Unmatched ideas and originality. Killer record!
by
jazzaficionado
With their debut Streetniks , Toronto's The Shuffle Demons changed the way a whole new generation looked at jazz, in much the same way DJ Spooky has in the nineties.
This CD mixes quirky grooves with fun rap style lyrics (which they called bop rap), blazing solos and a sound that remained every bit true to the pioneers of be-bop.
Although aimed at a jazz audience, Streetniks gathered a new group of listeners through their hipster/clown style. With the thumping bass opening of “Spadina Bus,” which recalls layouts by both Mingus and Carter, followed by a downbeat that leads into a horn chop that etches itself into your brain. It is hard to imagine even today that serious playing like this will lead to lyrics such as “I reached deep down in my pocket to try and find some coin/ But much to chagrin all I found was my groin”. Even though Dizzy was certainly the clown prince of bop, he would never have spilled such words before an audience.
But the proof is in the music. The solo on second single “Get Out of My house, Roach” is brilliant: a slap in the face chunk of be and free-bop that send shivers down one's spine. But what makes this bizarre is that it became a hit single on MuchMusic's video singles chart! The idea that people who were listening to synthetic divas such as Madonna would groove to skillfully played jazz with ripping free solos is still hard to imagine. Opening with squeaks and squeals that owe influence far more to Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler than the be-bop pioneers. A track every bit different as possible from ”Spadina Bus” proved to all critics that the Demons had more depth than being a novelty act.
Although they would never reach the success of Streekniks again, the Demons' other records held a tightly glued cult following that still exists. Even today their mixture of contemporary styles with bop is still fresh. The ideas and originality laid out on Streetniks still lie unmatched seventeen years later.
