Snarky Puppy is truly a different kind of musical animal
The once Texan, now New York-based quasi-collective has gone from the best-kept secret to one of the most respected names in instrumental music. Although still “underground” in many respects, the band has earned high praise from critical stalwarts like the BBC, Village Voice, Guardian, and Boston Herald, and has performed at some of the best venues and festivals in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.
http://snarkypuppy.com/
The band has always used live performance as its chief form of evangelism, and maintains a more intense tour schedule than almost any band in the idiom. Over the course of 2014, Snarky Puppy will have played almost 200 performances and workshops on four continents, including North Sea Jazz, Monterey Jazz Festival, Paris Jazz Festival, Blue Note Tokyo, EFG London Jazz Festival and the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Fresh off the heels of their 2014 Grammy win, Snarky Puppy released their latest album ‘We Like It Here’. Recorded live in the Pups signature style, the album debuted at # 1 on the itunes Jazz charts across the world and established the band as the standard-bearers for a new movement in jazz.
Back on tour! Here’s a great shot of @Larnell_Lewis at @jazzavienne last night by Stella K. pic.twitter.com/bpmBioa6re
— RealSnarkyPuppy (@RealSnarkyPuppy) July 12, 2015
Snarky Puppy have just won the ‘Best new artist’ and ‘Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist’ categories in Jazztimes magazines readers annual poll.
2015 will see the band release their first major label album, a ground breaking collaboration, specially written orchestral suite with the world famous Metropole Orkest on the legendary Impulse Label. They will also be recording the second volume of their Grammy award winning ‘Family Dinner’ series in New Orleans with a stellar guest artist line up.
Snarky Puppy seamlessly fuses a deep knowledge and respect for musical tradition with sonic and conceptual innovation in a way that is able to reach the most critical- or most carefree- audience. The convergence of musicians from white and black America, which occurred while the band was in its adolescence at the University of North Texas, has naturally established a system of balance that instantly draws listeners to the music- raw funk and sensitive dynamics, relentless pocket and lyrical melodicism, lush harmony and soulful simplicity, and most importantly, a delicate mixture of composition, harmony, melody and improvisation.
The group is led by award-winning bassist/guitarist/composer/arranger Michael League, whose creative grass-roots approach to a tougher-than-ever industry has created a new model for independent artists. Snarky Puppy is a three-headed creature: first, and most obviously- an original music ensemble. Second- a production team and session band for individual artists. Third, and probably most importantly- Snarky Puppy is a group of musicians enthusiastically committed to music education and community outreach. Working with groups like ROAM (Roots Of American Music) in inner city Cleveland and the Music Lab at Jefferson Center in Roanoke, as well as giving clinics at hundreds of colleges, high schools, and middle schools worldwide, the band has made a strong commitment to spreading their love of music and general positivity to a young generation looking for something real to be inspired by.
