Stich Wynston

Shuffle Demons: Are You Really Real

Read "Are You Really Real" reviewed by La-Faithia White

by La-Faithia White
July 12, 2025

The Shuffle Demons are a Canadian jazz fusion band from Toronto. The band features a powerhouse ensemble of saxophonists Kelly Jefferson, Richard Underhill and Matt Lagan, anchored by the deep pocket of acoustic bassist Mike Downes and drummer Stich Wynston. The title track “X Marks The Spot" opens with an intriguing dialogue between bass and drums exploding into rapid-fire saxophone lines. Jefferson and Lagan exchange double-line runs, blending harmonies and layering multiphonics in a thrilling display of saxophone ...

Album Review

Shuffle Demons: Are You Really Real

Read "Are You Really Real" reviewed by Anastasia Bogomolets

by Anastasia Bogomolets
June 2, 2025

Celebrating four decades of genre-blending jazz, the Shuffle Demons return with Are You Really Real, a studio album that fuses funk, post-bop, theatrical satire and spiritual jazz. Influences ranging from Eric Dolphy and Alice Coltrane to the Red Hot Chili Peppers shape the band's eclectic high-energy aesthetic. The opening track, “X Marks the Spot," sets the tone with multivoiced saxophone lines and a rhythm section that oscillates between swing and funk. Tenor saxophonists Kelly Jefferson and Matt Lagan ...

Album Review

Shuffle Demons: Are You Really Real

Read "Are You Really Real" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
May 27, 2025

There is a unique brand of musical madness that only the Shuffle Demons can conjure--a whirlwind of saxophones, humour, groove and a palpable sense of daring. With Are You Really Real, this storied Canadian outfit delivers a recording that captures the very essence of what made them both a cult favourite and respected presence on the international jazz scene. Bristling with invention, personality and raw performance energy, the album feels like a live set caught in a studio net--exhilarating, unfiltered ...

Album Review

Shuffle Demons: All In

Read "All In" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
July 11, 2022

There aren't too many bands still standing from back when Shuffle Demons first performed in 1984. Their tenth recording, All In features three saxophonists-- tenors Kelly Jefferson and Matt Lagan plus Richard Underhill on alto and baritone--plus acoustic bassist Mike Downes and drummer Stich Wynston tearing through ten new originals. With no chord instruments (piano, guitar) between them and the horns, bassist Downes and drummer Wynston keep shuffling in the spaces like madmen to keep All In moving, and simultaneously ...

Album Review

The Shuffle Demons: All In

by Jack Bowers
February 15, 2022

With a three-saxophone front line and no piano, Canada's Shuffle Demons could be mistaken for the legendary Gerry Mulligan Quartet on steroids—could be, that is, until one hears the music, which bears scant resemblance to the West Coast cool espoused by Mulligan, Chet Baker and their colleagues. In other words, they're not called Shuffle Demons for nothing. When not shuffling, the Demons are otherwise brash and busy on their tenth album, All In, whose ten numbers were ...

Album Review

The Shuffle Demons: All In

by Kyle Simpler
January 24, 2022

Bands such as Tower of Power and the Average White Band are known for their hard-driving blend of funky soul mixed with rock and jazz elements. The Canadian-based group, Shuffle Demons, takes these influences and keeps the funk alive while emphasizing their own jazz roots as well. Their tenth album, All In, features a non-stop combination of in-the-pocket grooves combined with big band elements. The Shuffle Demons formed in 1984, and they started off playing as buskers in ...

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Album Review

Scott Reeves Quintet: Shape Shifter

Read "Shape Shifter" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
March 26, 2009

Scott Reeves' Shape Shifter could be called a standard live mainstream affair in that the tunes are, in part, vehicles for some stretching out by the soloists. But the sound slips out of the “standard" description, with its atmosphere of adventure and edgy energy, and an approach that more than hints at the avant-garde, in a way that perhaps Jackie McLean did on his '60s Blue Note recordings.Better known for his trombone work, Reeves uses the alto flugelhorn ...