You may not have heard of Brooklyn-based instrumental music collective Snarky Puppy, but you’re about to. “With the release of their live, 2-disc album/DVD Tell Your Friends, Snarky Puppy has gone from an underground secret to one of the most internationally respected names in instrumental music,” says press for the band.
Not convinced? Local steel pan wizard Jonathan Scales says, “They are basically the best band in the world! Everybody needs to see Snarky Puppy.” Plus, the Jonathan Scales Fourchestra opens the Snarky Puppy show at Asheville Music Hall on Thursday, Sept. 26. 10 p.m., $15.
Snarky Puppy formed at the University of North Texas, blending two traditions: “jazz and rock kids from white America, and gospel/R&B kids from black America.” The result mixed composition and improvisation along with a rotating cast of 25 players. The group is the brainchild of award-winning bassist/guitarist/composer/arranger Michael League. Core musicians include “Grammy Award-winners Robert ‘Sput’ Searight on drums (God’s Property, Snoop Dogg) and Shaun Martin on keys (Kirk Franklin, Erykah Badu), as well as young organ prodigy Cory Henry (Kenny Garrett, Kim Burell) and multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato (Marcus Miller, Q-Tip, George Duke).” Band members have performed with the likes of Erykah Badu, Marcus Miller, P Diddy Dirty Money, The Polyphonic Spree, Snoop Dogg, Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor, Morcheeba, Tower of Power, Ari Hoenig/Adam Rogers, Justin Timberlake, Kenny Garrett, Yo-Yo Ma, Lucy Woodward, Bilal and others.
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