Kensington Jazz Festival
Every year about this time Kensington has a weekend where it is free to express its jazzier side. This is a thank you note to Molly Johnson who has been creating this unique experience for Toronto for the past ten years.
In its tenth year the festival wanted to bring together and thank the artists, the audience, the volunteers and the partners for keeping this community well balanced.
Shuffle Demons
This year, I was very low energy and could only attend one show for this festival. Thank goodness I chose the Shuffle Demons. If there was a band that could restore some of my depleted energy it was this band.
This band has been shuffling for more than 40 years and still puts on a high energy and quirky show. They played the Handlebar and the place was packed all the way outside of the building.
Well the band started from the outside and they moved their way in with horns blaring and feet shuffling. You should take a shot for every time I use the word shuffle.
They are one of Toronto’s most colourful bands and they will not leave you alone until you begin to crack a smile and begin to shuffle your feet.
About three songs in, I could hear a muffled scream coming from some woman named Irene. She really wanted “Cheese on bread”, and the Shuffle Demons provided that meal for her.
By the middle of the set, the band wanted to play some new material and they unleashed their new song called.”Prism”. It had some classic funky jazz mixed in some fun sounding Monty Python silliness.
They dedicated the show to Don, who was the artist that did the artwork on their new album.
Of, course they had to play “Spadina Bus” and they did in the great style of the Shuffle Demons. They got up half way through the song and marched out onto the street to have an irregular jam for wayward pedestrians. They walked back in and finished with everybody smiling, holding up signs and cheering.
Thanks, again to Molly Johnson for putting together a weekend filled with our top quality players. I look forward to the 11th years as I sit and write this on my way home on the Spadina bus.
Here is a link to what you have missed, but more importantly, save for next year and plan the best and most intimate jazz experience in Toronto- The 10th annual Kensington Market Jazz Festival is in the works! Sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop!
The Shuffle Demons:
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