Unique, sophisticated, and ground-breaking, the sound of Steely Dan is as relevant today as it was when it first began in 1972 with Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, two college geeks with a near pathological taste for irony-laced story-telling, embedded in infectious and playful funk grooves, and layered with wickedly devious harmonies. That unique sound wasn’t lost on a geeky piano student living in Saskatoon in the early 70’s. At the impressionable age of 14, David Bolton was hooked and dreamed of someday honouring Steely Dan’s signature sound with a band of his own.
Glamour Profession came to light in Ottawa in early 2014, spawned by a conversation with friend and fellow music geek, Mike Staples. They quickly discovered their shared love of and dream to showcase Steely Dan music. “Glamour Profession” is the title of David’s favourite Steely Dan song and it plays beautifully on its ironic flavour. The band name felt just right because the arduous tasks of creating such a band and painstakingly building a Steely Dan repertoire were anything BUT glamourous. Ambitious, yes; glamourous, no.
The dream germinated and was set into motion. With an initial repertoire of 15 of the most popular Steely Dan tunes, Glamour Profession debuted in January 2016 to a sold-out audience and earned rave reviews. The repertoire keeps growing and is now over 30 tunes, a testament to the band’s dedication, hard work and passion.
Today, Glamour Profession is a ten-member orchestra, attracting the likes of top-flight musicians who themselves are geeky Dan fans at their very core, even though they might not readily admit it. 😉
We have been privileged to work with many top Canadian jazz and rock musicians over the years. Here is our most recent lineup of amazing musicians in alphabetical order:
David Bolton — lead vocals and keyboards
Rebecca Cowal — saxophone
Mark Ferguson — trombone
Mike Giamberardino — drums
Chris Lane — trumpet
Rene Lavoie — saxophone
Elise Letourneau — vocals and keyboards
Rob MacSpurren — lead guitar
Ken Seeley — bass
Sue Turpin — vocals, guitar, percussion
Glamour Profession’s mission is three-fold:
- Honour the sound and spirit of Steely Dan
- Have fun doing it and share that fun with audience members and Dan fans
- Pay tribute to the late great Walter Becker
Over ten years into this fun and demanding project, the band continues to pursue its mission and entrance our audiences with this wonderful music. Come out and hear it for yourself!