Music Review: The Shuffle Demons - Clusterfunk

This article was first published at Blogcritics

It's been close to 20 years since Canadian jazz-funk-fusion band The Shuffle Demons released an album of new material, but this year they're back with Clusterfunk a collection of original tunes likely to get fans wondering why on earth it took so long. More than likely it will garner them some new fans as well. Often compared to Tower of Power, The Shuffle Demons, led by the alto sax of Richard Underhill, really have a sound of their own when they are at their best. Besides Underhill, the quintet features Perry White (not to be confused with the editor of the The Daily Planet) on tenor and baritone sax, Kelly Jefferson on tenor sax, George Koller on electric and acoustic bass and Stich Wynston on drums.  All join in on vocals.

The new album has 12 tracks, seven vocals and five instrumentals. "SelI Me This" opens with a blast against modern consumer culture, a theme which in some ways informs a number of the vocal numbers. "Bottles and Cans" has a man scavenging through the excesses of society looking for treasures wherever he can. "Shanghai Shuffle" talks about working 12 hours a day for a dollar an hour to fill the big box store. "All About the Hang," has a retro vibe addressed to the workaholics out there. Don't waste your time looking for the dough, because "it's all about the hang." Set these vocals in some funky jazz riffs and you've got something going on.

But it is when the band shows off its jazz chops on the five instrumentals that the album really hits its groove. George Koller's "Way After Midnight," the album's first instrumental shows just what these guys can do, and the Underhill composition "Earth Song" has an eerie vibe all its own. If some of the vocal tracks seem dated at times, there is nothing dated about the instrumentals.   Stich Wynton's "Fukushima," dedicated to the Japanese quake victims is a raucous scream at what would seem to be a nature indifferent to man and his suffering. It is a heart wrenching piece. His "Strollin'" makes for a swinging contrast.  "On the Runway," a Kelly Jefferson composition that closes the album is a veritable jazz tone poem. It may well be the highlight of the album, although I must say all the instrumentals are impressive.

All in all, Clusterfunk marks a welcome return to form for a popular band that had done some fine work in the past. It is an album that shows the maturity they have gained over the years. There may still be a bit of that energetic playfulness that is so infectious in the video of "Spadina Bus," the hit from their debut album, but these are now mature musicians.  They can still be playful: listen to "He's the Drummer," but the music that will stick with you stems from the passion of "Fukushima" and the dynamism of "Way After Midnight."

Music Review: The Headhunters, Platinum

Article first published as Music Review: The Headhunters, Platinum on Blogcritics.

It takes a lot of confidence, some might call it "chutzpah," to call your new album Platinum, but the latest from the Headhunters may well justify the title. After all, back in the '70's as the liner notes point out the "band became the first jazz/fusion group to go platinum," and even a cursory hearing of their latest shows them at the top of their game. Led by original Headhunters percussionist Bill Summers and drummer Mike Clark, the band lays down an eclectic set of percussion fore-fronted tracks that moves from hip hop to salsa to traditional African rhythms stopping to sample a cornucopia of other genres along the way. In an on-line interview with Nick De Riso at Something Else!, Summers describes the vibe: "My personal description for the music we are playing now is New Urban. It’s a specific new genre, something that represents all of the metropolis. It’s European, it’s Asian, it’s African. There is lots of jazz, funk, elements of rap. It’s being fair to all of the music. When people hear it, hopefully they feel part of the family."

Members of the family helping out on some of the tracks are guest artists Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, Killah Priest, Jaecyn Bayne, and Private Pile. Then there's trumpet stalwart Derrick Gardner, horn player Azar Lawrence, and Jerry Stucker on the guitar. Patrice Rushen shares the keyboard honors with Kyle Roussel, and Headhunter original member, Bennie Maupin, comes back for some work on the soprano sax. Then of course there is the core of the band: bassist Richie Goods, horn players Donald Harrison and Rob Dixon, and Gary Mielke on keyboards. On any given track, you can shake them up and mix and match as needed.

Highlighting the disc are some fine instrumentals. "Tracie," written by Summers in memory of his late wife, features some sweet trumpet lines by Gardner played over pulsating Latin rhythms after the horn section sets the tone. "M Trane," Clark's tribute to John Coltrane written along with Jeff Pittson, begins with a kind of duet between Rushen on the piano and the horns and runs through nearly nine minutes of happy improvisation. "Salamander" lays down a funky groove which according to the liner notes gets picked up again later on in the album in "Skizness" with a Private Pile rap replacing "Salamander's" dynamic horn solos. Richie Goods' "Soul Glow" is a throwback that gives the band an opportunity to showcase its straight ahead chops.

Snoop Dogg is featured on "Funk With Us" where he is joined by Clinton, Priest and Bayne. Bayne opens the album with "Mission Statement," which is presumably a manifesto describing the band's new direction. Summers joins Bayne's rap with a softer vocal on "Apple Tree." "Congo Place" begins with some throbbing percusion leading to a Donald Harrison vocal punctuated by a chanting chorus that seems to look back to African roots by way of New Orleans. "Head Hunting" is a tour de force for Clark and Summers with a haunting melody that gives the whole band a shot to shine.
Platinum is an album that melds elements of different musical traditions to create a whole that may well be greater than the sum of its parts. In an interview with Dominic Fragman of JazzTimes.com, Mike Clark calls the album: " A cross generational effort, we mixed up a lot of genres--jazz, funk, African, latin, and even hip hop on several pieces--that was fun!" It may have been fun for him and the band, but for the listener, it's a blast.