🔎

Bio From Canadian Cult Classics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGsxMz7cn9w

Demo [Demetrius] Cates was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He began playing saxophone in his youth/teens and in 1968 joined the Detroit-area band The Fabulous Counts (later simplified to The Counts). The group stayed together for eight years, ultimately breaking up in 1976.

During it’s time together, the band played a regular east-coast circuit consisting of Detroit, New York, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Montreal and of course Toronto (plus many Ontario cities). The latter was the most hospitable and due to the growing reggae scene, plus the long-standing Funk/R&B scene, Toronto would become Demo’s new home. After that band recorded part of its 1971 album What’s Up Front That Counts in Toronto, Ontario, Cates opted to stay in the city, performing as a session musician for Lenny Breau and Wayne St. John.

During his time in Canada, he was a busy recording artist; releasing fourteen studio albums, for four reggae/soul/funk-oriented labels (Scorpip, Abraham, Imperial and S.I.G.H.T.), over an eleven year span (1980-1991) and was a regular performer in Toronto jazz clubs.

In 1981 he collaborated with Bobby Boyer and Jay W. McGee on Rap the Night Away, which has been credited as the first known full-length Canadian hip hop album.

He is recognized as a two-time Juno Award nominee for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year, receiving nominations at the Juno Awards of 1985 for Memories of Moments and at the Juno Awards of 1989 for Secret Love.

Although principally a saxophonist, Cates has also performed as a jazz and R&B vocalist. He has also had occasional supporting or guest roles as an actor, including in the television series Forever Knight, Goosebumps and The Jane Show, and the films Blues Brothers 2000 and A Raisin in the Sun.