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“It’s kind of like a large band with a deep bench,” League said with a laugh. Since those humble days, the band has picked up new members to the point that there’s now 20 to 40 rotating members at any given time. I needed a name, and I said, ‘Oh, I’ll just use Snarky Puppy.’ … I thought it’d be one gig, two gigs … and now it’s like 14 years later and I’m stuck with this stupid name.”įans hardly think it’s a stupid name. I had just finished my first year at North Texas booked a show in the basement of a pizza place. … My brother was gonna name a band that, but he decided to name it something else, so the name was in my head for a long time. “The guy who initially came up with the name is the tenor saxophone player in Bruce Hornsby’s band, Bobby Read. It was there in Denton, Texas, that League formed the first incarnation of Snarky Puppy back in 2004.
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I remember he used to kidnap me and a sax player from my high school and take us to Georgetown University to rehearse with their band.”Īlso on stage will be trombone player Victor Barranco, who was League’s classmate in the jazz studies department at the University of North Texas. “Actually, my band director Dave Detwiler is in the NSO, so we’re inviting him to come up and play a solo on one of the tunes. “My brother was in the high school jazz band at Centreville, so I kind of followed in his footsteps,” League said.
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“One is actually the little wood behind my old house in Virginia, one is on a mountain in Portugal, one is this really crazy swampy forest in Louisiana, and one is not a real forest, it’s like the Dark Wood in ‘Snow White.’ When I was a kid, I was terrified when she runs through.”įrom the imaginary woods of his childhood nightmares to the tangible woods of his actual Virginia backyard, League comes full circle to his upbringing in Clifton, Virginia, and Centreville High School. “I’m really fascinated by forests, so I tried to write each piece about a different forest that I’ve been to in my life,” League said. If you listen closely, you might even notice an underlying forestry theme. “We’re pulling elements from J Dilla and the hip-hop world to Stravinsky to Bjork to Radiohead to gospel music and New Orleans music, all in this one kind of suite.” “If you’re not an orchestral aficionado, you might be surprised how accessible it is, how modern and contemporary it sounds,” League said. “I wanted to dive in and make it feel like one massive, 64-piece band, so from the very beginning, I wrote every piece with the orchestra integrated in, like, ‘It would be really cool if this song started out with Moog bass, Contra bass and clarinets with flutes on the top.”Įven if you don’t know those technical music terms, there’s still plenty to enjoy in this concert. “I wanted to create a piece of music that knows no separation between the band and the orchestra,” League said. It’s the source of that second Grammy - the 2015 concept album “Sylva,” which also won for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album - that Snarky Puppy will play next week at the Kennedy Center. We’re like the misfits of the Grammys, like the Bad News Bears.” “There was a roar from the crowd of people who were watching the ceremony on their phones, so I was like, ‘I think we won a Grammy!’ … The first two years, we brought the whole band on stage, like 20 people. “I was actually on stage in Miami Beach sound-checking with a new band I started called Bokanté,” League said. Ironically, League wasn’t even at this year’s ceremony, having already attended twice in the past. So, I think it was extra sweet for everybody.”
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… This was the first time we ever won a Grammy for what we do 99 percent of the time, which is just us, the members of the band, playing our music. “It’s kind of surreal still,” League told WTOP. “The first two that we won were for projects with special guests. WTOP caught up with both artists to preview these two exciting shows.įew contemporary artists are in this guy’s league.įairfax County native Michael League just steered Snarky Puppy to its third Grammy in four years as “Culcha Vulcha” won Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 59th annual awards on Sunday. Then, nine-time Grammy nominee Ledisi brings her brand of R&B and jazz on Feb. Three-time Grammy winner Snarky Puppy brings its jazz-fusion sound on Wednesday, Feb. WASHINGTON - From the Grammy stage straight to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, two talented music acts will join the NSO Pops live next week. Septem| WTOP's Jason Fraley previews Snarky Puppy at Kennedy Center ( Jason Fraley) Business & Finance Click to expand menu.
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