Due to the COVID lockdown, it’s been four years since Snarky Puppy as been in town. If nothing else, this recent concert confirmed my belief that Michael League’s vision of a musical worldview is what is going to keep jazz relevant, not only with his own band, but in his inclusion of other acts in the litter of other groups that he associates with.
Opening up this evening was the trio House of Waters, led by the Max ZT on the santoor, akin to the hammer dulcimer, along with 6 string bassist Moto Fukushima performing music from their latest album On Becoming. The dizzying display of sound was a mix of Central Asia, Byzantium, early Weather Report and The Yellowjackets. The interplay was jaw dropping in both dexterity and lyricism. When are they coming back on their own?!?
As Michael League mentioned during the 1 ½ hour set of Snarky Puppy, his desire on their latest album Empire Central was to give tribute to the various artistic styles and musical styles from the Lone Star State of Texas. But this was not a collection of Willie Nelson songs; influences from Charlie Christian to Roy Hargrove were puree’d through the Snarky Puppy blender. Keyboardists Bill Laurance, Bobby Sparks and Justin Stanton melded synthesizers, organs and various other plugged things in to mix Herbie Hancock Headhunters with Funkadelic pulses, with Stanton even throwing in some trumpet to boot on pieces like the slinky “East Bay” and “Keep It On Your Mind”.
The guitar team of Mark Lettieri and Bob Lanzetti gave a dash of road kill rocking blues on “Take It”, while the horn section including Bob Reynolds/ts, Mike Maher/tp, Chris Bullock/ts-fl and Jay Jennings/sax-fl swung like The Brecker Brothers. A tribute to Roy Hargroveon “Cliroy” brought out the best in the trumpets, but the surrounding sounds provided by the keyboard textures and percolating percussion made the music sound both timeless and modern.
And if nothing else, these gents know how to jam. League directed traffic like a Neopolitan policeman as violinist Zach Brock veered around the riffing guitars and harmonizing horns, veering around like a Formula One driver. The relentless feel of the underlaying grooves by Nikki Glaspie/dr and Keita Ogawa/perc on “Coney Bear” makes even the most adventurous solo accessible as the instrument simply oozes through the crevices like mercury.
As mentioned before, Snarky Puppy comes off not so much as a band, but as an attitude; it’s one worth hanging on to and hanging in with . They make the future of music look bright.
Upcoming shows at The Orpheum include Steve Hacket/Genesis Revisited 11/18 and G3 Reunion Tour 02/09-10