Richard Underhill

Richard Underhill
Underhill at the Juno Awards in 2003
Background information
Genres	Jazz
Instruments	Alto saxophone, baritone saxophone
Years active	c. 1985 – present
Associated acts	The Shuffle Demons
Website	www.richardunderhill.com

Richard Underhill is a Canadian jazz saxophonist. A founding member of the jazz fusion group The Shuffle Demons, he has toured Europe and Canada to critical acclaim for over 27 years. Underhill won a 2003 Juno Award for his jazz solo debut Tales from the Blue Lounge, and was nominated for the Prix du Jazz at the 2003 Montreal Jazz Festival. He followed up with the Juno nominated Moment in Time in 2005, Juno nominated Kensington Suite in 2007 and the CD/DVD Free Spirit in 2010.

The founding member of Toronto's Shuffle Demons, Underhill took the Bop Rap ensemble from the streets of Toronto across Canada and to Europe. The group played jazz, folk, world and rock festivals from Halifax to Vancouver and from Italy to Estonia from 1986 – 1997, touring across Canada 15 times and through Europe 15 times. They played at several Jazz festivals including the North Sea Jazz, Molde Jazz, London’s Outside In Jazz festival, the Edinburgh Jazz festival, the Sfinks festival, and Jazz a Vienne.

They celebrated their 20th Anniversary with a cross Canada tour and by breaking the Guinness Book World Records for most sax players performing a song (900), although the record was later broken. The Shuffle Demons continue to tour and performed at festivals in India, China and Europe in 2006 and in Thailand, South Korea and the USA in 2010. The band is currently working on a new album and toured Australia and New Zealand in 2011.

Richard has performed and recorded with The Neville Brothers/Meters, Han Bennink, Julius Hemphill, Dr. John, Kathleen Edwards, Taj Mahal, Maria Muldaur, Rob McConnell, Molly Johnson, Blue Rodeo, , Hawksley Workman, The Sadies, Luke Doucet, Bob Wiseman, Soul Rebels, Kevin Breit, NOMA and Toronto jazz stalwarts like Steve Koven, Tyler Yarema and George Koller.