary teacher of classical music. Frank tried to make me a soprano, while I was auditioning with dance bands. He got rid of my accent, the especially difficult “ th” for someone from The Netherlands ,and the breath control every vocalist relies on, was high on his list of priorities. Meg Daniels was well known for her stint on Act Fast, a popular T.V. show, and through her modeling agency taught me how to walk and dress.

I started landing singing jobs at the German Club and The Polish Hall. Jim Ford, the trumpet player, put me in touch with a piano player that I rehearsed with for the next 5 years. Jim was patient and helped me with the songs I needed to learn.

Lionel Thornton was my big break and this very professional orchestra was well rehearsed and had jobs all over the province. I sang at a lot of proms and got engaged while I was with this band. Than came 401 Plaza where I sang with the Johnny Brennan orchestra and I discovered the great rivalry that went on between the dance bands of the day.

At the Iroquois Casino I worked with the house band under the direction of Johnny Noubarian and saw a lot of great entertainers and learned from all of them. I did a stint singing Gay 90s music when the Iroquois opened a new room on the second floor. The Orchid restaurant was a great venue for vocalists and present London Mayor Joe Fontana played drums in a band I put together.

I landed a job with Johnny Downs and enjoyed working with this great band that played for many years at Wonderland Gardens. I also started doing some special occasion club work that enabled me to stretch my repertoire. Berthold Carriere, who became the music director at the Stratford Festival, played piano for the Downs band and Johnny was able to get many talented musicians, through his many contacts at his popular restaurant “The Latin Quarter”,to sit in with the band Bob Lee played accordion and is a dedicated musician who landed lots of jobs and formed a trio with guitarist Joe Algrove.

When my husband Ben and I moved to Lambeth Ontario I met Norm Green. Norm was one of the best pianists I ever worked with and we would practice during the day to get prepared for a very classy night club called “Hooks Supper Club” Norm used different vocalist and a great trio with one of the best drummers I worked with, Bobby Rollings.

With an intimate setting like Hooks, it is easy to drown out the vocalist, but this group actually listened and it was a great experience. Eddy Bell on base , Tony Caminiti on tenor sax Norm Green on piano and Bobby Rollings on drums was the core group that worked together for many years, every night at “Hooks Supper Club”

Ron Shadbolt took over at The 401 Plaza and I started to sing with the 14 piece band and the Norm Green jazz trio, alternating between the two. We lived in Lambeth and I was 10 minutes away in either direction, how great was that!

I met guitar player Gary Theal while recording a commercial at Beal. We started to rehearse as a duo and it was magical. The songs came together and the jobs came our way ,Villa Cornelia, Bon Appetite, small intimate venues. Then Gary and his wife moved to Dubaii and put an end to a very enjoyable time.

One of the last bands to play the Stork Club, before it burned to the ground, was the Ron Shadbolt Orchestra. I was the vocalist and remember that night because it was broadcast on C.F.P.L

Ben and I live in a house on the beach in Port Stanley, build on the former Stork Club grounds. We are traveling the world and enjoying some amazing music. Life truly is all I could ever have imagined and more!

Meditation - Rita Veel with the Norm Green Trio at Hooks, London.

meditation.mp3

When Sunny Gets Blue - Rita Veel with Gary Theal guitar.

sonygetsblue.mp3

Here's That Rainy Day - Rita Veel with Gary Theal guitar.

rainyday.mp3

Skylark - Rita Veel with Gary Theal guitar.