The Shy Sheks

The Shy Shēks name comes from a silent film from 1925 called “The Lady Of The Night,” featuring Norma Shearer. A character in the film says she has to leave to entertain some “shy sheiks from Cheyenne”. The term Sheik was a popular term in the 1920s that meant that someone was fashionable.

The Shy Shēks Jazz Duo, Nicolas and Cassondra Ruiz, playfully saunter through a few of our favorite musical genres. Traditional jazz, which celebrates the nation’s finest improvisers from the 1920s and 30s, is one of their top selections. They do quite a few tunes by Josephine Baker, Oscar Aleman, Maurice Chevalier and, of course, Django Reinhardt! You can watch them play a note for note transcription of Ruth Etting and Eddie Lang’s “Without That Man!” featured in the Vitaphone Short “A Regular Trouper”.