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Michael League

Michael League is a Grammy Award-winning bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger, producer, label owner, and bandleader based out of Brooklyn, New York.

As a military brat, he grew up all over the place. Michael attended the University of North Texas' jazz studies program for 4 years, then moved to nearby Dallas for another 3 years, where he worked with some of the most influential figures in modern gospel, R&B, and soul music, and was mentored by legendary keyboardist Bernard Wright (Miles Davis, Chaka Khan).

Michael runs the band with a grass-roots approach to the changing music industry that seems crazy, but has worked. Kinda. In early 2012, he launched his own imprint, GroundUP Music, under Ropeadope Records. The bands on the label kick ass.

Michael is passionately committed to music education and outreach, having given clinics at over 100 schools throughout the United States, Canada, Asia, Pacific, and Europe. He also plays with and produces for a multitude of artists so that he doesn't go insane only performing his own music. It almost works.

Jason Kruk: Beyond the Veil

Read "Beyond the Veil" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
September 26, 2026

Veteran New York City-based drummer and composer Jason Kruk leverages decades of technical precision and international touring into a major leap forward on Sun Goose Records. Rather than a standard rhythm showcase, his latest release is an ambitious, collaborative suite bridging structured composition and open improvisation. The album unfolds as a deeply conceptual journey through tracks named after natural elements and archetypes. Kruk anchors complex polyrhythms with a muscular yet nuanced touch, swinging seamlessly between aggressive fusion workouts ...

Live Review

Michael League Ellipsis at SFJAZZ Center

by Roy Strassman
March 2, 2026

Michael League Ellipsis SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA January 29, 2026 On an uncharacteristically balmy January evening, Michael League brought Ellipsis to the SFJAZZ Center, featuring Cuban conguero/batalero, singer (akpwón), dancer, and composer Pedrito Martinez. The ensemble also included famed Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez and Cuban keyboardist and synthesizer player Glenda Del E. League, known for his work with Snarky Puppy, organized the group's sound while anchoring its groove. Collectively, these musicians have ...

Radio & Podcasts

Michael League's Musical Universe Unleashed

by Steven Roby
January 27, 2026

Five-time Grammy winner Michael League sat down with Steve Roby to discuss his groundbreaking residency at SFJAZZ Center--a five-night exploration that shatters the “one-band" label and reveals the full spectrum of his creative life. Best known as the founder of Snarky Puppy, League has spent his career defying categorization. In this conversation, he opens up about why he's never been content being “Mr. Snarky Puppy," his evolution from band leader to curator and “designated hitter," and how his ...

Album Review

Usein Bekirov: Free Way Deluxe

Read "Free Way Deluxe" reviewed by Ian Patterson

by Ian Patterson
January 14, 2026

Labels, reductive at best, prove especially slippery when applied to Lviv-based pianist-keyboardist Usein Bekirov. Ethno-jazz, ethno-fusion, jazz-funk--all these titles and more have followed his music around since his debut album, Taterrium (4Records, 2016). Born in Uzbekistan but raised in Crimea from the age of eight, Bekirov has drawn variously on his Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar roots, as well as Balkan and Azerbaijani folk music, alongside modern jazz-fusion. Previous collaborators have included fusion luminaries such as trumpeter Randy Brecker; saxophonist Ada ...

Album Review

Bill Laurance and Michael League: Keeping Company

Read "Keeping Company" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
November 24, 2024

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), ...

Radio & Podcasts

Scenes from the 2023 Montreal Jazz Festival

by Leo Sidran
July 19, 2023

Conversations on community, artificial intelligence, identity, fan engagement, healthy living, life on the road and more, recorded at the 2023 Montreal International Jazz Festival. Featuring Michael League, Nate Smith, Carlos Homs, Julius Rodriguez, Benny Benack III, Emmet Cohen, Stacey Kent and others. ...

Album Review

Bokante: History

by Chris May
June 25, 2023

Snarky Puppy leader Michael League does not like the band being called a jazz ensemble. He describes it as a “a pop band that improvises a lot, without vocals." But anyone listening to jazz through the aural equivalent of a wide-angle lens would likely keep Snarky Puppy in the picture. League's spin-off group Bokante improvises little and has vocals front and centre. The connection with jazz is more tenuous. Bokante could be called a “world music" group ...