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Bill Laurance: Lumen
by Neil Duggan
Five-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Laurance is perhaps best known as a founding member of fusion juggernaut Snarky Puppy, but his musical reach extends much further. Whether performing as a duo with Michael League, collaborating with the Untold Orchestra, leading his own trio, or exploring solo territory, Laurance has consistently demonstrated his versatility across multiple contexts. Lumen represents his most personal album to date. As he explains, “I couldn't have exposed more of who I am than I did with ...
Continue ReadingBill Laurance and Michael League: Keeping Company
by Neil Duggan
Bill Laurance is one of the UK's most inventive pianists. His compositions and arrangements have involved multiple formats, including trios, duos, orchestras and solo piano, but he is best known as a member of the 19-piece jazz-funk-fusion ensemble Snarky Puppy. He joined the band at the invitation of their founder, U.S. multi-instrumentalist Michael League. They have been collaborating for over 20 years.That long-term musical relationship resulted in their first duo release, Where You Wish You Were (ACT Music), ...
Continue ReadingBill Laurance & Michael League: Where You Wish You Were
by Cary Tenenbaum
As of this writing in Spring 2023, pianist Bill Laurance and bass and oud player Michael League have apparently been playing together in Snarky Puppy for almost 20 years. This may come as a surprise to some listeners who may still think of them as new kids on the block, so to speak. These two have been busy performing together all these years in the aforementioned band as well as backing up various artists ranging from Erykah Badu to David ...
Continue ReadingSnarky Puppy: Immigrance
by Josh Deakin
Three years after their last release, Snarky Puppy's thirteenth studio album Immigrance makes a statement as a standard for jazz fusion that all modern artists should take note of. The opening track, “Chonks," sets the tone of the record with a fierce drum fill from Larnell Lewis which is reminiscent of reggae tones, an aesthetic which Snarky Puppy enjoy teasing on occasion. The record keeps pace as it weaves together the collection of songs which gives the illusion ...
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