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a young man, Le Toan began his musical career at Taberd high school in
Saigon. He performed at school productions and functions. In 1971, Le
Toan formed a group called Constellation. In 1972, he joined Family Love.
Family Love consisted of Toan's oldest brother Le Tri, and his older sister,
Tami Le.
Family Love rejoined in America after the fall of Saigon in 1975. The
group began to perform throughout the United States at various shows and
night clubs. Today, it is still a family affair.
During the late 70's and early 80's, there was a creative movement in
the Vietnamese Music Industry abroad. It was in this period that Le Toan
began to write lyrics and compose music. In 1980, already a veteran in
the Vietnamese music industry, he introduced his music through the album,
Tinh Vang. Most notable of his music in this period was, Vang Bong Em,
also a title in his debut album.
At the time, Le Toan was also involved with the Voice of America (VOA)
program. He was able to broadcast Ve Trong Giac Mo, Hat Cho Mot Que Huong
and Con Me, his country/folk Vietnamese music. The songs were compiled
in his next album, Nhac Tre Hien Dai, in 1981.
In 1985, Le Toan produced his third album, Mo Uoc
Nguoi Yeu. In 1988, Le Toan wrote Vietnamese lyrics and recorded
for the album Hey, a compilation of Julio
Iglesias songs. In 1992, Le Toan recorded Song Tinh
and in 1995, he recorded Si Me Tinh Em. During
this time, he also wrote the script for "Copacabana" and appeared with
Tommy Ngo and Ky Duyen in Paris by Night video 38. In 1999, he successfully
released Thu Quyen Ru at Majestic club in
Huntington Beach, CA.
Le Toan continued to write lyrics for popular foreign songs such as The
Whole New World and Colors of The Wind, Can You Feel The Love Tonight,
performed at the 1995, 1996 and 1997 Ao Dai Tet Pageant respectively.
In 1998, he wrote lyrics for 3 french ballads which were recorded by Thanh
Ha on Thuy Nga's "Tim Van Trong Ta" CD. In 1999, he wrote the lyrics for
the song "Nhu Cuon Phim" and was featured in Tektronics CD with the same
title.
Le Toan's favorite music spans the spectrum from French ballads, old American
music, Julio Iglesias, Enricos Macias, Francois Feldman, Christophe, Adamo,
Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams music.
According to him, these kinds of music allow the him to be more expressive.
Le Toan is a talented guitarist. He is also well verse with the piano
and all percussion instruments. Being from San Jose, Le Toan naturally
has the hometown support behind him. He is currently living in Orange
county and working as a Software Consultant in Anaheim. He occasionally
appears in local concerts or tours around the US. Le Toan also did most
of the music arrangement for U-Sing-Along (Volume 1 through 24). Another
one of his previous projects involves writing musical scores for many
AT&T commercials in Vietnamese media.
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