This year marks another first for the Festival as we introduce Jazz at the Jailhouse.  Following the opening concert at Tait’s there will be an exciting and vibrant show in the atrium of the Courthouse.  And we have the perfect performers for the show.

What do you get when you cross 3 amazing saxophonists dressed in wacky clothes, a crazy dancing drummer and a killer upright bass player who sing songs about Buses, Roaches and Hockey and spend half their time playing in the audience? The Shuffle Demons, that's what!!! They were a band that captured the imagination of a generation with their antics and amazing no holds barred playing and stopped traffic on a regular basis. And now they're back!!

The legend of the Shuffle Demons is well known to Canadians. Beginning in September 1984 with veteran street sax player Demon Richard Underhill pleasing the pedestrian multitudes at the corner of Yonge and Bloor in Toronto, the Shuffle Demons quickly evolved into an immensely popular street band. Drawing hordes of hipsters to their street gigs with their wild playing and exotic wardrobe, the Demons (Mike Murley, Stich Wynston, Jim Vivian, Dave Parker and Richard Underhill) next took their caustic collection of musical majesties and travesties inside and began pleasing bunches of boppers in Toronto clubs. Inspired by these fashion assassins and their original street hits Spadina Bus, The Shuffle Monster, Out of My House, Roach, and What do you Want? large delirious audiences began experiencing the early stages of shuffle rapture.

2009 marked the 25th anniversary of the emergence of this cosmic musical force and they packed them in at festivals from coast to coast.  Come out and witness an extraordinary show in a fantastic building.

Website: http://www.shuffledemons.com

Video: Spadina Bus