Snarky Puppy & Metropole Orkest – Sylva (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 54:31 minutes | 600 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Impulse!
Brooklyn’s Snarky Puppy jazz-funk collective have become one of modern music’s bright lights. Sylva, their debut for Impulse, is their fifth live album and eighth overall. It is unlike anything else in their catalog thus far, yet it embodies all the things they do so well: R&B, fusion, NOLA second line, soul-jazz, and more. It is a concert collaboration with Utrecht’s Metropole Orkest; a single work comprised of two suites. The first four tracks make up the first, while the last two comprise the second. Sylva realizes composer/bassist Michael League’s dream for Snarky Puppy: to work on a cinematic, orchestral scale without resorting to a watered-down “with strings” exercise. Their trademark edges — in arrangement, improvisation, and groove quotient — all remain intact. Fans may experience initial hesitation during the opening strains of the set’s overture “Sintra.” It contains repetitive, moody strings and winds before the band’s horns enter on a Latin tinge and rhythms follow suit. The Metropole’s horns join and it all starts to swirl, ending on the fat crescendo that introduces the slinky jazz-funk of “Flight.” It features more familiar traits, with spidery synth and Rhodes, vamping guitars, and layers of staggered percussion and B-3 as its engine. “Atchafalaya” sounds exactly like its title: swampy, sweaty NOLA horn funk with stinging electric guitars and popping stacks of percussion as its hallmarks. “The Curtain” is over 15 minutes long. It employs intimate post-bop, symphonic rock, big-band funk, dancefloor stomp, cosmic fusion, and classical elegance. Sylva’s closer is the nearly 20-minute “The Clearing.” Debussy-ian impressionism may introduce it, but lithe, shimmering R&B, swinging, fat-horned progressive big band (think Clarke-Boland), greasy, blackbone-slipping alley funk, trancey Miles-esque fusion, and Wardell Quezergue-styled NOLA horn grooves wind out of it. This sprawler ratchets down before rebuilding toward a swaggering climax with brass, guitars, bass, drums, and B-3 all on stun. Sylva may not be the dance party face of Snarky Puppy, but there is one within it. League writes not only tor the strengths in his band, but also those of the Metropole Orkest — they are not only able to “hang” with Snarky Puppy, they push them — hard. Many acts have attempted collaborative exercises like this, but few — if any — have pulled them off. Musical sophistication meets the gritty danger of live performance; execution matches ambition with crackling energy and soulful expression. –AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
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Snarky Puppy – Snarky Puppy Crew Favorites – Live Songs Compilation (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 02:40:10 minutes | 1,92 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUP Music
Enjoy some of the Snarky Puppy Crew’s favorite live performances over the last few years. 50% of all profits between December 7th and January 31st will be donated to the Snarky Puppy Crew. Additionally, all purchases made during this time will receive an MP3 download of GroundUP Music’s 2021 Grammy-nominated artists, including: “Live at the Royal Albert Hall” – Snarky Puppy (Best Contemporary Instrumental Album)”WONDERBLOOM” – Becca Stevens (featuring “Slow Burn” nominated for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals)
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Snarky Puppy – Immigrance (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 54:25 minutes | 1,06 GB | Genre: Jazz Fusion, Jazz Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUP
Immigrance, the new Snarky Puppy studio album, is all about movement. “The idea here is that everything is fluid, that everything is always moving and that we’re all in a constant state of immigration,” explains Michael League. “Obviously the album’s title is not without political undertones.”
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Snarky Puppy – Family Dinner Volume Two (Deluxe) (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:27:15 minutes | 1,04 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUp Music LLC
In February of 2015, Grammy Award-winning band Snarky Puppy recorded Family Dinner Volume Two in front of a live studio audience with guest instrumentalists and vocalists from all over the world. The project is a true testament for showing first-hand how music can be a bridge between diverse cultures from countries from all over the world to create a unifying musical statement for the average listener or the devout music-connoisseur.
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Snarky Puppy – Culcha Vulcha (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:05:39 minutes | 853 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUp Music LLC
Fresh off of the heels of its tenth album, Family Dinner – Volume Two, the band is returning to its roots as an instrumental ensemble with a brand new collection of nine original songs. A departure from its signature live-from-the-studio film and audio style, the band spent a week in the middle of a pecan orchard at the remote Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas, just a five minute walk from the Mexican border. With no cameras, no audience, and the opportunity to overdub, they have crafted an album much darker and moodier than any before it. The typical flash and bombastic moments that Snarky Puppy is known for have been replaced by a more patient, restrained, and sonically creative approach to both composition and performance. The melodies are intricate, the counterpoint is fluid, and groove reigns supreme in mixes that are bass and percussion-heavy.
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Snarky Puppy – Live at GroundUP Music Festival (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 45:42 minutes | 548 MB | Genre: Jazz-Funk, Fusion
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUp Music LLC
Snarky Puppy are an American instrumental fusion band, known for the diversity and eclecticism of their instrumental approach. They were formed in Denton, Texas in 2004.
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Snarky Puppy – Empire Central (Japan Edition) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:41:23 minutes | 2,05 GB | Genre: Jazz Fusion, Jazz Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUP Music
Snarky Puppy has built a loyal following with their adventurous blend of jazz, rock and funk based around a heavy touring schedule and live-in-studio video content. A rotating roster of some of the most talented musicians and multi-instrumentalists makes for a truly unique sound within the jazz fusion world. Their new live-in-studio audio and visual album, Empire Central, is a love letter to Dallas, representing Snarky Puppy returning to their funk, gospel roots.
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Snarky Puppy – Empire Central (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:34:40 minutes | 1,91 GB | Genre: Jazz Fusion, Jazz Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUp Music LLC
It seems inevitable that the popularity of jam bands would eventually give rise to the jam big band, and first on that scene was the cross-cultural and endlessly innovative Snarky Puppy. Springing from the renowned music program at North Texas State in Denton, Texas, in 2004, and led since the beginning by bassist Michael League, the band is now more a collective with over 40 members who have passed through in the past 18 years, during which they’ve released 15 albums and steadily built a sizable audience for their composed and improvised blend of jazz fusion, full-on rock, and funky extended jams. This is Snarky Puppy’s third live album in a row, which makes sense given that the perky smooth jazz of this 20-piece collective dedicated to finding the necessary groove undoubtedly blossoms in front of an audience. Their superpower, however, is sharp, compelling arranging, and finding a place and the right blend for all its nearly two dozen instrumentalists. Another star in this show is the attention to appealing textures that are built thanks to an array of new and vintage keyboards including a Mellotron, Wurlitzer ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog Model D, Fender Rhodes, and Hohner D6 Clavinet. The big brassy “Pineapple,” where Snarky Puppy’s three drummers and three percussionists raise a mighty din, is typical of the group’s jumpier, groove side. “RL’s,” named for Dallas nightclub RL Griffin’s Blues Palace 2, winds up as a massive guitar shredfest only tangentially related to the blues. In “Belmont,” violinist Zach Brock solos throughout. The sound is huge in all ways, at times crossing over into loud and in-your-face space where wider dynamics might have made for a more enjoyable listen. Strangely, while the entire record was recorded live at the Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas in March, 2022, and mixed in Els Prats de Rei, Spain (where League resides), the tightest and less flamboyant groove “Mean Green,” (think Average White Band) named for the North Texas mascot, does not feature the applause present elsewhere. Another applause-less tune, “Free Fall,” is a trip back to the synthy 1980s of Al Jarreau and Spyro Gyra. Jam on! – Robert Baird
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Snarky Puppy – Empire Central (Japan Edition) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:41:23 minutes | 2,05 GB | Genre: Jazz Fusion, Jazz Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUP Music
Snarky Puppy has built a loyal following with their adventurous blend of jazz, rock and funk based around a heavy touring schedule and live-in-studio video content. A rotating roster of some of the most talented musicians and multi-instrumentalists makes for a truly unique sound within the jazz fusion world. Their new live-in-studio audio and visual album, Empire Central, is a love letter to Dallas, representing Snarky Puppy returning to their funk, gospel roots.
Read more
Snarky Puppy – Empire Central (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:34:40 minutes | 1,91 GB | Genre: Jazz Fusion, Jazz Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © GroundUp Music LLC
It seems inevitable that the popularity of jam bands would eventually give rise to the jam big band, and first on that scene was the cross-cultural and endlessly innovative Snarky Puppy. Springing from the renowned music program at North Texas State in Denton, Texas, in 2004, and led since the beginning by bassist Michael League, the band is now more a collective with over 40 members who have passed through in the past 18 years, during which they’ve released 15 albums and steadily built a sizable audience for their composed and improvised blend of jazz fusion, full-on rock, and funky extended jams. This is Snarky Puppy’s third live album in a row, which makes sense given that the perky smooth jazz of this 20-piece collective dedicated to finding the necessary groove undoubtedly blossoms in front of an audience. Their superpower, however, is sharp, compelling arranging, and finding a place and the right blend for all its nearly two dozen instrumentalists. Another star in this show is the attention to appealing textures that are built thanks to an array of new and vintage keyboards including a Mellotron, Wurlitzer ARP String Ensemble, Minimoog Model D, Fender Rhodes, and Hohner D6 Clavinet. The big brassy “Pineapple,” where Snarky Puppy’s three drummers and three percussionists raise a mighty din, is typical of the group’s jumpier, groove side. “RL’s,” named for Dallas nightclub RL Griffin’s Blues Palace 2, winds up as a massive guitar shredfest only tangentially related to the blues. In “Belmont,” violinist Zach Brock solos throughout. The sound is huge in all ways, at times crossing over into loud and in-your-face space where wider dynamics might have made for a more enjoyable listen. Strangely, while the entire record was recorded live at the Deep Ellum Art Company in Dallas in March, 2022, and mixed in Els Prats de Rei, Spain (where League resides), the tightest and less flamboyant groove “Mean Green,” (think Average White Band) named for the North Texas mascot, does not feature the applause present elsewhere. Another applause-less tune, “Free Fall,” is a trip back to the synthy 1980s of Al Jarreau and Spyro Gyra. Jam on!
Read more