#Smarky puppy tenor solo full

In some ways an extension of Snarky Puppy’s orchestral collaboration with the Netherlands Metropole Orkest on 2015’s Grammy-winning Sylva (Best Contemporary Instrumental Album), or Laurance’s own expanded versions of his tunes on 2016’s Live at Union Chapel, which featured a core quartet augmented by three strings and French horn, this exhilarating outing is alternately serene and rhapsodic, simmering with understated minimalism one moment and bursting forth with opulent orchestral strains the next. “I always imagined these compositions to be played by an orchestra, and it’s a rare opportunity to have your music realized with a large ensemble of this caliber,” said Laurance.

Recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Philharmonie concert hall in Cologne, Germany, and powered by the renowned 18-piece WDR Big Band under the direction of principal conductor Bob Mintzer (renowned tenor saxophonist, longtime member of the Yellowjackets and leader of his own Grammy-winning Bob Mintzer Big Band), this adventurous outing finds Laurance re-imagining previously recorded works on a much grander scale.

#Smarky puppy tenor solo full

Fleshing out Laurance’s engaging tunes with a full complement of horns takes them to the next level. The funkier aspects of Laurance’s writing, as on Swag Times and the Brecker Brothers-ish Red Sand, bridge back to his work with Snarky Puppy. Some of Laurance’s most familiar compositions, like The Good Things from Flint and the title track of Swift, reveal his tendency to build from stark minimalism to rhapsodic crescendos while others like the compelling Money in the Desert and the expansive Ready Wednesday (both from Flint) carry a cinematic sweep. As the U.K.’s Jazz Journal put it: “If jazz is to continue to appeal to future generations then it needs people like Bill Laurance to renew its relevance.” All of these diverse elements organically merge into a fresh new sound that is capturing the imaginations of a new generation of jazz fans. His meticulously-crafted, sonically creative solo projects have reflected his interests in the classical music he absorbed at the University of Leeds, the jazz he grew up with at home in North London and the electronic music that has intrigued him in recent years. Beginning with 2014’s Flint and continuing with 2015’s Swift, 2016’s Aftersun and Live at Union Chapel and 2019’s Cables, Laurance has investigated electronica, mesmerizing modal jams, drum and bass rhythms, entrancing world music grooves and a variety of other moods and styles. Click below to view a list of the band’s future performances, and to find more information and purchase tickets, visit the band’s website.A charter member of the three-time Grammy Award winnig, internationally acclaimed group Snarky Puppy, voted Jazz Group of the Year in the 2017 DownBeat Readers Poll, keyboardist Bill Laurance has also been operating outside the confines of that wildly popular genre-bending jazz and funk collective. Snarky Puppy recently announced a slate of 2023 spring tour dates. Watch the video for the track and check out the album artwork, band lineup, and tracklist below. “Bet” is now available on all streaming platforms. The album will also feature the last recorded performance of ’80s funk pioneer and Snarky Puppy’s musical Godfather Bernard Wright, who passed away tragically at the age of 58 shortly after the recording sessions that produced the album.

Recorded over the course of eight nights, Empire Central will feature of 16 all-new tracks influenced by and paying homage to the band’s hometown of Dallas, TX. “ to Dallas icon RC Williams (musical director for Erykah Badu and bandleader of RC & Tha Gritz), ‘Bet’ moves through a mixture of styles: church, soul and even Brazilian Funk,” League said of the track. The video shows the large group of musicians, which includes three guitarists, four keyboardists, two brass, two reeds, a violinist, three percussionists, and three drummers, performing for an intimate live-in-studio audience led by bassist, composer, and Snarky Puppy founder/bandleader Michael League. Like previously released single “Trinity”, “Bet” arrived with a live in-studio performance video filmed at Dallas’ Deep Ellum Art Company.

On Friday, progressive jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy debuted “Bet”, the second preview of the band’s forthcoming album, Empire Central, due out September 30th via the band’s own GroundUP Music imprint.