This cd/dvd features the exciting sounds of Snarky Puppy as they team up to create a panoramic mix of strings and soul. The twelve member band includes Michael League/b, Bob Lanzetti-Mark Leftieri-Chris McQueen/g, Bill Laurance-Cory Henry-Justin Stanton/key, Jay Jennings-Mike Maher/tp-fh, Chris Bullock/reeds, Nate Werth/perc and Robert Searight/dr. As you can see, there are a lot of guitars and keyboards flying around, but the horns hold their own as they punch like the Average White Band and a funky New Orleans team on “Atchafalaya,” and “Flight.” Some moody strings team up with percussion and synthesizers to create a caravan of a groove on “ Sintra.” A warm and lyrical trumpet opens up the opus “The Curtain” which gets into some funky drumming and lively back and forth on synthesizers and guitars. The team plods and trudges up hill on “Gretel,” and the album ends on another magnum opus on “The Clearing’ as guitars and percussion softly percolates until you get an almost Central Asian lilt of harmonies, leading up to a dramatic cataclysm of orchestra and band. These guys know how to stir the pot!
Impulse! Records