While Winnipeg has produced its share of successful recording artists on both the national and international music charts, there are plenty more local recording artists who have released music that, while not on major record labels, nonetheless caught the attention of local record buyers. The artists who recorded these local gems may have financed the recordings themselves for small independent labels and sold them to a loyal fan base. Let’s take a look at a few of these.
Leon Isenberg
Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Leon Isenberg began his music career playing accordion in dance bands while still in his early teens. Following World War II, he moved to Winnipeg where, having moved up to the Hammond organ, formed The Leon Quintet performing in clubs and dancehalls across Western Canada. In 1962, Montreal-born trumpet player and vocalist Harry Ellsworth, who had previously worked with Jose Poneira’s band at the Rancho Don Carlos, invited Isenberg to join him for a two-week stint in the Scarlet Lounge in popular West End Winnipeg restaurant Rae & Jerry’s. Two weeks stretched into a 22-year gig. Their lone album was recorded live in the lounge circa 1980 by local producer and drummer Wayne Finucan and features many of the duo’s best loved selections such as Yellow Bird, I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Havah’ nagilah. Incidentally, many of you may recall Leon Isenberg as the owner of American Hi-Fi in downtown Winnipeg.
Harry Douglass and the Deep River Boys
Harry Douglass and the Deep River Boys formed in Hampton, Virginia in 1937. They performed on radio in New York during the war and scored a hit in 1948 with the song Recess In Heaven. As a popular night club act the group toured the world, often in the company of dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. They first appeared in Winnipeg in 1946 and over the years became regulars at Winnipeg clubs including the Rancho Don Carlos on Pembina Highway. By the time this live recording was made at the International Inn hotel (now the Victoria Inn) in the latter ‘70s, Harry was the only original member. Besides musical talent and showmanship, the group was also noted for its humanitarian work performing at hospitals, seniors’ residences, schools, and, as the liner notes point out “reform institutions and retardation centres.” Accompanying the Deep River Boys for this energetic live set are two of Winnipeg’s finest musicians, Reg Kelln on drums and bass player Ron Halldorson.
The La Rosa Trio +1
Having cornered the Ukrainian music market, local V-Records, owned and operated by Alex Groshak from his Windsor Park home, sought to tap into the thriving ethnic Italian community in the latter 60s by signing The La Rosa Trio +1 (Carmine LaRosa, Gary Rogers, Mike Sambork and Ted Hicks). Singer Carmine LaRosa was well-known in the local music community having previously fronted the Thunderstorms. “We were more versatile than just a rock ‘n’ roll band,” says La Rosa. “I sang the Italian songs like Volare and we did Trini Lopez songs and country and western. We also played weddings and socials for the Italian community.” The trio’s second album, A Party-Italian Style, in 1966 featured the band covering well-known Italian songs such as That’s Amore along with English hits like It’s Now or Never and Sway. The front cover boasts a photo of the group (left to right: LaRosa, Sambork, Rogers) seated alongside two local fashion models at Chan’s Moon Room on Main Street.
Ioana Iliant
Romanian-born singer Ioana Iliant began her career in Eastern Europe, winning a major singing competition in Turkey in 1973 before coming to Canada to appear in nightclubs. Fluent in multiple languages, she performed at several Winnipeg clubs and earned praise from the likes of Winnipeg Tribune entertainment writer Gene Telpner who declared “Ioana Iliant displays on stage a great deal of vitality that captures the audience.” Bandleader Jimmy King noted, “Miss Iliant is a treat to listen to. Her rich voice, grace, style and ease indicate a considerable amount of stage experience and she is an accomplished musician.” In 1977, Iliant recorded her one and only album at Wayne Finucan’s Fort Garry home studio with managers Ann Randall and Michael Kittner producing for their own Ran-Kitt record label. Dave Jandrisch wrote the musical arrangements while musician and songwriter Graham Shaw was hired to provide English language lyrics for many of the songs. “She would tell me the stories of the songs and I would have to write some English words that conveyed that story,” Shaw recalls. “Then she would sing the lyrics phonetically.”
Iliant had a powerful voice well served by Jandrisch’s impressive orchestral arrangements. She performed across Western Canada with a backing band consisting of Winnipeg musicians including brothers Tony and Ken Biegun and Allan Duma as well as with the Wally Meyers Trio. Little is known about her since the latter ‘70s although a lone posting on the internet indicates she passed away in 1990.
