Snarky Puppy is an American

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

band led by bassist

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

. Founded in 2004, Snarky Puppy combines a variety of jazz idioms, rock, world music, and funk and has won five

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s. Although the band has worked with vocalists, League described Snarky Puppy as "a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals".

History

The band was formed as a 10-piece group by

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

, after his second year at the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

, 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." The group has grown into an international superband comprising "...a wide-ranging assemblage of musicians known affectionately as 'The Fam'." 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

. Members have performed with

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

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, Stanley Clarke,

Kirk Franklin Kirk Dewayne Franklin (born January 26, 1970) is an American Gospel music, gospel musician. One of the List of best-selling gospel music artists, best-selling gospel music artists, his accolades include 20 Grammy Awards. ''Variety (magazine), Var ...

, Ari Hoenig,

Roy Hargrove Roy Anthony Hargrove (October 16, 1969 – November 2, 2018) was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved critical acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles ...

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, Michael McDonald,

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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. 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 1'', and '' We Like It Here'' were released on the band's GroundUP imprint on Ropeadope. The album ''We Like It Here'' was performed and recorded live in October 2013 at the artistic compound Kytopia in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, Netherlands. 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 Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

song "Something" from ''Family Dinner – Volume 1''. '' Sylva'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine Heatseekers Chart, the Jazz Album chart, and the Contemporary Jazz Album chart. The album won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The album '' Culcha Vulcha'' (2016) won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. Friday 26 April 2019, the band released the first bonus track from ''Immigrance.'' ''Immigrance'' is the latest evolution of the band as League noted to David Browne in

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

: "We’re more into setting up nice grooves that we like and sitting with things a bit longer." 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. 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. In March 2022, the band recorded their album '' Empire Central'' at the Deep Ellum Art Company in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas. The album won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

Label

With the release of the album '' GroundUP'' in 2012, Snarky Puppy started its own imprint, GroundUP Music, on Ropeadope Records. 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 for three years of releases and is now a fully independent label. It has released albums by

, 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 Lucy Woodward is an English-American singer-songwriter. She has released records on Atlantic, Verve, and GroundUP and has sung with many artists including Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand, Snarky Puppy, Celine Dion, Pink Martini, Gavin DeGraw, ...

, The Funky Knuckles,

Michelle Willis Michelle Willis (born November 6, 1986) is a British-born, Canadian-raised singer/songwriter and keyboard player. She performs regularly as a solo artist and as a side musician with David Crosby and Becca Stevens. She has also worked with The Stoo ...

, Cory Henry, Justin Stanton, Bill Laurance, and Maz.

GroundUP Music Festival

In 2017, the GroundUP Music Festival, also known as GUMFest, debuted within the grounds of the North Beach Band Shell in North Beach, Miami. The first GroundUP Music Festival was initiated by Andy Hurwitz, directed by Paul Lehr, and artistically directed by

. 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,

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones Béla Fleck and the Flecktones is an American jazz fusion band that is known for its eclectic style and instrumentation, combining jazz Musical improvisation, improvisation with progressive bluegrass, Rock music, rock, Classical music, classical ...

, The Wood Brothers,

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 5, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and Arrangement, musical arranger. His music embodies numerous musical genres, primarily centered around jazz. Glasper has won five Grammy Awards from ...

, 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 Esperanza Emily Spalding (born October 18, 1984), sometimes professionally known with the stylized name of esperanza spalding, is an American bassist, singer, songwriter, and composer. Her accolades include five Grammy Awards, a Boston Music Aw ...

, 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. Through February 2020 (and prior to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

), GroundUP Music Festival, Miami, had become an annual event.

Band members

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." Members listed on the notes of album '' Empire Central'' (2022): * 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 *

– 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 Keyboardist Shaun Martin passed away on August 3, 2024 from complications following a stroke. Drummer Nikki Glaspie has since joined the group.

Awards and honors

* 2013 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, "Something" * 2013 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Readers' Poll * 2013 Best New Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Readers' Poll * 2015 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Critic' Poll * 2015 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, '' Sylva'' * 2015 Jazz Group of the Year, ''DownBeat'' Readers' Poll * 2016 Jazz Group of the Year, ''DownBeat'' Readers' Poll * 2016 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Readers' Poll * 2016 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, '' Culcha Vulcha'' * 2017 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Readers' Poll * 2017 Jazz Group of the Year, ''DownBeat'' Readers' Poll * 2018 Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group/Artist, ''JazzTimes'' Readers' Poll * 2019 Jazz Group of the Year, ''DownBeat'' Readers' Poll * 2021 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, '' Live At The Royal Albert Hall'' \ * 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album, '' Empire Central''

Discography

Studio albums († = with audience in the studio) * '' The Only Constant'' (Sitmom, 2006) * '' The World Is Getting Smaller'' (Sitmom, 2007) * '' Bring Us the Bright'' (Sitmom, 2008) * '' Tell Your Friends'' ( Ropeadope, 2010) † * '' groundUP'' (GroundUP, 2012) † * '' We Like It Here'' (Ropeadope, 2014) † * '' Sylva'' with Metropole Orkest ( Impulse!, 2015) † * '' Culcha Vulcha'' (GroundUP, 2016) * '' Immigrance'' (GroundUP, 2019) * '' Empire Central'' (GroundUP, 2022) † * ''Somni'' (GroundUP, 2025) † 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 * '' Family Dinner – Volume 1'' (Ropeadope, 2013) * '' Family Dinner – Volume 2'' (GroundUP, Universal Music Classics, 2016) Backing band * '' Amkeni'' with Bukuru Celestin (Ropeadope, 2013)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snarky Puppy Jazz ensembles from Texas Grammy Award winners Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups from Denton, Texas Musical groups from Brooklyn American jazz fusion ensembles GroundUPmusic artists Ropeadope Records artists Impulse! Records artists Jazz musicians from New York (state)