The universally acclaimed band revered by other musicians plays Kalamazoo State Theatre on Sunday. The Local Spins interview and preview, with a music video.
Music That ‘Stretches to New Places’: Snarky Puppy plays West Michigan on Sunday. (Courtesy Photo)
TICKET GIVEAWAY: Email info@localspins.com with “SNARKY PUPPY” in the message field and your name will be put in a drawing for two tickets to Sunday’s concert. Scroll down for a video of the band performing a track from its latest album.
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It’s not a jazz band, though many of its members came from the jazz program at North Texas.
It’s not a jam band, either, though some have categorized it as such.
It’s not exactly rock, or hip hop, or fusion, or pop. Yet the multiple Grammy Award-winning Snarky Puppy is all those things. It’s just not beholden to any specific genre.
“We’re definitely not a fusion band. We’re definitely not a jam band,” says multi-instrumentalist Michael League, who sees the former as celebrating virtuosity in an almost athletic way, with the latter based on free-form playing with little regard for music that is written out.
A Collective of Musicians: Snarky Puppy (Courtesy Photo)
“We’re way too poppy and groove-based for fusion. We improvise continually, but in a song-based (way). For me, categorizing music is an exercise in futility.”
League formed Snarky Puppy with other members of the famed jazz program at North Texas University, whose alumni include stalwarts such as Norah Jones, David Hungate of Toto, Tom “Bones” Malone and Lou Marini Jr. of Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Blues Brothers band (and David Letterman’s band in Malone’s case).
He says the band’s perspective broadened following graduation when they began working amid Dallas’ rich gospel and R&B scene. In fact, the band’s first Grammy was for Best R&B Performance with guest Lalah Hathaway on vocals in 2014. It has since won four more for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, in 2016, 2017, 2021, and this year for its latest recording, 2022’s “Empire Central.”
It’s been rightly stated that Snarky Puppy is a collective rather than a band. It boasts a rotating cast of some 25 players, including multiple horns, guitarists, keyboardists and percussionists, with bassist League the lone constant.
The band on tour, including its upcoming Sunday (April 2) date at Kalamazoo’s State Theatre, reflects its studio efforts but not as sprawling. League says it typically features three to five horns along with its various rhythm players, touring with nine to 12 members.
That’s easy to do with a band where everyone is both familiar with one another and the tunes, while enjoying the opportunities to change things around, musically and personnel-wise.
“We embrace the differences in the lineup. That’s really fun,” League says. “Everybody knows every song. That’s the joy of playing.”
Tickets — $37.50-$57.50 — for the 8 p.m. Sunday show in Kalamazoo are available online here, with “skip the line” passes also available. It’s the band’s only Michigan stop on this tour, with Snarky Puppy traveling to South America in May and Europe in July. The C4 Trio is also on the bill.
While the band is more jazz-adjacent than jazz, League doesn’t disavow its beginnings. In fact, he’s bullish on the future of the art form.
“I’m optimistic about its direction,” he says, meaning both the public appreciation of jazz and the attitude of jazz artists themselves. “I think the music industry is changing. Twenty years ago, the jazz world didn’t like bands with electric bass, guitars and synthesizers. And the public perception of jazz-based music: Now, it’s cool again.”
‘JAZZ IN 2023 IS NOT LIVING IN A MUSEUM’
As proof, League points to jazz-based musicians who are working with others outside the boundaries of jazz, such as bassist Thundercat, who has performed with numerous hip-hop and rap artists, and Best New Artist Grammy winners Esperanza Spalding (2011) and Samara Joy (2023).
“Above all, jazz in 2023 is not living in a museum,” League says.
He’s living the proof as well. Not only has the band won all those Grammy Awards, it’s popular on the concert scene. “We sell 5,000 tickets in London. Thundercat, Jacob Collier sell thousands of tickets. There’s hope versus the late ’90s.”
Cultivating a Devoted Audience in a New Era: League and Snarky Puppy (Courtesy Photo)
League draws from a huge variety of music for inspiration. His parents’ record collection included singer-songwriters like Crosby, Stills and Nash, and he also got into ’70s artists such as Herbie Hancock’s funky Headhunters. Born in 1984, he grew up with the sound of those as well as ’90s jazz like Chick Corea’s Origin band, Avishai Cohen and Dave Holland, and the pop sounds of Bjork and Radiohead.
After graduating from North Texas, he and band members came under the influence and unofficial mentorship of keyboardist Bernard Wright, performing with the likes of Walter Hawkins, Kirk Franklin and Marvin Sapp. League also was a regular member of Erykah Badu’s backing band.
When informed that David Crosby was touting Snarky Puppy on Twitter, League reached out and the two became good friends. He performed, wrote and produced with Crosby, leading to the Lighthouse Band. League also has worked with the likes of Joe Walsh, Chris Thile and Michael McDonald, among others, and his solo record “So Many Me” is basically a singer-songwriter effort with world-beat influences.
Snarky Puppy’s tough-to-pigeonhole music occasionally exhibits fusion’s flash but typically eschews its riff-based formula. Despite his insistence it’s poppy, the music’s melodies are elastic and not instantly hummable. Jazzy but not jazz, grooving but not jammy, it’s interesting and engaging and will likely make fans’ feet tap while they nod along – even if they’re not really sure where it’s going.
That’s a key to Snarky Puppy’s music and its live shows. In performance, League says no matter whether an audience is brand new to the music or intimately familiar with it, they’ll be surprised with where it goes.
“It’s very unpredictable. It stretches to new places. Even we’re surprised.”
VIDEO: Snarky Puppy, “Cliroy” (from “Empire Central”)
Copyright 2023, Spins on Music LLC
