"The band is shifting tonalities all the time"

Three guitarists among 25 musicians playing instrumental jazz-funk: the unlikely success story of Snarky Puppy

- Jenna Scaramanga

Snarky Puppy could only be a 21st century band. It’s not that the music couldn’t have been done before then; it’s just tough to think of them getting anywhere in the age before social media. Imagine trying to sell them to a record company: “They play jazz- and funk-influenced music with lots of improvisation. There’s no singer, and none of their songs are short enough to play on the radio. Oh, and there are 25 of them, but don’t worry – they don’t all play at every gig.” Yet somehow this band has just completed a UK tour crowned by a headlining date at London’s Wembley Arena.an

Pretty much everything about Snarky Puppy is unconventional. The band's fluid line-up currently includes three gifted guitarists, with Chris McQueen and Mark Lettieri alongside founding member Bob Lanzetti - all of whom appear on the new album Empire Central. But for live performances, only one guitarist is utilised on any given night, and on that recent UK run it was Lettieri.