Back when I had my ’71 Volkswagen Van, I used to say, “It’s not a vehicle; it’s an attitude.” Friday night’s concert at the Orpheum with Snarky Puppy and Roosevelt Collier conveyed that same mindset. The audience didn’t see a pair of bands as much as an irresistible musical world view.
Opening act Roosevelt Collier showed the packed Orpheum why he was personally selected to tour with Snarky Puppy. Sitting at his pedal steel guitar, Collier washed away all images of Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, and played that thang with his band of Jason Matthews/keys, Armando Lopez/drums and Rodrigo Zamerano/b as if Jimi Hendrix had just joined Sly and the Family Stone. Songs link “Spank-A-Lee” and “Sun Up Sun Down” mixed searing guitar sounds with a fusion of kinetic grooves.
Just when you thought you had this guy pegged, Collier pulls out his tambourine and turned the theatre into a Wednesday Night Revival as he and the band hammered out “Happy Feet.” Collier then strapped on his guitar and slide like Ricky Henderson on a gorgeous read of “Amazing Grace” before guitarist Jairus Mozee jumped up on stage for a foot stomping “Weird Fishes.” Who got the license of that truck that just hit us?!?
The alluring feature of Snarky Puppy is that the band comes across like a family more than a band. Their latest album Immigrance had more members than a Kennedy reunion, while their concerts tend to be less Wagnerian. The core crew this time around featured leader Michael League along with front line of guitarist Mark Lattieri and violinist Zach Brock supplied the melodic lines while keyboardists Bobby Sparks and Justin Stanton supplied the textures and moods for pieces like the moody and solemn “Even Us” and the bluesy “While We’re Young” from their new release.
But the exciting aspect of the band is that they have mastered the ability to turn any song into an infectious groove, as the drummer JT Thomas and percussionist Nate Werth dig deep and irresistible rivulets on pieces like the soulful “GO” while the horn section of Michael Maher/tp, Chris Bullock/ts, Bob Reynolds/ts and Jay Jennings/tp and jazzy punctuation and Sparks does some funky knob explorations on the synthesizer for a funkified climax.
Unlike many jazz bands these days, Snarky Puppy is able to mix artistic and inspiring solos from all it’s members, from the nightclub fog of Reynolds to the kind of blue Jennings and the rollicking axe of Lattieri as well as Brock’s hints of vintage King Crimson on the nimble “Tarova.”
Guest drummers Robert Searight, TaRon Locket and ‘Lil’ Mike Mitchel and alumnus keyboardist Corey Henry seamless joined the stage, and by the time the band closed with “Lingus” and encored with “Xavi” the people that wanted to dance danced, and those that wanted to take in the beauty of the art were satiated. Few bands appeal to the head, heart and feet, and League with Snarky Puppy show that it can be done when the band is the attitude, and not the vehicle.
Upcoming at the Orpheum is Steve Hackett 10/18