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Michael League
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.
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Usein Bekirov: Free Way Deluxe
by Ian Patterson
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 ...
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 ReadingScenes from the 2023 Montreal Jazz Festival
by Leo Sidran
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. ...
Continue ReadingBokante: History
by Chris May
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 ...
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: Empire Central
by Angelo Leonardi
A diciotto anni dalla nascita, gli Snarky Puppy sono tornati a Dallas —luogo d'origine della formazione— per registrare un nuovo album scegliendo l'approccio preferito: quel “live in the studio" con pubblico in sala che ha caratterizzato le loro opere migliori. Quindi otto notti alla Deep Ellum Art Company per mettere a punto 16 nuovi brani, ora pubblicati in doppio album, in triplo vinile. Il disco privilegia il ritorno ai valori musicali originari: una fusion ...
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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