Steel, Ivy

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Ivy Steel (Ivy Georgina Steel)
b. c. 1936 – d. September 12, 2017

Ivy Steel was a Canadian jazz vocalist whose warm, lyrical delivery and deep interpretive sense drew comparisons to Billie Holiday, yet remained distinctly her own. Born and raised in southern Ontario, Steel grew up far from the cultural centres of jazz, in what she described as a “less-than-hip” environment. She came to the music almost academically, discovering its history and repertoire before experiencing it live. Unlike many singers influenced by Billie Holiday, Steel did not hear Holiday’s recordings until she was already a working vocalist, studying Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in the 1970s.

Steel began performing as a child on CHEX-Radio in Peterborough and in her teens appeared regularly on CHEX-TV. By the late 1960s, she was active in Toronto’s Yorkville scene, singing folk and soft blues, but her ambition was always to work in jazz. She absorbed knowledge and inspiration from American musicians passing through the city, including trumpeter Art Farmer during his final days with saxophonist Sam Stewart.

Her breakthrough into the Toronto jazz community was aided by strong critical notices. In 1980, Melody Maker’s Max Jones heard her perform “Don’t Explain” and remarked: “…it’s true you can walk into a room when she’s starting one number and decide in a minute that Billie’s kid is spinning.”

In 1981, Steel recorded her sole known album, Reincarnation, at McClear Place Studios for Innovation Records. Produced by Phil Sheridan, the album’s concept was to introduce Billie Holiday’s muse to Steel’s repertoire, preserving the emotional depth of Lady Day’s work while updating the sound for a modern setting. The record featured a first-class Canadian jazz lineup: Joe Sealy (piano, musical director), Pete Magadini (drums), Dave Young (bass), and Eugene Amaro (saxophone). Steel’s program mixed classics like “God Bless the Child,” “Willow Weep for Me,” and “Don’t Explain” with lesser-known standards and her own composition, “Bouldoirs.”

Broadcaster Ted O’Reilly (CJRT-FM) praised Steel for combining lyricism with a quiet, mysterious strength, noting that while she carried the spirit of jazz greats like Lester Young and Ben Webster, she always sounded like herself.

Ivy Georgina Steel passed away at her Toronto residence on September 12, 2017, survived by her daughters Georgia Steel and Kathryn O’Neill, and her granddaughters Saturn Steel-Mendez and Lana Mendez. Though her recorded legacy is small, Reincarnation remains a testament to a singer of uncommon subtlety, sensitivity, and musical intelligence.
-Robert Williston