Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Snarky Puppy is a band of reference. It’s a band that other groups point to for a certain approach to modern, funky music. Some try and put the dreaded “Fusion” tag on the group, but that term blew itself out in the ’70s and ’80s, when Fusion became a genre of clichés.
Snarky Puppy is a band that is willing to go in any direction they see fit, at any moment. Yes, the Jazz influences are there, as this rotating collective of musicians throws down their grooves (the total number of musicians in and out of Snarky Puppy is around 40 at this point). But funkiness is also always front and center, as is percussion and horns-a-plenty.
The band, which lights up the stage at the Madison Theater this week with special guest Charlie Hunter, is putting out albums at a relatively fast pace these days. Earlier this year, the band released an all-star, guest-laden album called Family Dinner – Volume Two, which featured collaborations with artists from a broad range of genres, including Jeff Coffin, Ivan Neville, David Crosby, Salif Keita, Carlos Malta, the aforementioned Hunter and many others.
In late April, a new studio album was released that finds the band yet again exploring differing paths. Culcha Vulcha was recorded in southern Texas at Sonic Ranch Studios on the Mexican border, and it finds the members of Snarky Puppy using the advantages of the recording studio (like over-dubbing) more than usual, moving away from recording live and together. On the collective’s first true studio album in nearly eight years, the members create a sound that, while still groove-laden, brings out a more atmospheric and melodic side of Snarky Puppy’s approach.
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This article appears in May 4-11, 2016.
