''Culcha Vulcha'' is an album by American

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

group

Snarky Puppy Snarky Puppy is an American instrumental 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 four Grammy Awards. Although the band has worked with vocalis ...

that was released on April 29, 2016. The album includes performances by a number of musicians associated with the band and called "the Fam". The band's first studio album in eight years since '' Bring Us the Bright'', it was recorded at the

Sonic Ranch Sonic Ranch, in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, is the world's largest residential recording studio complex. There are five studios designed by Vincent Van Haaff on a pecan orchard, which borders the Rio Grande and Mexico. Located east of ...

Tornillo, Texas Tornillo ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) and border town in El Paso County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,568 at the 2010 census. It is part of the El Paso Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Tornillo and Guadalupe, Chihuahua, ...

near El Paso and Atlantic Sound Studios in Brooklyn, New York, by Nic Hard.

Reception

Culcha Vulcha received moderate praise upon release, with NPR extolling the "core sonic idea f Culcha Vulcha it's an intricate melody over a multifaceted groove...It gathers ideas openly and avidly from all over the world". John Fordham of ''The Guardian'' remarked that "Jazzers might still balk at the high-concept planning, but it's remarkable how much polish has been applied without cramping the band's irrepressible creative energy." Culcha Vulcha also received the

Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album (previously: Best Pop Instrumental Album) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording arti ...

in 2016. In a release on social media, the band offered thanks, saying, "It's the first time that we've been awarded a Grammy for an album that represents who we are (99 percent) of the time—just us, without special guests, playing our own music."

Track listing

''Source+''

Personnel

''Source+'' *

Michael League Michael League (born April 24, 1984) is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is the bandleader of New York-based instrumental band Snarky Puppy and the international music ensemble Bokanté. He also founded the band F ...

– electric bass guitar, Moog Sub Phatty, nylon-string guitar, Mellotron, acoustic bass, Moog bass, piccolo bass, ukulele bass, baritone guitar, handclaps * Bob Lanzetti – electric & acoustic guitars *

Mark Lettieri Mark Lettieri (born c. 1984) is an American guitarist, composer and producer. He is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, funk band The Fearless Flyers, and also performs with his quartet, the Mark Lettieri Group. His background spans ...

– electric & acoustic guitars, baritone guitar, Hammertone guitar * Chris McQueen – electric & acoustic guitars *

Zach Brock Zach Brock (born August 2, 1974) is an American jazz violinist and composer. He has been a member of Snarky Puppy since 2007 and has worked with Stanley Clarke, Phil Markowitz, and Dave Liebman, as well as leading his own groups. Early life Bro ...

– violin *

Cory Henry Cory Alexander Henry (born February 27, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter, pianist, organist, and record producer. A former member of Snarky Puppy, Henry launched his solo artist career in 2018 with ''Art of Love'', his first independent ...

– clavinet, organ, Mellotron, Omni, Moog, piano *

Bill Laurance Bill Laurance (born 2 April 1981) is an English composer, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Laurance is a member of jazz fusion and funk band Snarky Puppy, as well as founder and CEO of London-based record label Flint Music. Biogr ...

– Fender Rhodes, piano, Synthex, Moog bass, clavinet *

Shaun Martin Shaun Martin is an American composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumental musician. Martin is a member of the jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy, as well as music director for Gospel music star Kirk Franklin, and former Minister of Music at Da ...

– vocoder & talkbox * Bobby Sparks – clavinet, Minimoog, Moog bass * Justin Stanton – piano, Fender Rhodes, Omni, Prophet 6, Moog, Synthex. Arp Axxe * Jay Jennings – trumpet, flugelhorn * Mike 'Maz' Maher – trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals * Chris Bullock – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute, alto flute, keyboards * Bob Reynolds – tenor saxophone * Larnell Lewis – drum set *

Robert "Sput" Searight Robert "Sput" Searight (born c. 1976) is an American drummer, composer and producer best known for his work with jazz fusion band Snarky Puppy and as co-founder of the percussion-based band Ghost-Note. His background spans several genres includ ...

– drum set * Jason 'J.T.' Thomas – drum set * – percussion: timbal, repenque, kanjira, caixa, congas, talking drum, kalimbas, handclaps * Nate Werth – percussion: trap set, floor tom, cowbells, chimes, caixa, tambourine, congas, shaker, angklung, handclaps * Marcelo Woloski – percussion: djembe, shakers, surdo, triangle, caixa, angklung, tang-tang, reco-cowbell, daf, bombo legüero, donkey jaw, kalimba, effects, handclaps

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Snarky Puppy albums Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album GroundUPmusic albums Albums recorded at Sonic Ranch