Results for "Michael League"

Becca Stevens on releasing new music in a pandemic

by Leo Sidran
May 25, 2020

Singer and songwriter Becca Stevens has the ability to make you feel like you know her even when you only know her work. Here she talks about “dancing with the critical voice," looking for silver linings, “the whole money thing" and a newly born pack of baby ducks out her window. Plus she discusses her new ...

Michael League: "Hang on to the little victories"

by Leo Sidran
March 9, 2020

In this podcast interview, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Michael League talks about Snarky Puppy, the advantages to the American musical perspective ("we are light on our feet"), why “to create something authentic isn't really possible to me," how playing wedding and steak house gigs in Texas taught him about “humility and strengthening the muscles of versatility," ...

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

Chris McQueen: Snarky Guitars, Part 3

by Mike Jacobs
February 7, 2020

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 For our final installment in the Snarky Guitars series, All About Jazz spoke with Chris McQueen. McQueen's inclinations as a player often push him into more textural, integral and rhythmic roles that sometimes leave him the least conspicuous of the “SP Three," but he has done ...

Bob Lanzetti: Snarky Guitars, Part 2

by Mike Jacobs
January 14, 2020

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 For the second installment in our series on the guitarists of Snarky Puppy, we spoke with Bob Lanzetti. In addition to being the guitarist who logged the most miles with the band in its early days, he has also appeared on every recording SP has ever ...

Mark Lettieri: Snarky Guitars, Part 1

by Mike Jacobs
January 8, 2020

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 For the first interview in a series on the Snarky Puppy guitar triumvirate, we spoke to Mark Lettieri. Unlike most of the original core members of the band, Lettieri did not come out of the jazz program at the University of North Texas. Oddly enough, he ...

Immigrance

By Snarky Puppy

Label: GroundUP Music
Released: 2019
Track listing: Chonks; Bigly Strictness; Coven; Bling Bling; Xavi; While We're Young; Bad Kids to the Back; Even Us.

FORQ: Four

by Mike Jacobs
December 4, 2019

Forq has come a long way. Since Keyboardist Henry Hey and (Snarky Puppy) bassist Michael League started the quartet with drummer Jason JT Thomas and guitarist Adam Rogers, Forq has gone through some crucial personnel changes. Rogers left after the first album and was replaced by Snarky Puppy guitarist Chris McQueen. Recording two more ...

Panagiotis Andreou: The World In A Bass

by Mike Jacobs
November 22, 2019

My first encounter with Panagiotis Andreou was while covering a bass workshop that included him along with the likes of Richard Bona (Zawinul Syndicate, Mike Stern), Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Dwayne “Mono Neon" Thomas (Prince, Ghost Note) and Wes Stephenson (The Funky Knuckles). All of these players seemed humbled by each other's presence during the opening ...

12 Points Festival 2019

by Henning Bolte
October 12, 2019

Bimhuis 12 Points Festival Amsterdam, Netherlands September 25-28, 2019 Jazz, as a diverse and heterogeneous field by nature, is represented at each 12 Points edition by young musicians and groups (age 35) with a strong artistic profile and solid and attractive performance capabilities. The festival represents in a nutshell what the ...