Rare is the jazz band and artist that is able to create music that mixes artistic integrity and vision with something that appeals to the head, heart and feet of the public. But, as the packed house at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theatre proved, the tightrope can be done, as Snarky Puppy, led by the visionary bassist Michael League created a 90 minute evening of songs that gave tribute to jazz’s legacy, but also swung toward the future.
Most of the material came from the albums We Like It Here and the most recent Empire Central, the latter being a tribute to the sonic legacy of Texas, with tunes such as “Broken Arrow” and “Bet” simmering with grooves and bluesy struts that you might hear on some roadside bar along the I-10. The biggest difference, however, is that League is Ellingtonian in his approach to soloists, and each song was essentially a feature for the surfeit of talent to get a spotlight over the rhythmic rivulets. Tenor saxist Bob Reynolds blew smoke rings on the opening pieces, while Bobby Sparks did some electronic wand wizardry on the slinky “”While We’re Young”. Justin Stanton gave some funky forms on the keyboards on a chunky “Bet” while Jay Jenning’s mellow flugelhorn and Zach Brock’s violin wafted through the richly textured horn section of “Honiara”.
League himself got a chance to take the lead, teaming with the formidable rhythm section of ‘Nikki Glaspie/dr and Nate Werth with guitarist Bob Lanzetti wacka-wooki-ing through a get down on it vibe of “Take It”. In fact, pieces like that, and even the Weather Reportish “Belmon” and Tower of Power’d street hip “What About Me?” are simply begging for someone akin to Teddy Pendergrass, Al Green or Lenny Williams to grab a microphone and belt out some lyrics.
By evening’s end, which also coincided with the Vice Presidential debate, there was no debate as to which audience had the better evening, and there was no need to fact check anything played, as it all rang true.
Upcoming shows from UCSB include Mavis Staples 10/06, Itzhak Perlman 11/07, Molly Tuttle 12/06 and Pink Martini 12/17