Snarky Puppy | The Powerstation, Auckland | Thursday April 6
“We’ve played around 1600 gigs...and we probably played about 1300 of ‘em before any of y’all ever heard of us.”
It was the first of only a few sentences uttered by Snarky Puppy’s Texan lead musician Michael League, who thanked a full-packed Power-Station audience for their support.
While the three-time grammy award winning ensemble claim they played in complete obscurity for at least the first 8-10 years (and many Kiwis may not have heard of them), you wouldn’t have guessed it judging by the Auckland crowd who knew every motif, harmony and funky stab generously poured out into a roaring crowd.
Bobby Sparks and Shaun Martin of Snarky Puppy Photo: Supplied
Originally formed by classmates and friends at North Texas State University, Snarky Puppy have been around for 14 years. The funky quasi-collective ensemble, which boasts a rotating roster of about 25-30 members, is now held up as one of the major figures in the jazz world.
It’s one of the only concerts I’ve ever been to where the audience was so diverse, not just in ethnicity but also in age and genre taste.
There were of course many Jazz fiends - old and young, fans in their early twenties to middle aged couples, elderly men- including a group I bumped into who were in their late 60’s-70’s. There were Asians, Pacific-Islanders, Europeans, Maori...a packed Power-Station venue which reflected Auckland’s melting pot of diversity.
It was gorgeous. And it is what the universal language of music does best - it brings people together like nothing else.
I bumped into muso mates from Auckland’s local Soul/RnB gigging circuit, more from the Jazz/Funk Wellington and Auckland circuit, frequent Grand Central Bar regulars from Ponsonby and even church music directors from across Auckland.
The concert opened with Wellington artist and producer DJ Juliene Dyne on the decks, who thrashed a range of hip hop and funk, afrobeat and jazz instrumentals. And there were plenty of synths to go around with tracks that gave an early 80’s soul funk vibe, making me feel like I was in a club dancing to Evelyn Champagne King’s 1982 track ‘Love Come Down’.
Snarky Puppy playing live at Auckland's Powerstation. Photo: Supplied
Fans like myself were eager to find out which Snarky Puppy members were in the line-up for the band’s first ever concert in Auckland. When last night’s 9-piece set up rolled out to a roaring crowd, hundreds of eyes were scanning the stage - “Is it Cory Henry??” (keyboardist), “Did Larnell Lewis come??” (drummer), were among some of the comments I overheard while squeezing through to take photos.
Last night’s glorious set-up included bassist Michael League of course, accompanied by Shaun Martin on keys, Bobby Sparks on the organ, Keita Ogawa on percussions, Chris Bullock on Tenor-Saxophone and Flute, Justin Stanton on Trumpet and Keyboards, Guitarist Mark Lettieri, Mike Maher on the trumpet and Jason ‘JT’ Thomas on drums.
Their 90 minute set included a bunch of tracks from their latest album ‘Culcha Vulcha’ and many more. The band’s energy was off the wall, with Shaun Martin on keys also playing hype-man and setting the house on fire with savage synths and the vocoder effect - made famous in my generation by American RnB group Blackstreet’s Teddy Riley.
Mid-set featured a solo jam by Ogawa on percussions which led into their next Samba feel track ‘Semente’. Not long afterwards, Jason ‘JT’ Thomas rolled out a riveting long drum solo...15 minutes into a jam and everyone has given up on figuring out what time signature is being played where. What even are time-signatures when it comes to Snarky Puppy??
Shaun Martin and Bobby Sparks took everyone to church with their gospel chops on the keys and organ! There were moments that featured a latin feel which had the crowd clapping on the first two rhythmic stabs in every bar. Jazz fusion later segued into a funk jam riding on the solid infamous bassline from Busta Rhymes’ nineties track “Woo Hah!! (Got You All In Check)”. The crowd hype rose to next-level ridiculous.
But a highlight was hearing hundreds in a crowd sing along in chorus to instrumental tracks which had no lyrics. There’s something powerful in hearing an almost sold-out powerhouse venue audience belting out a melodic motif together in a loop which could’ve gone on forever. Where lyrics are non-existent, the meaning of a tune can be interpreted so differently by different people.
For the music theorists and analysts, the improvisation is eclectic and structured yet mind blowing spontaneous virtuosity.
“And if you have any little hairs left in your ears….here’s one more song.” This kiwi crowd didn’t need any encouragement from the band’s founder Michael League. They chanted for an encore forcing him in to playing a bass solo, at which point I realised the hairs inside my inner ear canal probably were gone.
But I’d jump at the next chance to experience them live again, without doubt.
Riveting and exceptional. Snarky Puppy live in concert leaves you feeling privileged to have witnessed God-given musical talent, as well as Michael League's 'Thizz' face during his bass runs. It's an experience not to be missed.
