WHAT HAPPENS IN COLLEGE STAYS IN COLLEGE” MIGHT BE THE BEST POLICY FOR MOST UNDERGRAD-FORMED BANDS, BUT SNARKY PUPPY IS AN EXCEPTION TO THAT RULE (AND A NUMBER OF OTHERS).
BASSIST/COMPOSER MICHAEL LEAGUE FOUND FERTILE MUSICAL GROUND IN THE JAZZ STUDIES PROGRAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS WHEN HE FORMED SNARKY PUPPY IN 2003. THE BAND THOUGHT BIG FROM ITS INCEPTION AS A 10-PIECE GROUP AND HAS CONTINUED TO MORPH AND SHAPESHIFT TO THE PRESENT, LIVING OUT OF VANS, PAYING DUES, RELENTLESSLY GIGGING, AND GARNERING THREE GRAMMYS ALONG THE WAY. IN 2017, THE GROUP WAS TAGGED JAZZ GROUP OF THE YEAR BY THE DOWNBEAT READERS’ POLL.
It has been quite a musical journey—from Denton, Texas, to playing London’s Royal Albert Hall in a 14- piece incarnation this past November. A recording of that concert (Snarky Puppy Live at the Royal Albert Hall, GroundUP Music LHN 070 LP 2020) was recently released on the GroundUP label, an umbrella for management and recording the band has built over time. Currently, the group is based in the New York City area, with a studio there as well.
Like the big bands of yesteryear, the band’s lineup is bound to change. Michael League highlighted for me several players who have been with Snarky Puppy for a long time: keyboardist Justin Stanton, trumpeter Mike Maher, guitarist Bob Lanzetti, guitarist Chris McQueen, and drummer Nate Werth. That consistency surely contributes to the power and tightness one hears in their live performances and recordings.
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Denne historien er fra June 2020-utgaven av Stereophile.
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Louis in London
No jazz-centric visit to New York City is complete without a trek out to Queens. At 46th Street in Sunnyside stands the apartment building where famed cornetist Leon Bismark \"Bix\" Beiderbecke's alcoholism finally killed him in 1931.
Believing in bricks and mortar
North Carolina hi-fi dealer Audio Advice has been busy lately.
Musical Fidelity AI
In 1989, I bought my second pair of Rogers LS3/5a's from a guy on Staten Island who had them hooked up to a Musical Fidelity AI integrated amplifier.
Burmester 218
As much as I tinkered with a little crystal radio as a child and started reading stereo magazines in high school, it wasn't until my early 30s that I half-stumbled into the higher end of the hi-fi sphere.
Bowers & Wilkins 805 D4 Signature
The \"Bowers\" in the name of British manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) refers to founder John Bowers, whom I got to know fairly well before he passed in 1987.
Hegel H400
STREAMING INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle
How many times have you been told by parents and teachers that everything successful must be built on a strong foundation?
RECOMMENDED RC2024 COMPONENTS
Every product listed here has been reviewed in Stereophile. Everything on the list, regardless of rating, is genuinely recommendable.
Paging Dr. Löfgren
It started one evening when I was killing time watching YouTube videos and stumbled across a 2017 talk given by Jonathan Carr, Lyra's brilliant cartridge designer.'
Music among the Fairchildren
Pull down the shades, find a comfortable seat, and come with me on an imaginary journey to the year 1956. The Eisenhower-Nixon ticket wins reelection, the United Methodist Church begins to ordain women, and a can of Campbell's tomato soup costs 10 cents.
