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Snarky Puppy

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Not to be confused with Skinny Puppy.

Snarky Puppy is an American jazz fusion band led by bassist Michael League. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five Grammy Awards.[1] Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".[2]

Snarky Puppy
Snarky Puppy performing at Heineken Jazzaldia in 2016
Snarky Puppy performing at Heineken Jazzaldia in 2016
Background information
OriginDenton, Texas, United States
GenresJazz, funk, fusion, pop, rock, world
Years active2004–present
Labels
Spinoffs
Websitesnarkypuppy.com
In Aalborg, Denmark (2022)

History

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The band was formed as a 10-piece group by Michael League in Denton, Texas, after his second year at the University of North Texas, in 2004, "Because I was so bad," he claimed, "I didn't place into any of the school ensembles. So Snarky Puppy was my way of getting to play."[3] The group has grown into an international superband comprising "...a wide-ranging assemblage of musicians known affectionately as 'The Fam'."[4] In the more than 17 years since its founding, approximately 40 players have performed in "The Fam" on guitar, bass, keyboards, woodwinds, brass, strings, drums, and percussion, but six of the 10 members on the first studio album The Only Constant remain on the regular roster. Many past and present band members were students at the University of North Texas.[5]

Members have performed with Erykah Badu, Marcus Miller, Justin Timberlake, Stanley Clarke, Kirk Franklin, Ari Hoenig, Roy Hargrove, David Crosby, Michael McDonald, Snoop Dogg, The 1975 and many other artists. While touring, the band has given clinics, workshops, and master classes in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Most members either lead or are primary players in other working recording bands.[6]

In 2005, League self-released the band's unofficial first album Live at Uncommon Ground. Snarky Puppy's next three albums were released independently, after which Tell Your Friends, groundUP, Family Dinner: Volume One, and We Like It Here were released on the band's GroundUP imprint on Ropeadope.[7]

The album We Like It Here was performed and recorded live in October 2013 at the artistic compound Kytopia in Utrecht, Netherlands.[8]

On January 26, 2014, Snarky Puppy and vocalist Lalah Hathaway won a Grammy Award in the Best R&B Performance category for their rendition of the Brenda Russell song "Something" from Family Dinner – Volume 1.[1] Sylva debuted at number one on the Billboard magazine Heatseekers Chart, the Jazz Album chart, and the Contemporary Jazz Album chart.[9] The album won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[10] The album Culcha Vulcha (2016) won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[11] Friday 26 April 2019, the band released the first bonus track from Immigrance.[12] Immigrance is the latest evolution of the band as League noted to David Browne in Rolling Stone: "We’re more into setting up nice grooves that we like and sitting with things a bit longer."[13]

Although the band had recorded several albums with a small audience of friends, family, and guests in the studio with them, its first true "live, in-concert" album was Live at the Royal Albert Hall recorded before a sold-out crowd at the historic London venue. The album won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[14]

A second "live, in-concert" album, "Live at GroundUP Music Festival" was released in the spring of 2022. The album consists of a single performance from each of the GroundUP Music Festival's first four seasons, none of which had been included in the "Live at the Royal Albert Hall" album. [15]

In March 2022, the band recorded their album Empire Central at the Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas, Texas.[16] The album won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.[17]

Label

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With the release of the album GroundUP in 2012, Snarky Puppy started its own imprint, GroundUP Music, on Ropeadope Records.[7] It was inspired by the idea of helping lesser-known artists capitalize on Snarky Puppy's growing fanbase. In 2016, GroundUP Music left Ropeadope and partnered with Universal Music[18] for three years of releases and is now a fully independent label. It has released albums by David Crosby, Snarky Puppy, Becca Stevens, Bokanté, Banda Magda, Alina Engibaryan, Charlie Hunter, Breastfist, Sirintip, Mark Lettieri, House of Waters, PRD Mais, Roosevelt Collier, Forq, Lucy Woodward, The Funky Knuckles, Michelle Willis, Cory Henry, Justin Stanton, Bill Laurance, and Maz.

GroundUP Music Festival

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In 2017, the GroundUP Music Festival, also known as GUMFest, debuted[19] within the grounds of the North Beach Band Shell in North Beach, Miami.[20] The first GroundUP Music Festival was initiated by Andy Hurwitz, directed by Paul Lehr, and artistically directed by Michael League.[21] The festival features performances by Snarky Puppy all three nights, with a line-up curated by League that has featured Michael McDonald, Cecile McLorin Salvant, David Crosby, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, The Wood Brothers, Robert Glasper, Knower, Concha Buika, C4 Trio, Pedrito Martinez, Jojo Mayer + Nerve, Mark Guiliana's Beat Music, John Medeski's Mad Skillet, Charlie Hunter Trio, Laura Mvula, Eliades Ochoa, Esperanza Spalding, Lionel Loueke, Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Maro, and Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band as well as the full GroundUP Music roster, among others.[22][23] Through February 2020 (and prior to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic), GroundUP Music Festival, Miami, had become an annual event.

Band members

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Snarky Puppy is sometimes referred to as a "collective." The band's current roster boasts about 19 members, and well over 40 musicians have performed with the group over the years and through the group's 14 albums. Michael League explains that, in the early days of the original 10-piece band, if someone got an opportunity to earn more money than for the band's gig, "...we'd get a substitute and if the substitute played well, then it felt like, 'Well, they learned the music and played great, what a waste for them to learn all that for one gig...' so we would kind of just keep them in the Rolodex, so to speak, and rotate them in and out. Then it became a thing where we started touring so much that guys couldn't do all the dates, or didn't want to, or whatever." When people came in, the differences in their playing would influence all those on the date. "That would change the way that they played the music. And then even when that new person left, that memory of that new relationship with the music would remain. So really we just kept building on the personalities of the new people that would come in, brick by brick. ...in general, the guys understand what the band is– a rotating cast... But I don't really think of Snarky Puppy as a collective. It's just a large band and sometimes people aren't there. It doesn't feel like a revolving door, it doesn't feel anonymous at all. The guys who have played gigs with us the least have still played several hundred gigs. That's more than most people play with their own bands. So it's very much a tight, familial unit. Everyone feels very, very close and very essential, also."[24]

Members listed on the notes of album Empire Central (2022):[25][26]

  • Zach Brock – violin
  • Chris Bullock – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute
  • Jay Jennings – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Bob Lanzetti – electric guitar
  • Bill Laurance – Fender Rhodes Mark 8, Yamaha CP70, Minimoog Model D
  • Michael League – electric bass, Minimoog Model D bass
  • Mark Lettieri – electric guitar
  • Larnell Lewis – drum set
  • Mike "Maz" Maher – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Shaun Martin – talkbox, vocoder, Moog Little Phatty, Korg Kronos, Mellotron
  • Chris McQueen – electric guitar
  • Keita Ogawa – percussion
  • Bob Reynolds – tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
  • Jamison Ross – drum set
  • Bobby Sparks II – Hammond B3 organ, ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog Model D, Hohner D6 Clavinet
  • Justin Stanton – Wurlitzer, Prophet 10, Minimoog Model D, trumpet
  • Jason "JT" Thomas – drum set
  • Nate Werth – percussion
  • Marcelo Woloski – percussion

Awards and honors

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  • 2013 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, "Something"[27]
  • 2013 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, JazzTimes Readers' Poll[28]
  • 2013 Best New Artist, JazzTimes Readers' Poll[28]
  • 2015 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, JazzTimes Critic' Poll[28]
  • 2015 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Sylva[29]
  • 2015 Jazz Group of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll[30]
  • 2016 Jazz Group of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll[31]
  • 2016 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, JazzTimes Readers' Poll[32]
  • 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Culcha Vulcha[33]
  • 2017 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, JazzTimes Readers' Poll[34]
  • 2017 Jazz Group of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll[35]
  • 2018 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, JazzTimes Readers' Poll[36]
  • 2019 Jazz Group of the Year, DownBeat Readers' Poll[37]
  • 2021 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Live At The Royal Albert Hall[38]
  • 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, Empire Central[17]

Discography

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Studio albums († = with audience in the studio)

Live recordings

  • Live at Uncommon Ground (self-release, 2005)
  • Live at the Royal Albert Hall (GroundUP, 2020)
  • Live at GroundUP Music Festival (GroundUP/Spotify, 2022)
  • "Live at Band on the Wall" (GroundUpMusic / Band on the Wall , RSD 2024)

Live Events with guest artists

Backing band

  • Amkeni with Bukuru Celestin (Ropeadope, 2013)

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Making of Lalah Hathaway and Snarky Puppy's "Something"". Grammy.com. March 3, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
  2. ^ Woodard, Josef (December 2015). "Thinking Person's Feel Good Music". Down Beat. Elmhurst, Illinois: Maher.
  3. ^ "Snarky Puppy: A House Built on Solid Funk". NYTimes. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Snarky Puppy Biography by Matt Collar". AllMusic, member of the RhythmOne group. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  5. ^ Chinen, Nate (5 February 2016). "Snarky Puppy: A House Built on Solid Funk". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Snarky Puppy | Denton". Pegasusnews.com. 2013-10-29. Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  7. ^ a b "What is Ropeadope". ropeadope.com. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  8. ^ [1] Archived June 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Snarky Puppy Reaches #1 on Multiple Billboard Charts with "Sylva"". JazzTimes. 3 June 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  10. ^ "2016 Grammy Awards: Complete list of winners and nominees". The Los Angeles Times. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  11. ^ Feiner, Abby (12 February 2017). "Grammys 2017: Complete Winners List". Us Weekly. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Snarky Puppy Shares 'Embossed' Single". JamBase. 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  13. ^ Browne, David (14 March 2019). "Snarky Puppy's Michael League on the Joyfully Eclectic Group's Latest Evolution". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  14. ^ "2021 Grammys Winners: The Full List". NY Times. March 14, 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Live at GroundUP Music Festival". Spotify. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Event Calendar – Deep Ellum Art Company".
  17. ^ a b Lee, Taila (2022-11-15). "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Winners & Nominees List". Grammy Awards. Retrieved 2023-02-06.
  18. ^ Sam, Hutchinson (11 January 2017). "Snarky Puppy's Mike League Discusses the Grammy Awards, GroundUP Music Festival & Much More". CEG Presents. CEG. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  19. ^ Garno, Kelly. "Announcing Late Night at GroundUP Music Festival". sensiblereason.com. Sensible Reason. Archived from the original on September 14, 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ Schlein, Zach (2018-02-06). "Michael League Crafts an Intimate Festival Experience in GroundUp Music". miaminewtimes.com. Miami New Times. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  21. ^ Andrew, O'Brien (11 January 2017). "Snarky Puppy's Michael League Talks GroundUP Festival, New Projects And More". Live For Live Music. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  22. ^ Kahn, Andy (2016-10-13). "Snarky Puppy & GroundUP Music Announce 2017 GroundUP Music Festival Lineup". jambase.com. Jambase. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  23. ^ "GroundUP Music Festival Feb 9 - 11, 2018". jambase.com. Jambase. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  24. ^ "Michael League: Snarky Puppy's Jazz-Schooled, Grassroots Visionary". All About Jazz. December 10, 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  25. ^ "The last four years have brought dramatic changes for Snarky Puppy". groundup music. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  26. ^ "Immigrance liner notes" (PDF). groundup music. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  27. ^ "2013 Grammy Winners". Recording Academy. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  28. ^ a b c "The 2015 Expanded Critics' Poll". JazzTimes/Madavor Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  29. ^ "2015 Grammy Winners". Recording Academy. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  30. ^ "DownBeat Announces 2015 Readers Poll Results". jazztalk.net. October 26, 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  31. ^ "Schneider & Washington Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners". Downbeat/Maher Publications. October 28, 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2020. \
  32. ^ "JazzTimes Readers' Poll Results 2016". JazzTimes/Madavor Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  33. ^ "2016 Grammy Winners". Recording Academy. Retrieved 1 March 2020. \
  34. ^ "JazzTimes 2017 Readers' Poll Results". JazzTimes/Madavor Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2020. \
  35. ^ "Marsalis, Krall, Corea Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners". Downbeat/Maher Publications. October 24, 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020. \
  36. ^ "JazzTimes 2018 Readers' Poll Results". JazzTimes/Madavor Media, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  37. ^ "Shorter, Salvant and Benson Among DownBeat Readers Poll Winners". Downbeat/Maher Publications. October 21, 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  38. ^ "2020 Grammy Winners". Recording Academy. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021. \
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