Richard Underhill
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
saxophonist. A founding member of the jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
group The Shuffle Demons
The Shuffle Demons
The Shuffle Demons are a Canadian jazz fusion band, who had a surprise Top 40 hit in Canada with their 1986 single "Spadina Bus". The song, from their debut album Streetniks, referred to the Toronto Transit Commission's Spadina Avenue bus in Toronto, Ontario...
, he has toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
to critical acclaim for over 27 years. Underhill won a 2003 Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
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.
Richard has performed and recorded with The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art , Charles , Aaron , and Cyril The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in...
/Meters, Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
, Julius Hemphill
Julius Hemphill
Julius Arthur Hemphill was a jazz composer and saxophone player. He performed mainly on alto saxophone; less often soprano and tenor saxophones and flute.-Biography:...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, The Joe Huron Trio, Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".- Personal life :...
, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur
Maria Muldaur is a folk-blues singer who was part of the American folk music revival in the early 1960s...
, Rob McConnell
Rob McConnell
Robert Murray Gordon "Rob" McConnell, was a Canadian jazz valve trombonist, composer, arranger, music educator, and recording artist.-Biography:...
, Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson, OC is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.-Biography:Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts...
, Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987...
, Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky is a songwriter living in Los Angeles who was once signed to RCA U.S. He first started out as one the most wanted drummers in the Canadian music scene. His popularity caught the attention of songstress Ani DiFranco. Living just south of the border in Buffalo, New York, she asked him...
, Don Thompson, Terry Clarke, Dave Young, Ron Westray, Holly Cole, Hawksley Workman
Hawksley Workman
Ryan Corrigan , better known by the stage name Hawksley Workman, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full length albums throughout his career...
, The Sadies
The Sadies
The Sadies are a Canadian indie rock and alternative country band from Toronto, Ontario.-Background:The band consists of Dallas Good , Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky...
, Luke Doucet
Luke Doucet
Luke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He writes and performs both as a solo artist and as a member of the indie rock band Veal....
, Bob Wiseman
Bob Wiseman
Bob Wiseman is a Juno winning Canadian musician, filmmaker, singer-songwriter, and actor. Wiseman was an original member of Blue Rodeo.-Career:Wiseman was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He studied piano at York University...
, Soul Rebels
Soul Rebels
Soul Rebels is an album by The Wailers, their first album to be released outside of Jamaica. The Wailers approached producer Lee Perry in August 1970 to record an entire album, and the sessions took place at Randy's Studio 17 in Kingston, Jamaica until November...
, Mighty PoPo, Paul Cram, Kevin Breit
Kevin Breit
Kevin Breit is a guitar player from McKerrow, Ontario. His group, The Sisters Euclid, has been a fixture at the Orbit Room in Toronto for the past 13 years. Breit has worked as a session musician with a variety of musicians including The Miller Stain Limit, Norah Jones, Michael Kaeshammer, Celine...
, the Hemispheres Orchestra, NOMA
Noma
Noma may refer to:* NOMA * Noma * Noma * Noma, Florida, United States* NoMa, Washington, D.C., United States* Noma pony* Noma Prize, a group of Japanese literary awards* New Orleans Museum of Art...
and Toronto jazz stalwarts like Reg Schwager, Jake Langley, Steve Koven
Steve Koven
Steve Koven is a Canadian Jazz pianist and member of the Steve Koven Trio.Born in Toronto, Canada, Koven took up the piano at the age of seven. He earned a B.F.A. from York University studying contemporary improvisation...
, Ron Davis, Wayne Cass, Tyler Yarema
Tyler Yarema
Tyler Richard Yarema is a Toronto-based singer/song-writer. A self-taught pianist, Yarema’s early influences in music stem from the stride genre, and he takes his cues from musicians such as Willie “the lion” Smith, Fats Waller, Pete Johnson, Lionel Hampton, and Duke Ellington...
, Tory Cassis and George Koller
George Koller
George Koller is a Canadian bassist and multi-instrumentalist who has played professionally and extensively within most genres of music and is best known for his work in jazz, free jazz, folk music, world music and world fusion...
.
In demand as a session player and sideman, he has written horn and string arrangements for Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards
Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician. Her 2003 debut album, Failer, contained the singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates".- Personal life :...
, Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson
Molly Johnson, OC is a Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz.-Biography:Johnson began as a child performer, receiving formal training from the National Ballet School and the Banff School of Fine Arts...
, Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky is a songwriter living in Los Angeles who was once signed to RCA U.S. He first started out as one the most wanted drummers in the Canadian music scene. His popularity caught the attention of songstress Ani DiFranco. Living just south of the border in Buffalo, New York, she asked him...
, Hawksley Workman
Hawksley Workman
Ryan Corrigan , better known by the stage name Hawksley Workman, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full length albums throughout his career...
, Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987...
, Bob Wiseman
Bob Wiseman
Bob Wiseman is a Juno winning Canadian musician, filmmaker, singer-songwriter, and actor. Wiseman was an original member of Blue Rodeo.-Career:Wiseman was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He studied piano at York University...
, Big Rude Jake
Big Rude Jake
Big Rude Jake is a singer, songwriter and jazz musician based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He recorded several albums with different jazz ensembles and musicians, mixing rock, jump blues, blues, ragtime, swing, rhythm and blues and punk rock together...
and Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group Parachute Club, with which she continues to perform.- History :...
.
The founding member of Toronto's outrageous Sun Ra influenced Shuffle Demons, Underhill took this ground breaking Bop Rap ensemble from the streets of Toronto across Canada and to Europe. This audacious 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. The Shuffle Demons featured a fusion of hard bop and rap combined with exotic costumes and a no-holds-barred performance style. Over the course of 15 European tours they were a hit 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 Record for most sax players performing a song. (900). 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 with great success. The band is currently working on a new album and toured Australia and New Zealand in 2011.
He leads several diverse groups including his jazz quintet, the Funk Explosion and the improvising electronic groove ensemble Astrogroove. He also leads an improvising/free-jazz group, whose members vary but are mostly horn players called, The Kensington Community Orchestra. They most often play in Toronto's Kensington Market to celebrate car-free Sundays, and annually on December 21 for the solstice party Festival of Lights.
Rich can often be found out and about in the Kensington Market
Kensington Market
Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's most well-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada. Robert Fulford wrote in 1999 that "Kensington...
area of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's downtown district.
He performed Van Morrison's Into the Mystic at the state funeral
Death and state funeral of Jack Layton
On August 22, 2011, Canadian New Democratic Party leader and Leader of the Opposition Jack Layton died after a bout from an unspecified, newly diagnosed cancer. Prior to his recent diagnosis, Layton led his party to gain a historic rise in seats during the 2011 federal election...
for Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
, deceased leader of the New Democratic Party, on August 27, 2011.
Discography
- Tales from the Blue Lounge (2003)
- Moment in Time (2005)
- Kensington Suite (2007)
- Free Spirit (2010)