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*Previous Band Members of the Month*
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| Bill Steinhauser
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Bill began playing ukelele and mandolin at the age of ten
with instructions from family members. Almost all of Bill's family were
musicians. He switched to violin while in the grammar school system.
By high school he had taught himself guitar after hearing recordings
by Django Rhinehardt and performed in the school jazz/swing band in New Jersey.
After High school, he studied theory with Rector Bailey and arranging with
Fletcher Henderson and continued to play professionally in the tri-state area
for the next 33 years using the name, Bill Lee. His road work included
tours with The Knockouts, The Royal Teens, Jerry Wallace Review, Joe
Saye, George Shearing, Ralph Marterie, Larry Chesky, Buddy Morrow, Milton
DeLugg, and the Lester Lanin Orchestra. As
a studio session guitarist, Bill was an accompaniest for many artists including
Fran Warren, Peggy King, Nipsy Russell, Dakota Stanton, Tom Paxton, Nell
Carter, etc. Bill owned and operated two music and guitar studios in
Sparta and Dover, N.J.
With a degree in electronic engineering,
he became chief engineer for Livingston Audio Products in Fairfield, N.J.
which produced recording equipment for the motion picture and television
industry and did design work in the development of the standard audio tape
cassette. His Rand D department served the whole record industry and
developed high speed recording and audio equipment for such companies as
Sony, Ampex, and government agencies. He recieved a Billboard award
as a record producer and mastering engineer for RCA, Chess, Atlantic, Time
Warner, GRT, Prestige labels and mastered recordings for Chet Baker, Trini
Lopez, Peggy Lee, Johnny Albino, etc.
An accident with a power tool injured his left hand and kept him from playing
for several years. He returned to playing fretted instruments with local
groups a few years ago.
After retirement in 1988, Bill and his wife Jane moved from Darien to Stratford.
He holds a life membership in the American Federation of Musicians (locals
LA 10, 256, 247, 802), and a member of the Society of Motion Picture Television
Engineers and Telecommunication Union. Bill also belongs to the Fretted
Instrument Guild of America and now continues with his hobby of repair and
restoration of musical instruments
and clocks and stll maintains an interest in recording
and audio science. Some of his latest gigs have been at Club Swing
46 in New York City with the Georgie Gee Orchestra and Dinner Theaters (Fiddler
on the Roof, Robber Bridegroom, Ain't Misbehavin, Showboat, Dames at Sea),
on the bass and guitar and has appeared for the last four years at the Great
Connecticut Jazz Festival. Bill also teaches at his home studio in
Stratford.
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