The Demagogue Reacts! features Paul Flush on Hammond, Johan Vandendriessche on saxes, bass clarinet, flute and mad drums, Frank Michiels on percussion, Wave Drum and didgeridoo.
This live recording from D'Impimerie in Brussels back in January 2000 came out of an earlier special Duke Ellington tribute evening in Bruges when we had wanted to come up with something a bit different from the other performances. This recording features more than Duke Ellington of course.
It's wild and wacky at times but has the tension and emotion that always comes from a live recording.
Quotes from the original album notes:
I hope you will like the way we treat the Ellingtonia, the pop tunes, and our own original material. We don't believe in the "you can't do this or that to a tune" way of thinking. and we certainly don't believe in "you can't do this or that with the Hammond organ" way of thinking. And most of all, we don't believe in "you can't do this or that in a jazz combo" way of thinking. Have a good time, or get annoyed, but please react to 'ACTION/REACTION'!
Johan Vandendriessche
"Thanks to Johan and Paul for reminding me that playing percussion is sometimes more than simply doubling the backbeats of the snare drum!"
Frank Michiels
I've always been a fan of musical surprises, musical mischief and humour, and The Demagogue Reacts! provides the perfect vehicle for this. The sense of freedom and fun with which the trio plays is apparent in every song on the album. Whilst acknowledging our musical heritage, we try to avoid the clichés often found in organ bands. The contrast in genres is exciting, too. Who would have thought of 'The Green Green Grass of Home" as the basis of a jazz tune - but it works and the result is full of passion and not in the least bit tongue in cheek (well, not too much...)
Love it, laugh with it, be surprised or excited by it, we guarantee you will ‘React’ to it.
Paul Flush
credits
released April 22, 2021
Thanks to Yannick Willox and Benjamin Dieltjens at D'Imprimerie, Brussels for their fantastic live mixing of a complicated group!
Thanks also to Pascal Noël for his help in getting the original recording idea off the ground.
Neither of our two albums is available anymore (maybe on Ebay!) so it's great to be able to present them here via Bandcamp. We are proud of the musical ideas created during the time of The Demagogue Reacts! and hope you enjoy listening. As with many Bandcamp artists just pay what you think it's worth (that could be a mistake...).
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